The Record Power Profile of Male Professional Cyclists: Fatigue Matters.

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the influence of fatigue on the record power profile of professional male cyclists. We also assessed whether fatigue could differently affect cyclists of 2 competition categories. We analyzed the record power profile in 112 professional cyclists (n = 46 and n = 66 in the ProTeam [PT] and WorldTour [WT] category, respectively; age 29 [6]y, 8 [5]y experience in the professional category) during 2013-2021 (8 [5] seasons/cyclist). We analyzed their mean maximal power (MMP) values for efforts lasting 10 seconds to 120minutes with no fatigue (after 0kJ·kg-1) and with increasing levels of fatigue (after 15, 25, 35, and 45kJ·kg-1). A significant (P < .001) and progressive deterioration of all MMP values was observed from the lowest levels of fatigue assessed (ie,-1.6% to -3.0% decline after 15kJ·kg-1, and -6.0% to -9.7% after 45kJ·kg-1). Compared with WT, PT cyclists showed a greater decay of MMP values under fatigue conditions (P < .001), and these differences increased with accumulating levels of fatigue (decay of -1.8 to -2.9% [WT] with reference to 0kJ·kg-1 vs -1.1% to -4.4% [PT] after 15kJ·kg-1 and of -4.7% to -8.8% [WT] vs -7.6% to -11.6% [PT] after 45kJ·kg-1). No consistent differences were found between WT and PT cyclists in MMP values assessed in nonfatigue conditions (after 0kJ·kg-1), but WT cyclists attained significantly higher MMP values with accumulating levels of fatigue, particularly for long-duration efforts (≥5min). Our findings highlight the importance of considering fatigue when assessing the record power profile of endurance athletes and support the ability to attenuate fatigue-induced decline in MMP values as a determinant of endurance performance.