Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Physiological Differences Between Road Cyclists of Different Categories. A New Approach.

2009; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 41; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1249/01.mss.0000353467.61975.ae

1530-0315

Íñigo San Millán, Carlos González‐Haro, María Sagasti,

Muscle metabolism and nutrition

There is a lack of cycling-specific protocols to assess physiological parameters in road cyclists and it is important to develop them to improve testing efficiency for road cyclists. PURPOSE: To determine through a new protocol and approach the physiological differences between road cyclists of different categories of racing and performance. METHODS: 70 road male cyclists (20 juniors (JC), 20 elite amateurs (AC), 20 UCI Pro Tour professionals (PC), and 10 world class professional cyclists (WPC)). WPC group was composed of podium finishers at any of the Grand Tours (Tour de France, Italy and Spain), World Champions and winners of any UCI Pro Tour league race. All groups performed a new protocol test on a cyclergometer: Initial workload: 2 W·kg-1 with increments of 0.5 W·kg-1 every 10 min-1 until exhaustion. Blood lactate concentration ([La-]) was measured at the end of each stage to determine [La-] corresponding to each W·kg-1 workload. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and peak power output (Wmax) were obtained at the end of the test. Physiological variables among the groups were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Significant differences in absolute and relative Wmax were observed between all groups. At workloads expressed in W·kg-1, [La-] was significantly lower in those cyclists with the highest level of competition and performance.TableCONCLUSION: [La-] at a given W·kg-1 workload, measured through our new protocol, is a good discrimination factor between road cyclists of different levels and categories. This variable has not been studied in the past, and opens a new perspective for the study of physiological adaptation to endurance exercise.