I am wondering how you guys go about mountain sprints because I have big difficulties winning them even when my rider is better in both mountain and sprint. I tend to win the grand tours by breakaways only as if I reach the summit in a group I rarely win.
I have tried to follow, be in front of or next to the riders that I expect will do the best in the sprint, but I always fail. Also I have tried attacking just before the sprint starts, but then the other riders follow me and beats me in the sprint. When should I start the sprint?
The above scenario is particularily the trend in the first and mid-race mountains of the grand tours, whereas in the end the other riders seem to lose their energy and I can perform solo wins and eventually lead the GC, but I never get the sprint wins.
Does anybody have tips on how to ride a mountain sprint successfully?
Well for a mountain sprint there isn't much secret, the fresher rider will win. Therefore the sprint stat won't make much difference when sprinting on top of a mountain. Because of that, it's also very hard to have tactics on mountain sprints.
But well, what I would do is:
- If you're in 2 riders and you see no one else is gonna get you until the end of the climb, start slowing the pace, go using the dot, and when you enter the last 2 kms, try to get his wheel. But make sure you already are on his wheel before using the 'Follow' function, because if there's a small gap and you use the follow function, you rider will try to close the gap as fast as possible and will lose precious energy. With 1 km left, he'll start the sprint. If your rider can't follow him at this moment, you can pretty much forget victory because the other rider is fresher. However, if you rider stays in the wheel, what you do is wait a little bit and then try to overtake him. But don't wait too much, accelerate with let's say 700m left, because your rider need to still have any energy left in order to pass the other.
Another option when going to the end in 2 riders is to try to, with the dot, try to create a small gap going for the sprint and hope he isn't able to close the gap in it (but obviously be sure he doesn't have your wheel).
- Now if you're in a bigger group, let's say, of 4, 5 riders, what I'd do is try to find the one who should be fresher: either the one with more MO, or someone you've noticed to be in good form. Anyway you look for the rider you think will do best and get his wheel. After that it's the same thing than in the other case.
But again, tactics aren't very effective: the winner is very probably gonna be the one coming better for the sprint finish.
What works for me is riding on the front of the breakaway group, then pressing attack the very moment I see somebody else attacking. Because my rider then has a bit of a head start, he usually gets to the line first.
Thank you guys, at least now I have something to try out.
I guess my problem really is that I am not good enough at preserving the required energy and then I loses even the times when I am riding with the better rider.
I believe sprinting skill has some significance in mountain sprints. When I play on a usermade database where many cycling legends are included, Fausto Coppi (70 in sprint) almost always wins the mountain stages wthat end with a group sprint, although riders like Armstrong, Pantani, and Eddy Mercx all have higher mountain stats, but only 55-60 in sprint. This could of course be coincidece or Coppi consistently being in better shape.
