Fitness and Training PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES TO PREDICT PERFORMANCE IN CROSS-COUNTRY MOUNTAIN BIKE RACES

Costa VP, De-Oliveira FR. Physiological variables to predict performance in cross-country mountain bike races. JEPonline 2008;11(6):14-24. Mountain bike (MTB) is a recent sport derived from cycling with little information about the athletes and races. The aim of this study was to identify the morph-physiological characteristics in Elite MTB athletes and the physiological variables associated in performance during Cross-country Olympic (XCO) races. Six Elite mountain bikers (26.5 ± .6 years; 69.1 ± 2.1 kg; 174.0 ± 1.2 cm; 5.9±0.9 % body fat estimated; 9.0 ± 1.3 years of training) were included in this study. The participants were submitted to the Wingate test and an incremental progressive exercise. Then they were evaluated during the XCO World Cup and XCO Brazilian National Championship. The results indicate that riders presented similar morphologic characteristics to the international athletes. However, the sub-maximal and maximal power outputs are lower. The maximal power output (Wmax) relative to body mass was significantly associated with performance in two races. The power at second lactate threshold (WLL2) was only significantly correlated in XCO World Cup when normalized to exponent of mass 0.79. Therefore, the results of this study provide the support to the use of the Wmax and WLL2 in the physiological assessments of mountain bikers. Furthermore, the body size should be taken into account to evaluate off road cyclists.