In the sport of road cycling, a sprinter is a rider with excellent cycling fundamentals and tremendous energy who can put on bursts of speed to pick up points and positions over short periods of time in big races. A sprinter will generally have a lot of muscle and hence weight, limiting their speed advantage to relatively flat sections. It is not uncommon for sprinters to be dropped from the rest of the team or the peloton in mountainous terain.

In the Tour de France, the top sprinter for a stage is awarded a maillot verte (green jersey).

Currently active cyclists who are known as sprinting specialists include:

• Tom Boonen (Belgium)
• Mario Cipollini (Italy)
• Baden Cooke (Australia)
• Allan Davis (Australia)
• Steven de Jongh (Netherlands)
• Óscar Freire (Spain)
• Angelo Furlan (Italy)
• Thor Hushovd (Norway)
• Jaan Kirsipuu (Estonia)
• Robbie McEwen (Australia)
• Jéan Patrick Nazon (France)
• Stuart O'Grady (Australia)
• Luciano André Pagliarini (Brazil)
• Alessandro Petacchi (Italy)
• Fred Rodriguez (United States)
• Alexandre Usov (Byelorussia)
• Alejandro Valverde (Spain)
• Max van Heeswijk (Netherlands)
• Erik Zabel (Germany)
• Marco Zanotti (Italy)