A sprinter is a road bicycle racer or track racer who can finish a race very explosively by accelerating quickly to a high speed, often using the slipstream of another cyclist or group of cyclists tactically to conserve energy.

Apart from using sprinting as a racing tactic, sprinters can also compete for intermediate sprints (sometimes called primes), often to provide additional excitement in cities along the route of a race. In stage races, intermediate sprints and final stage placings may be combined in a points classification. 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. At the Tour de France, the most successful recipient of this honor is Slovak sprinter Peter Sagan, who has won seven Tour de France green jerseys (2012–2016, 2018–2019).

Sprinters have a higher ratio of fast-twitch muscle fibers than non-sprinters. Road cycling sprinters sometimes tend to have a larger build than the average road racing cyclist, combining the strength of their legs with their upper body to produce a short burst of speed necessary in a closely contested finish. Some sprinters have a high top speed but may take a longer distance to achieve it, while others can produce short and sharp accelerations. Aerodynamics plays a key role in sprints.

A sprinter is usually heavier, limiting their speed advantage to relatively flat sections. It is therefore not uncommon for sprinters to be dropped by the peloton (also known as the 'bunch' or 'pack') if a race is through hilly terrain.

Sprinters may have different preferences. Some prefer a longer "launch" while others prefer to 'draft' or slipstream behind their teammates or opponents before accelerating in the final meters. Some prefer slight uphill finishes, while others prefer downhill finishes.

In conventional road races, sprinters may bide their time waiting until the last few hundred metres before putting on a burst of speed to win the race. Many races will finish with a large group sprinting for the win; some sprinters may have team-mates, so-called domestiques 'leading them out' (i.e., keeping pace high and sheltering the sprinter) so that they have a greater chance of finishing in the leading positions. These teammates tend to "peel off" one by one as they tire; the last teammate is known as the "lead-out sprinter" and the best of them are excellent sprinters in their own right.

Several of the Classic one day races, for example Milan–San Remo or Paris–Tours, tend to favour sprinters because of their long distance and relatively flat terrain. A long day of racing does not benefit a sprinter per se, but very long stages or one day races tend to preclude successful breakaways and otherwise aggressive racing, ensuring the race will come down to a bunch sprint. Most editions of these races end in a bunch sprint, often won by racers also successful in the points classification at stage races. Stronger sprinters with abilities in hilly terrain or on cobblestones also have good prospects of winning the Ardennes classics or the Cobbled classics respectively.

The first great pure sprinter in the Tour de France was Frenchman Charles Pélissier who won eight stages in the 1930 Tour de France, still a record (shared with Eddy Merckx and Freddy Maertens). A year later, Pélissier battled with Italian sprinter Raffaele di Paco in one of the first major sprinter clashes. Both won five stages. In the 1941 Vuelta a España, Delio Rodríguez won 12 stages, followed by 8 the next year. He even managed to win the Overall Classification a few years later.