Niki and I talked a bit how a lot of the match sprints on Sunday were won by people sprinting very, very long - starting with 500m to go. It's a risky strategy - the long sprinter risks tiring him or herself out, being drafted, and passed easily by a much fresher rider.

It's a bit different in a big match sprint tournament; at Kissena, a lot of the sprints were three-up or four-up. I realized that this can wind up working well far more frequently than in a two-up; in one, Niki broke early on turn 4, and Andrew, Deverell, and I fell into a paceline to catch him. However, since only one person would advance, none of us wanted to take the lead to drag the others up to Niki. Each moment that went by, he gained on us - the strength of the pack was broken by Niki's move and by the shortness of the race.

There's a discussion here on sprinting long in match sprints, which is pretty interesting. I'm still making my way through it.

But of course, it's focused on two-up match sprints. Three-up and four-up are of the more amateur, grassroots track variety (I call low-key down-home tracks grassroots track because of their phenomenal people power, and because the roots of the grass and weeds under the surface push around and cause waves, bumps, and distensions).

Next season I'll spend a bit more time and dedication working on my sprint; I watched it rise nicely this season - I even hit 40mph on my road bike a couple of times - and, with a bit more diligence and dedication, I think I can cook up something formidable.