Analyzing Cory Williams' winning sprint at the Crystal Cup

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(Image credit: Dan Munson)

Cory Williams suffered a tragic GoPro failure during his victorious ride at the Armed Forces Cycling Classic Crystal Cup, so there won't be a video blog entry. But we have the next best thing: an expert analysis of Williams' sprint power data by his coach Adam Mills of Source Endurance.

There is zero chance or randomness in a field sprint. In fact, the term "field sprint" is misleading. What we witness isn't a field sprint but more like a handful sprinters having at it with the remaining riders following and incorrectly believing that they have a chance. It is no coincidence that we would all pick the same five riders to compete for a three-up podium in a Tour de France field sprint. To that end, we would all pick the same five climbers to compete for a three-up podium on a climbing stage. Sprinters are specialists and taking a sprinter to a bunch gallop is akin to believing that a non-climber can win a mountain top finish. Statistically, it just doesn't happen.

With WKO4 software from Training Peaks, we can examine data in limitless ways. The view here shows the entire race with any effort higher than Cory's FTP in yellow and any output great than 150% of his FTP is in red. Effectively, this is a good way to see when "matches" are being burned. There are a few key points I want to make here. First, is that many of the matches are similar in intensity and length. This is indicative of accelerating out of corners and not from any commitment in the wind creating moves or bridging. Second; the frequency of the spikes decrease as the race continues.

The tight proximity of efforts early in a race is something we expect from a technical criterium due to the benefit of staying in the front. Maintaining that position requires a balance of throttle, maneuvering, and decision making as Cory leverages speed and utilizes course features and other riders to hold a favourable position. As the peloton fatigues, there are fewer challenges to position and the frequency of matches burned will subside. This typically happens about at about 60-70 minutes of a Pro-1 criterium.

However, the protection afforded Cory thanks to the superb work of his Elevate- KHS Pro Cycling Team in this race was at an entirely different level. As Dr. Ross Tucker from Science of Sport writes, "Also, a good lead-out train seems to facilitate the last kilometres of competition with a smooth ride, compared to a more stochastic ride for sprinters that have to find their way in the bunch alone". This lead-out was, in a sense, textbook. Let's have a look at the 0:09:15 lead-out compared to the first 0:09:15 of the race, but in a heat map format…

You'll notice lots and lots of extremely polarized action here. Cory is either pedaling at a very high intensity, or coasting. This is the playground of a world-class sprinter and, while it only lasts for a handful of seconds (1:55), it's amazing to watch and interesting to analyze. First, the high power efforts in the last lap are all part of an intricate balance of position, patience, conserving, and burning to maintain a position capable of winning the race. In some ways, the last 2-4 minutes of a race are the most stressful for sprinters and Cory has even told me he likes it when they turn the final corner because, "then, all I have to do is run to the finish line."

Examining the sprint is always something Cory and I enjoy. It's always a treat when I can be a part of a world-class performance and this is exactly that. The final sprint, in its entirety, was a scant 18 seconds. But in those 18 seconds, Cory made a few key decisions that led him to win the race by coming from 3rd wheel. Such a feat is rare and to do it while every sprinter is accelerating is even more impressive. To start, Cory needs to negotiate the last turn at a speed well above 30mph (blue) (GPS systems don't handle speed at turns particularly well). Next every sprinter instantly accelerates to top speed as fast as possible knowing that every metre closer to the finish line makes it exponentially more difficult to pass. Here is where we see an "easing" of output from Cory. Cory was simply gaining too fast on the leaders and needed to change the timing of his sprint ever so slightly. So, he "eased" over the next 3-4 seconds from 1070W (yellow) to 680W and back to 950W before reigniting the afterburners at his maximum output of the day, making the pass and winning the race.