I’m a spinner, so I’m defo coming into it already at probably 110. Then it’s choosing to downshift 1-3 (usually 2) gears before the first big acceleration, so like you say, you get some distance out of that one gear but not get bogged down by it initially. I think that’s where practice comes in. Is it a headwind, false flat, fast lead-out, etc. and downshift accordingly.
My max power probably gets output on average around 130rpm, sometimes higher depending on freshness. Once I’m up to speed and taking a quick assessment, I may be able to do a second acceleration/effort in a longer sprint with one more downshift and get a speed bump that’ll negate the very temporary lower power. It depends how wasted I was before the sprint since this happens at the end of the ride. The last thing I’ll want to do is purely muscle it because frankly, I’m not fresh at this point. Fresh accelerations are amazing, though, and maybe can be muscled a little.
I occasionally ride the track bike (with front brake) with the group and using a gear I can keep up with them isn’t an ideal sprint gear. So, I’m holding 170rpm in the sprint and defo leaving some watts unused. But, I’m not really a sprinter or trackie, so it is what it is, and it’s fun.