Understanding the Physiological Requirements of the Mountain Bike Cross-Country Olympic Race Format

Arnaud Hays, Simon Devys, Denis Bertin, Laurie-anne Marquet, Jeanick Brisswalter

Objectives: To evaluate the physiological requirements imposed by the current mountain biking Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) format. Methods: Sixteen Cross-Country cyclists competing at national or international level participated in this study. All participants completed a simulated and a real official race on a cycling-accredited race track. Oxygen consumption (O2) and heart rate (HR) values expressed as %O2max and %HRmax, respectively, were divided into three physiological intensity zones. The first zone (Z1) was the physiological region below VT1, the second zone (Z2) corresponded to a region between VT1 and VT2, and the third zone (Z3) was located between VT2 and VO2max. For power output, an additional fourth zone was considered above maximal aerobic power (MAP). Results: When competing in the current XCO format, 37.0 ± 17.9% of the race is performed above the second ventilatory threshold at a mean intensity of 87% O2max and 25% of the race was spent above MAP. This contribution varied between laps, with a very high intensity during the first lap and more aerobic subsequent laps. The durations of most of the periods beyond MAP oscillated between 5 and 30 s. Between these short, repeated bursts, low-intensity periods of exercise were recorded. Conclusion: The current XCO race format is an acyclical and intermittent exercise comparable to high-intensity team sports. Moreover, our results highlight the relevance of O2 values when analyzing XCO performance, they should be combined with commonly used HR and/or power output data.