Abstract

The workload demands in professional cycling races have previously been estimated indirectly through monitoring heart rate (Mujika and Padilla 2001, Jeukendrup and Van Diemen 1998). However, this method does not take different variations due to the influences on heart rate, for example: cardiovascular drift, rider position, or the “day to day” variation. On the other hand, the mechanical power output that is produced by the cyclist to propel the bicycle may be the most direct indicator of exercise intensity being considered as an absolute variable. In many studies, research has focused on timetrial protocols in order to determine the relationship between peak power output, lactate threshold and time trial performance, the power requirements in the 4000-m individual and team pursuits or seasonal changes in power of competitive cyclists (Broker et al. 1999, Paton and Hopkins 2005). However, just a few number of scientists have studied the measurement of maximal power output in mass start races (Vogt et al. 2006). Verf.-Referat