Fundamentals

Key points :

Head up, chest up

Look straight towards turn one with your head up, not at the ground

Arms straight, pull with both arms from the shoulderblades

Cranks almost horizontal - we recommend between 10 and 20 degrees from horizontal depending on your proportions.

Get timing right

5 , breath out

4, breath out

3 breath in a little

2 breath in hard

1 up and back

0 - GO!

The standing start is used in the Olympic team sprint and is critical to get underway quickly.  It's also used in training as a strength drill and components of it are used in keirins at the start (with a small push and no gate) as well as the kilo and 500m time trials.  Pursuiters will benefit from this technique as well.

The set up for an effective gate start starts with pedal position.  The pedals are usually best set at about 15 degrees above horizontal (or at least, somewhere between 10 and 20 degrees), with the left pedal forward. 

The crank angle can vary a little but it is a lot further forward than would be expected due to the riders hips coming forward during the initial phase of the pedal stroke.  If the cranks were in a "normal" position at roughly in line with the down tube of the bicycle, when the hips are forward, the pedal is close to an effective "top dead center" position, which is weak.  This angle can be tweaked to suit an individual rider's forward position to put them in the most efficient position when driving the first stroke.  We use the left pedal first if at all possible to have the initial pedal stroke pushing the rider up the bank, which usually leads to a straighter start.  You can use the right pedal, but we highly recommend the left.

When learning to start, the key things to do with your arms include keeping your wrists straight.  Often riders will rest or collapse their wrists inwards which is a very poor position to pull from.  Arms should be as straight as possible and the head should be up, with the rider focused on the entry to turn one.  The upper body should be as still as possible throughout the start, except for a recoil position, which is more advanced.  When the gun goes off, you throw your hips forward, pulling hard with both arms from your shoulder blades (deadlifting in the gym helps here!) and driving your left leg hard towards the ground.  Keep your head up and your arms as straight as you can.  For the first three or four pedal strokes you keep this position until you start to get on top of the gear, at which point you can bend your arms and start to settle into a more aerodynamic position.

We recommend that when waiting for your start at competition, that you rehearse your start using the beeps from the start gate while other riders get underway.  On 0 or go you should do something, tap your foot, jerk your hips forward, anything that allows you to synchronise your clock to the start gate timer.