@article{Ouvrard_Garbellotto_Soenen_Grappe_2015, title={Cyclo-cross Performance and Physiological/Psychological parameters}, volume={4}, url={https://jsc-journal.com/index.php/JSC/article/view/223}, abstractNote={<div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>Background: </span><span>The new models of exercise performance consider both physiological and psychological parameters to better understand the performance (Marcora 2008: Eur J Appl Physiol 104: 929-931). Despite this, to our knowledge, no study tried to analyse jointly both physiological and psychological determinants of cycling performance. Several studies identified that peak power output and ventilatory/lactic thresholds were strong predictors of the performance in mountain bike and road cycling (Impellizzeri </span><span>et al</span><span>. 2005: J Sports Sci 23(1): 41-47; Hawley and Noakes 1992: Eur J Appl Physiol 65: 79-83). For psychological aspects, anxiety, self-confidence and a modified state of mind called Flow has been proposed as main determinants of the performance (Curry </span><span>et al</span><span>. 1999: Dossier EPS 43: 26-45; Jackson and Eklund 2002: J Sport Exerc Psy, 24, 133-150). Unfortunately, physiological and psychological determinants of cycling performance never were studied jointly. We used a French national cup of cyclo-cross to analyse some physiological and psychological parameters in young cyclists. </span></p> <p><span>Purpose</span><span>: To study the relationship between cyclo-cross performance and physiological/psychological parameters. </span></p> <p><span>Methods</span><span>: 12 cyclo-cross competitors (6 U</span><span>19 </span><span>and 6 U</span><span>23</span><span>) took part in this study. Their performances (final ranking of the race) were recorded during the first round of the French national cyclo-cross cup. During the following week, they performed constant duration tests in order to determine their maximal mean power output for duration of 1s (P</span><span>1s</span><span>), 5s (P</span><span>5s</span><span>), 30s (P</span><span>30s</span><span>), 4min (P</span><span>4min</span><span>) and 20min (P</span><span>20min</span><span>). They also answered two psychometric questionnaires (Flow State Scale-2, Jackson and Eklund 2002; and “Echelle d’état d’anxiété competitive”, Curry </span><span>et al. </span><span>1999) in order to determine their levels of Flow, self-confidence, cognitive and somatic anxiety during the competition. </span></p> <p><span>Results</span><span>: Significant relationships were found between final ranking and P</span><span>4min </span><span>(r = -0.94; p &lt; 0.05) and P</span><span>20min </span><span>(r = - 0.89; p &lt; 0.05) for the U</span><span>23 </span><span>group (figure 1). No significant relationship was found between the performance and P</span><span>1s</span><span>, P</span><span>5s</span><span>, P</span><span>30s </span><span>and levels of Flow, self-confidence, somatic, cognitive anxiety. The level of Flow was homogeneous and relatively high in all the subjects (3.4 ± 0.5 on a scale of 1 to 5). </span></p> <p><span>Discussion</span><span>: The results of this study show that the U</span><span>23 </span><span>cyclo-cross performance could be related to P</span><span>4min </span><span>and P</span><span>20min </span><span>but not to psychometric questionnaires scores. In accordance with Pinot and Grappe (2011: Int J Sports Med 32: 839-844), these results suggest that the ability to produce high power output at both maximal aerobic power and anaerobic threshold is an important determinant of cyclo-cross performance. However, the lack of relationship between the performance and the psychometric scores shouldn’t be used to minimize the impact of psychological parameters in establishing a performance. It would be relevant and valuable to develop new methods and research tools to assess and analyse the relationship between cycling performance and psychological parameters. </span></p> <p><span>Conclusion</span><span>: The performance in cyclo-cross would partly depend to the ability to produce high level of power output at intensities close to both maximal aerobic power and anaerobic threshold (P</span><span>4min </span><span>and P</span><span>20min</span><span>). More accurate and sensitive questionnaires or research tools will be needed to better understand the psychological dimension of cyclo- cross performance. </span></p></div></div></div></div&gt;}, number={2}, journal={Journal of Science and Cycling}, author={Ouvrard, T and Garbellotto, L and Soenen, F and Grappe, F}, year={2015}, month={Dec.} }