Ambient Temperature and Field-Based Cycling Performance: Insights From Male and Female Professional Cyclists
in International Journal of Sports Physiology and PerformanceBy purchasing this content you agree and accept the terms and conditions
Purpose: Ambient temperature affects endurance exercise performance. However, most research has been conducted in a laboratory-based setting, and whether there are sex-specific trends remains unclear. The present study aimed to analyze the influence of ambient temperature on cycling performance in male and female professional cyclists using field-based data collected during both training and racing. Methods: A total of 74 cyclists (48 male and 26 female; age 29 [5] y, 8 [5] y of experience in the professional category) were included in the analyses. We registered the participants’ record power profile using data from both training and competitions over 8 years (2013–2020; 8 [5] seasons per cyclist). We analyzed their mean maximal power (MMP) values attained for efforts lasting 5 seconds, 30 seconds, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes at ambient temperatures ranging from <5°C to >35°C. Results: A significant influence of ambient temperature on MMP values was found in male and female cyclists (P < .001 for both), with no significant differences between sexes (P = .512). Cyclists attained the highest MMP values at temperate conditions (10–30°C in males and 5–25°C in females), whereas an impairment in performance was found at colder and hotter temperatures, particularly for the more extreme conditions (performance impairment at <5°C and >35°C of −18% to −9% and −16% to −9%, respectively). Conclusions: Ambient temperature influences field-based cycling performance, following a reverse U-shaped relationship, with the highest MMP values attained in the range of ∼10°C to 25°C and with no major differences between sexes.
Valenzuela, Mateo-March, Lucia, and Barranco-Gil are with the Faculty of Sport Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Mateo-March is also with the Sport Science Dept, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain. Zabala is with the Faculty of Sport Sciences, Dept of Physical Education & Sport, University of Granada, Granada, Spain. Muriel and Pallarés are with the Human Performance and Sports Science Laboratory, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Valenzuela and Lucia are with the Grupo de Investigación en Actividad fiÌ sica y Salud (PaHerg), Instituto de Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre (imas12), Madrid, Spain.
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