Understanding Sprint-Cycling Performance: The Integration of Muscle Power, Resistance, and Modeling

Abstract

Sprint-cycling performance is paramount to competitive success in over half the world-championship and Olympic races in the sport of cycling. This review examines the current knowledge behind the interaction of propulsive and resistive forces that determine sprint performance. Because of recent innovation in fi eld power-measuring devices, actual data from both elite track-and road-cycling sprint performances provide additional insight into key performance determinants and allow for the construction of complex models of sprint-cycling performance suitable for forward integration. Modeling of various strategic scenarios using a variety of fi eld and laboratory data can highlight the relative value for certain tactically driven choices during competition.Key Words: exercise performance, physical performance, sport, sport physiology, biomechanics, anaerobicOf the 28 world-championship races governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), 8 are all-out sprint events (menʼs and womenʼs sprint, 500/1000-m time trial, Keirin, and BMX), 4 are often decided in the fi nishing sprint (menʼs and womenʼs road race and scratch race), and 2 require repeated sprints (menʼs and womenʼs points race). Thus, sprint performance is a major determinant of most world-championship racing events. Ultimately, sprint performance represents equilibrium of propulsive power and resistance. In this article, we will review factors that infl uence maximal cycling power and cycling resistance and the limited investigations exploring sprint-bicycling performance. Sprint-performance articles are quite limited because devices that accurately quantify power during actual bicycling have only recently been developed and validated. Finally, we will integrate aspects of muscle power and resistance in the context of sprint performance.

Riding against the wind: a review of competition cycling aerodynamics

“…3. The magnitude of the pressure drag is proportional to the pressure differential generated between the low-pressure wake areas and the high-pressure stagnation regions located on the leading surfaces of the rider [9]. The resultant pressure force is found by integrating the surface pressure distribution, which acts normal to the body surface, over its entire surface.…”

“…3 Simplified diagram of the flow field around a cyclist from Martin et al [9], highlighting the high-pressure leading surface regions and the low-pressure turbulent wake. Reprinted with permission from Human Kinetics, Inc., from Martin et al [9], Ó1999; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. and in the wake, or by reducing the magnitude of the high-pressure stagnation regions on the leading surfaces of the body.…”

Critical determinants of combined sprint and endurance performance: an integrative analysis from muscle fiber to the human body

“…Muscle peak power is largely determined by the myosin heavy chain isoform expression and muscle volume (e.g., 11,12,[16][17][18][28][29][30][31], whereas (muscle) endurance capacity relies on mitochondrial oxidative capacity and oxygen supply toward and within the muscle (e.g., 1, 20-22, 27, 32-34). It is, however, generally acknowledged that muscle fiber size and oxidative capacity are inversely related (25,35).…”

“…This increases the complexity of maximizing performance and increases the complexity of physiologic adaptations in response to training and/ or nutritional interventions. So far, most research has addressed determinants of physical performance at the organ or whole-body level (e.g., in cycling, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Another factor that adds to the complexity of optimizing physical performance is that adaptations for endurance or peak power are mutually exclusive, particularly in skeletal muscle (24)(25)(26).…”

“…During the past decades, physiologic determinants of physical performance have been the subject of intensive investigation (e.g., in cycling, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Studies focused on determinants of either sprint (e.g., [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] or endurance performance (e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][19][20][21][22][23], even though physical performance is rarely a dichotomous function of only sprint or only endurance. Generally, a limited number of whole-body determinants of sprint or endurance performance have been studied, although there are many physical performance determinants at different levels (i.e., molecular, cellular, whole-muscle, organ, and whole ABBREVIATIONS: 3D, 3-dimensional; CAF, capillaries around the fiber; CD, capillary density; C/F, capillary-to-fiber ratio; FCSA, fiber cross-sectional area; fVȯ 2max , fiber maximal oxygen consumption; [Hb], hemoglobin concentration; Hct, hematocrit; [HHbMb], deoxygenated hemoglobin and myoglobin concentration; iSDH activity, spatially integrated SDH activity, SDH activity 3 FCSA; KE, knee-extension; LBM, lean body mass; L f , fascicle length; LT1/2, first/second lactate threshold; [Mb], myoglobin concentration; MCH, mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; MHC, myosin heavy chain; [O 2 HbMb], oxygenated hemoglobin and myoglobin concentration; PCSA, m...…”