Durability as an independent parameter of endurance performance in cycling

Recent advances in sport physiology have shown, that higher fatigue resistance predicts outstanding performance in endurance sport. However, so far there is no clear consensus on how to test durability in the field or in a laboratory. Protocols of the few existing studies are only suitable for professional male cyclists while most coaches work primarily with amateur athletes. Moreover, it is currently unclear whether durability is dependent on traditional parameters of endurance performance, such as functional threshold power (FTP) or maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max).

20 well trained amateur road cyclist completed a home-based test on two occasions. The first time, after a standardized warm-up, a 5-minute and a 20-minute cycling test were carried out. The second test was preceded by a fatigue protocol which, after the warm-up, consisted of cycling at 80% of their initial 20-minutes power under fresh condition until 1000 kJ of work was completed, followed by 5-minutes and 20-minutes all-out tests.

The performance significantly decreased with 10,1 ± 6,5% in the 20-minutes test and with 10,8 ± 7,8% in 5-minutes in fatigue state in compare with fresh state. No significant correlations were found between better durability and VO₂ max or relative FTP.

We showed that durability is a parameter independent of traditional physiological measures of cycling performance. Looking at durability then working backwards can help identify what coaches need to work on in so many areas that are important to all aspects of racing in cycling sport.