Final Sprint

Mate, you ride like me! Only 27 yrs older.
When i started riding I was good at sprinting. Now I have become much better at climbing and I have never trained my sprint. I prefer now to try to win races however I can. If you want to win and don't like sprinting then you could alway try to break away at a later stage of the race.
Pick somewhere where it would be difficult for the rest to try to chase immediately (like some sharpish turns or over a crest) and hammer it all the way and don't look back.
If you dedicated a short time to shorter much harder efforts and rest a bit more afterward you will improve your speed a fair bit. Your sprint will come back after a bit of rest.

Racing isn't just about sprinting.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by nathang
I am 49yo and ride Div 4 in our local vets association.
I am one of the stronger riders in our group,probably spend more time than neccesssary at the front and climb pretty well. Unfortunately when it comes to the final sprint I don't fare that well finishing around 4th-6th. Do I need to be a bit more cunning and spend less time working for the others or can someone help me with some specific training to give me a bit more zip at the end. I enjoy my racing and would rather push the pace (and myself) rather than hang back and let others do the work but it would be nice to reap some reward for effort.

Are you Div 4 by age, e.g., 45-49, or by grading?

Either way, it is my observation that masters races at both those levels inevitably end up in a bunch sprint.

You would benefit more by emphasising on sprint training and being more economical with your energy throughout the race.

Div4 by grading.
Yes most of our graded scratch events finish in bunch sprints except those that finish at the end of a climb(my favorite)
I guess I will have to either work on achieving breakaways or work on my sprinting