Sprinting is the most misunderstood discipline in cycling. Most riders assume it's pure genetics — you either have it or you don't. That's wrong. Sprint power is trainable at every level, including masters, and the methods used by World Tour lead-out men and Grand Tour stage winners are more accessible than you think. The difference between a dangerous sprint and a winning one comes down to three things: neuromuscular recruitment, timing, and race-specific practice.
This guide distils what we've learned from direct conversations with sprinters and sprint coaches on the Roadman Cycling Podcast — including André Greipel, Sam Bennett, Cory Williams, and Vasilis Anastopoulos (the man who built Cavendish's sprint). We've taken everything they shared and broken it into a framework any serious cyclist can apply.
In this guide:
- Why sprint power matters for every cyclist
- Sprint power vs. winning power
- The neuromuscular system: how sprints actually work
- Sprint training sessions that work
- Sprint training for masters riders
- The lead-out and positioning game
- How often to sprint train
- What the experts say
- Frequently asked questions
Why Sprint Power Matters for Every Cyclist
Here's the thing nobody tells you about sprint training: it's not just for sprinters. Every road race, every criterium, every group ride with a town sign sprint — at some point you need to produce power fast. The ability to put down 800, 1,000, or 1,200 watts for 10-15 seconds determines whether you win the bunch kick, close the gap, or get dropped in the crosswind.
Even if you never contest a bunch sprint in a race, neuromuscular power has a direct carry-over to your ability to respond to accelerations, hold wheels through corners, and ride surges on climbs. It's part of the complete toolkit.
The good news? Sprint power responds to training faster than almost any other quality. Most riders see measurable improvement within 4-6 weeks of targeted work — because the early gains are neurological, not muscular. Your body learns to recruit more muscle fibres before it builds new ones.
Sprint Power vs. Winning Power
This is a distinction that changed how I think about sprinting, and it came directly from Cory Williams on the podcast. Let me break this down.
Sprint power is what you produce in a fresh, rested, standing-start effort. Your peak 5-second or 15-second number on a power meter. It's the figure everyone obsesses over.
Winning power is what you produce after 4 hours of racing, at the end of a race when your legs are full of lactate, your glycogen stores are depleted, and 150 other riders are fighting for position. It's always lower than your fresh sprint power — sometimes dramatically lower.
| Metric | What It Measures | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Peak 5s power (fresh) | Raw neuromuscular ceiling | Sets your theoretical maximum |
| Peak 15s power (fresh) | Sprint endurance | Determines if you can hold speed through a full sprint |
| Peak 5s power (fatigued) | Winning power | The number that actually wins races |
| Sprint repeatability | Multiple efforts with short recovery | Critical for crits and positioning battles |
The riders who win sprints aren't always the ones with the highest peak power. They're the ones who can still produce 85-90% of their peak after a brutal race. That means your sprint training has to include fatigued sprint efforts — not just fresh ones.
-> Read the full guide: Cory Williams: Sprint Power vs. Winning Power
The Neuromuscular System: How Sprints Actually Work
Sprinting is a neuromuscular event, not an aerobic one. Your aerobic engine barely has time to contribute in a 10-15 second all-out effort. What matters is:
Motor unit recruitment. How many muscle fibres your brain can activate simultaneously. Untrained riders might recruit 60-70% of available motor units. Trained sprinters recruit closer to 90%. This is trainable.
Rate of force development. How quickly you can go from soft-pedalling to full power. The best sprinters hit peak wattage within 1-2 pedal strokes. Most amateurs take 3-4 strokes. Again, trainable.
Muscle fibre composition. Yes, genetics determine your ratio of type 1 (slow-twitch) to type 2 (fast-twitch) fibres. But here's where it gets really interesting — type 2 fibres can be subdivided into type 2a and type 2x, and sprint training shifts the balance toward more explosive output regardless of your genetic baseline.
When Vasilis Anastopoulos came on the podcast and talked about how he built Cavendish's sprint, the thing that struck me was how systematic it was. It wasn't just "go out and sprint hard." Every session had a specific neuromuscular target — recruitment, rate of force, or sustained power application. That level of precision is what separates structured sprint training from just mashing the pedals.
