A longitudinal analysis of start position and the outcome of World Cup cross-country mountain bike racing

Abstract

For any athlete competing at the highest level it is vital to understand the components that lead to successful performance. World cup cross-country mountain biking is a complex sport involving large numbers of athletes (100-200) competing for positional advantage over varied off-road terrain. The start has been deemed a major part of performance outcome in such races. The purpose of the present study was to establish the relationship between start and finish position in cross-country mountain bike World Cup events over a 10 year (1997-2007) period and to make comparisons with a model manipulating start position based on predicted athletic capabilities. Data collection and comparisons included results from World Cup events from 1997 to 2007 (males and females), and modelled race data based on potential performance capabilities over the same period. Analyses involved the association of annual plus pooled start and finish position (Kendall's tau) along with banded mean, standard deviation for number of changes in position, while non-constrained linear regression enabled comparison between seasons. Actual race data showed significant positive correlations between starting position and finishing position (P < 0.01) in all cases but less than the model. A mean 57.4% (s = 5.6) of males changed < 15 positions, while 62.9% (s = 9.1) of females changed < 10 positions compared with modelled data (83.6%, s = 0.8 and 91.6%, s = 1.5 for males and females respectively). Individual season comparisons show general patterns to be identical (P > 0.05) for both males and females. In conclusion, finishing position is highly dependent on start position and strategies need to be devised for competing athletes to progress in the sport.

Relationship between starting and finishing position in World Cup BMX racing

“…The strength of the correlation decreased in relation to the actual race distance, with the strongest correlations associated with race distances of 500m and the weakest in the 1500 m races (Muehlbauer & Schindler, 2011). Similarly, data collected from World Cup crosscountry elite mountain bike cyclists over a ten-year period also revealed an association between the start and finishing position (Macdermid and Morton, 2012). Specifically, Macdermind & Morton (2012) reported a positive correlation between starting and finishing position for those riders who gained a position at the front of the bunch during the start of a race.…”

“…Specifically, Macdermind & Morton (2012) reported a positive correlation between starting and finishing position for those riders who gained a position at the front of the bunch during the start of a race. Macdermid and Morton (2012) concluded that the influence of the starting position was strongly significant, and should influence a coach's decisions regarding physiological and strategic approaches to training.…”

“…The competition format for BMX racing involves a number of qualifying heats called Moto's in which the fastest four riders from each group qualify for the quarter finals, semi-finals and eventually the final. A typical Moto is contested by riders on a race track consisting of eight lanes, and in contrast to other cycling disciplines, such as, for example Mountain Bike Racing, the riders start position is allocated randomly and not determined by a seeding system (Macdermid & Morton, 2012). However, a rider's finishing position in the Moto determines the lane they will occupy in the quarter-finals and semi-finals (e.g.…”

Predictive Validity of Critical Power, The Onset of Blood Lactate and Anaerobic Capacity for Cross-Country Mountain Bike Race Performance

“…This is an aspect that requires further investigation given the frequency of occurrence of maximal and supra-maximal efforts occurring during XCO-MTB races. 3 One possibility is that the ephemeral nature of supra-maximal efforts while race defining based around positional advantage 3 is minimal with regards to physiological contribution. Indeed, total anaerobic contribution, including the start effort, is less than 5% of overall race duration.…”

“…3 More detailed field based analysis acknowledges great variability in recorded power output data due to terrain and frequency analysis identifying 42% of logged data to be greater than the anaerobic threshold. 2 Exploratory research into the demands of such activities as XCO-MTB is usually accompanied by investigations determining the validity of performance, physiological or fitness variables used to predict performance.…”