Sprinter (cycling)
For example, in the points classification in the Tour de France, the maillot vert (green jersey) is won by the race's most consistent sprinter.
[8] As the sport of cycling progressed into one of more specialized riders in the 1980s, bunch sprints became the arena of specialists – pure sprinters like Guido Bontempi, Jean-Paul van Poppel and Mario Cipollini, all focusing primarily on sprint stages, with other riders (classics specialists, time trialists, climbers etc.)
Mark Cavendish was named the Tour de France's best sprinter of all time by French paper L'Équipe on July 15, 2012.
Of the five riders to win the Points classification in all three Grand Tours, three were pure sprinters: Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish.
The only three riders in cycling's history to win stages at all three grand tours in the same calendar year were all sprinters: Miguel Poblet in 1956, Pierino Baffi in 1958 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003.
Seán Kelly won 21 stages in the Tour and Vuelta, and the Points Classifications of both races four times each, in addition to his nine major Classics wins.
Likewise, Belgian classics specialists Rik Van Steenbergen, Rik Van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck were very successful due to a good final sprint, as were Italian Giro d'Italia-winners Bepe Saronni and Francesco Moser and their compatriot and two-time World Champion, Paolo Bettini.
Conversely, many sprinters use their abilities to win more than just stages, and were successful in classics such as the Tour of Flanders (like Rudi Altig and Jan Raas), Paris–Roubaix (Eddy Planckaert) and the Giro di Lombardia (like André Darrigade) or even stage races (in addition to the aforementioned Leducq, Rodríguez, Maertens, Saronni and Moser, they include Rudi Altig, Sean Kelly and Laurent Jalabert who all won the Vuelta, as did 1968 Tour de France winner and all-rounder Jan Janssen.
Other "flat" one day races considered important sprinter classics include Gent–Wevelgem, Scheldeprijs, Vattenfall Cyclassics, Paris-Brussels and Paris–Tours.
Sprinting on a cycle track or velodrome ranges from the highly specialised sprint event (where two or more riders slowly circle the track looking to gain a tactical advantage before launching a finishing burst over the final 200 metres, which is timed), to massed-start events decided by the first across the line after a certain number of laps (similar to road racing).
In Madison racing, a team may comprise a specialist sprinter, for when sudden bursts of speed are required, and another rider able to ride at a more consistent high tempo.
