From an interview with Brian Viner in July 2009 this comment by Chris
Boardman sums up the psychology of sprinters, he was talking about Mark
Cavendish;
"And he doesn't see the world in the same way as everyone else. In
a sprint, with bodies everywhere all going at 70mph, I'd see the bodies, but he
sees the gaps between the bodies. That's the difference"
I think he meant 70kph but it's still pretty fast; drive down the road
at 40mph in your car, these people would be passing you. Now imagine
that in a tightly packed bunch just inches apart.
Generally during a sprint, and in the last few minutes before it, the
sprinter's body is full of adrenalin. He or she is in the full fight mode. In
this situation the brain collects and processes information as fast as it can
to such an extent that sprinters often remember every detail as if it were slow
motion. The road surface, the movements of the other riders, the moments to
make a move, when to make a final kick; all of those things happen so quickly
yet the sprinter has plenty of time to react. This high speed processing
creates a feeling of control and considering the potential for big accidents
they are actually quite rare suggesting that the control is impressively real.
The adrenaline really does, as Chris Boardman said, let the sprinter see
things differently from the rest of the bunch. The sprinter's brain really does
see possibility; the gap will open up, there is enough room, I can do this. In
all the high speed and pressure of a handful of intense seconds the sprinter is
still making considered decisions, just faster than any other considered
decision you'll ever make. Can I get through, what if so and so goes early, do
I follow, do I go 95%, left or right the decisions all taken faster than you
can read the words. That's what adrenaline can do. Adrenaline can also make a
person hide, shake and run away, turn them into a quivering wreck, but the
sprinter uses adrenaline, lives for it and harnesses its power, that's the difference.
Of
course there is so much more to the psychology of sprinters.
To anyone other than the sprinter the lead up to the sprint, high speed
jockeying for position and that last few hundred metres looks dangerous.
Spectators and non-sprinting cyclists see high speed, close proximity, the odd
elbow being used and riders blocking each other and pushing to get out of a box
and all of this at a speed hovering around 40mph (60kph). In fact for very many
cyclists it is just too much and they won't get involved. There is very
definitely an element of risk and an element of fear.
The sprinter sees things differently. The biggest risk for the sprinter
is not ending up in the gutter with a broken bike and broken bones; by far the
biggest risk for the sprinter is someone getting to the line ahead of them. You
can recover from broken bones, most serious sprinters know this because they've
done so (or they've seen their opponents do so), your bike can be mended, but
you never recover from the missed opportunity when you were second across the
line. That second place stays with you. The fear of not winning is greater than
any fear of crashing and it is this fear that stokes the adrenaline level
mentioned above.
Nobody likes to finish second but in a sprinter's mentality it would be
better to win the sprint for second place when a lone rider has already won the
race than to be beaten to the line in a bunch. It is all about being the
absolute fastest in the final rush for the line. There is no greater thrill in
sport. The sprinter may dream of a lone race win, and occasionally it might
happen, but they tend to be realist and understand that their best chances will
always come from within a decent sized group. Winning at the head of a charge
of 50 or more riders is always the biggest rush.
When the sprinter doesn't win it doesn't matter what he or she says,
they feel a very deep sense of failure. That feeling is horrible and leads to a
level of self analysis which some will share and others will internalise. The
sprint takes about 10 seconds at the end of hours of racing but in those
seconds the sprinter has invested everything, a fraction of a second's
hesitation, or starting an effort a fraction of a second too early, misjudging
the wind, the gradient or the opponent; all of these things can make the
sprinter lose. They are all failures and failure is the sprinters biggest fear.
Telling the failed sprinter that they have another chance tomorrow is no
real consolation. Challenging the sprinter to do better (no doing better isn't
enough to), challenging the sprinter to win tomorrow has a better chance of
success.
When you see Mark Cavendish almost in tears because he or she got it
wrong and doesn't need sympathy, he needs the challenge of another race,
another boost of the sprinters number one friend adrenaline followed by the
second drug of choice; endorphins - winning gives a shot both and makes the
sprinter feel better; until the next time.
Essentially the sprinter is the world's fastest addict!
So how do we get into the realm of the sprinter? My next "Back to basics" blog post will focus on the techniques of the sprinter and then I'll look at the tactics of the sprinter and finally at training....
