Marginal gains in sprint cycling: quantifying the time-varying impact of aerodynamic drag reduction

Abstract Aerodynamic optimization has gained increasing attention in competitive cycling. It is widely believed that aerodynamics plays a more critical role at higher riding speeds, as the power required to overcome aerodynamic drag is proportional to the cube of the riding speed, making it increasingly dominant at higher riding speeds. This study challenges the applicability of this paradigm for sprint cycling. We demonstrate that neither riding speed nor the percentage of power output used to