Given a flat road with no wind, at the end of a road race, a top amateur field, the top speed in the sprint would be very close to what the pros are doing. Maybe 41-43mph. The biggest difference between top amateurs and pros is that the pros have big leadouts, like Petacchi's team. Pro road sprinters are not a whole lot more power than good amateur sprinters. I know some cat 2s who can do more power than Petacchi in a sprint. But Petacchi has the superior aerobic engine to get him to the finishline after a brutal 120miles and still be strong. His threshold power is 400watts, that's not a whole lot less than the good GC guys in the big tours.BVSoos said:How about the sprints in a pro-race like Giro Italia/Tour de France and other World Cup races ?
I red somewhere tha Alessandro Petacchi had an end-speed of 71 km/h in a winning sprint in the Giro. ...........
that would be 53x11 with about ONLY 115 rpm !
does anyone know what top-amateurs usualy reach in winning sprints ?
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BTW, my most efficient cadence when sprinting out of the saddle on a flat road is 115rpms too.