-> Read the full guide: Vasilis Anastopoulos: Inside Cavendish's Sprint Training
Sprint Training Sessions That Work
I'm going to give you the exact sessions. These are drawn from what Greipel, Bennett, and Anastopoulos have shared on the podcast, adapted for the serious amateur.
Session 1: Standing Start Sprints (Neuromuscular Recruitment)
From a near standstill (5-10 km/h), shift into a big gear and sprint all-out for 8-12 seconds. Full recovery between efforts — 5 minutes minimum. Do 6-8 reps. The goal is maximum force from the first pedal stroke. This trains recruitment, not fitness.
Session 2: Flying Sprints (Peak Power)
Build speed to 35-40 km/h, then go all-out for 10-15 seconds. Full recovery, 5 minutes between efforts. 5-6 reps. This is your peak power session — chasing the highest numbers on the power meter.
Session 3: Fatigued Sprints (Winning Power)
Ride 60-90 minutes at Zone 2-3, including some tempo efforts. In the final 20 minutes, do 4-5 sprint efforts of 10-15 seconds with only 2-3 minutes recovery. This is the session most amateurs skip — and it's the one that matters most for racing.
Session 4: Sprint Repeatability (Crit-Specific)
8-10 sprints of 10 seconds, with 50 seconds recovery between each. Three sets with 5 minutes between sets. This simulates the repeated acceleration demands of criterium racing — corner, sprint, corner, sprint. It's miserable. It's also incredibly effective.
| Session | Reps | Duration | Recovery | Primary Adaptation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standing starts | 6-8 | 8-12s | 5 min | Motor unit recruitment |
| Flying sprints | 5-6 | 10-15s | 5 min | Peak power |
| Fatigued sprints | 4-5 | 10-15s | 2-3 min | Winning power |
| Sprint repeatability | 8-10 x 3 sets | 10s | 50s / 5 min | Crit-specific endurance |
-> Read the full guide: The 30-Day Sprint Power Plan for Cyclists
Sprint Training for Masters Riders
Let me be really clear about this: age does not disqualify you from sprint improvement. The neuromuscular system remains trainable well into your 50s and 60s. The rate of improvement may be slower, and recovery between sessions takes longer, but the adaptations are real.
Here's what changes for masters riders:
Recovery demands increase. Where a 25-year-old might do two sprint sessions per week, a masters rider over 45 gets better results from one dedicated sprint session plus one gym-based power session. The stimulus is the same. The recovery window is wider.
Strength training becomes non-negotiable. After 40, you lose roughly 1% of muscle mass per year if you don't actively fight it. Heavy leg press, Bulgarian split squats, and hip thrusts aren't optional for the masters sprinter — they're the foundation that sprint training sits on.
Sprint duration matters more. Masters riders often see bigger gains from slightly longer sprint efforts (12-20 seconds) rather than pure 5-second maximal blasts. The type 2a fibres — the ones that bridge the gap between endurance and power — respond particularly well to this range.
The members inside Not Done Yet who've seen the biggest sprint improvements are masters riders who combined two things: consistent gym work and one structured sprint session per week. Not two. Not three. One good one, fully recovered.
-> Read the full guide: Sprint Interval Training for Masters Cyclists
The Lead-Out and Positioning Game
André Greipel said something on the podcast that stuck with me: the sprint is won or lost in the final 3 kilometres, but not in the way most people think. It's not about who has the biggest power. It's about who is in the right position when the road narrows and the speed goes up.
For amateur racing, positioning is the single biggest differentiator. You can have 1,400 watts of sprint power, but if you're 30th wheel when the sprint starts, you're burning matches just getting to the front — and your winning power drops with every effort.
Three things to practise:
- Hold your position. In the last 5km, pick a wheel and do not let anyone push you off it. This is a skill, not fitness.
- Move up early. The last kilometre is too late. Start moving forward with 3km to go while the speed is still manageable.
- Read the wind. The sprint is always won from the sheltered side. If there's a crosswind, the front of the group is not always the best place to be.
-> Read the full guide: André Greipel: The Sprint Captain's Code -> Read the full guide: Sam Bennett: What Sprinters Do Differently
How Often Should You Sprint Train?
