Time to exhaustion at estimated functional threshold power in road cyclists of different performance levels

This study assessed the functional threshold power and the time to exhaustion estimated from the Allen & Coggan test and verify whether performance level has an influence on this parameter.

Cross-sectional study.

Twenty-minute test proposed by Allen & Coggan and cycling test to exhaustion were used to obtain the functional threshold power and a time to exhaustion. Cyclists were divided into performance groups based into 4 categories according to their VO_2max.

The median (interquartile range) time to exhaustion at the functional threshold power was 35 (31-38) minutes for recreationally trained cyclists, 42 (38-51) for trained ones, 47 (41-56) for well-trained ones and 51 (44-59) for professional level cyclists. Time to exhaustion increased with cyclists' experience and performance level (p < 0.001).

The high time to exhaustion variability observed in this study suggests that functional threshold power and time to exhaustion should be assessed and reported independently for each subject. Also, cyclists' performance level and experience should be factored in when attempting to study the time to exhaustion, as better performing and more experienced cyclists consistently show longer times to exhaustion at the functional threshold power.