UCI Sports Nutrition Project: The Science of Successful Cycling Performance

Cycling is one of the most popular sports worldwide, with competition events ranging from a few seconds (e.g., track sprint) to several days (e.g., road cycling 3-week Grand Tours). Professional cycling is arguably at the pinnacle of endurance sport demands due to the large number of events, range in durations, and variation in race conditions that these athletes must successfully negotiate. Numerous factors can affect performance in cycling, notably the type of event (e.g., track vs. road, single-day vs. multistage race); extrinsic conditions (e.g., race profile, weather conditions, altitude, team tactics); and individual variables (e.g., mental, physical, physiological, and technical attributes, nutritional strategies). In the present review, we aim to summarize the main factors underlying cycling performance. Particularly, we discuss current literature quantifying physiological and energetic demands imposed by races of different cycling modalities-albeit with a particular focus on road cycling-the factors associated with success in these races, the physical and physiological characteristics of elite/professional cyclists and their training regimens, and how these factors may be influenced by nutrition. Continued development in elite cycling requires a combination of traditional physiological markers with individual anthropometric and power-duration curve characteristics, as we move toward clustering of typologies and, ultimately, individual optimization of the training process.