This depends on your goals and your overall training load.
| Rider Profile | Sprint Sessions Per Week | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Road racer (general) | 1 | Replace one quality session during competition phase |
| Criterium specialist | 2 | One fresh power, one fatigued/repeatability |
| Masters rider (40+) | 1 | Plus one gym-based power session |
| Off-season / base phase | 0-1 | Short neuromuscular openers only — save structured work for build/race phase |
The key principle: sprint training is high neural demand, low volume. Each session should be short and sharp — 20-30 minutes of sprint-specific work within a normal ride. If you're dragging through the last reps, you've done too many. Quality over quantity, every time.
What the Experts Say
The insights behind this guide come from direct conversations on the Roadman Cycling Podcast:
André Greipel (11 Tour de France stage wins, 4 Vuelta stage wins): Explained the sprint captain's code — how lead-out trains function, what separates a safe sprinter from a dangerous one, and why positioning is a skill that amateurs drastically undervalue. His perspective on reading a peloton at 65 km/h is something you can't get from a training plan.
Sam Bennett (multiple Grand Tour stage wins, former green jersey contender): Shared what sprinters actually do differently in training — the gym work, the neuromuscular sessions, and the mental preparation that goes into the final 200 metres of a race. His honesty about the fear involved in bunch sprinting was remarkable.
Cory Williams (sprint coach, power analysis specialist): Drew the critical distinction between sprint power and winning power — the insight that your fresh peak numbers matter far less than what you can produce when you're cooked. His framework for training fatigued sprint capacity changed how we programme sprint work inside Not Done Yet.
Vasilis Anastopoulos (coach to Mark Cavendish): Took us inside the systematic approach to building the greatest sprinter in cycling history. The precision of Cavendish's sprint programme — targeting specific neuromuscular qualities in specific phases — is the blueprint for how structured sprint training should look at any level.
-> Hear the conversations: Meet All Podcast Guests
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I improve my sprint as a masters rider? Absolutely. The neuromuscular system remains trainable at any age. Masters riders over 45 routinely see 10-15% sprint power improvements within 8-12 weeks of structured work — particularly if they combine on-bike sprint sessions with gym-based power work (leg press, Bulgarian split squats, hip thrusts). The gains come from improved motor unit recruitment first, then from maintaining and building type 2 muscle fibre capacity. Recovery takes longer, so one quality sprint session per week with proper rest is more effective than two mediocre ones. Inside Not Done Yet, some of our biggest sprint improvement stories have come from riders in their late 40s and 50s.
How do sprinters train differently from other cyclists? Professional sprinters spend less time on pure endurance volume and more time on neuromuscular and gym-based power work compared to GC riders or climbers. A sprinter like Bennett or Greipel might do heavy leg press and single-leg work 2-3 times per week during the off-season and maintain gym work year-round. Their on-bike sprint sessions are short, maximal, and fully recovered — not the kind of interval work that leaves you gasping. The other difference is specificity: sprinters practise the actual skill of sprinting regularly, including positioning, lead-out timing, and bike handling at speed.
What's the difference between sprint power and winning power? Sprint power is your peak output when fresh — your best-ever 5-second or 15-second number. Winning power is what you can produce after hours of racing when you're fatigued, glycogen-depleted, and surrounded by other riders. Winning power is always lower than sprint power, and the gap between them determines your race results. A rider with 1,400W fresh sprint power who drops to 900W when fatigued will lose to a rider with 1,200W fresh who holds 1,100W when tired. Training fatigued sprints — hard efforts at the end of long rides — is how you close that gap.
How often should I sprint train? For most amateur road racers, one dedicated sprint session per week during the build and race phases is enough. Criterium specialists can handle two — one fresh power session and one fatigued repeatability session — provided recovery is adequate. Masters riders over 45 benefit from one on-bike sprint session plus one gym-based power session rather than two on-bike sessions. During the base or off-season phase, short neuromuscular openers (a few 6-8 second sprints at the end of an endurance ride) keep the nervous system primed without creating significant fatigue. More is not better here. Sprint training is about quality and intensity, not volume.