Determinants of Track Cycling Performance A framework for research and practice
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2023
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In elite track cycling, athletes require highly developed mental, physical, tactical, and technical components to maximise opportunities for success. This complex set of factors must be considered interactively in testing, training, and performance optimisation. Decisions made by coaches, practitioners, and the athletes themselves (collectively, the performance team) have implications for preparation effectiveness and performance readiness. However, limited existing or relevant track cycling-specific research may be impacting performance teams’ abilities to make evidence-based decisions. Therefore, the overall thesis aims were to: understand the demands of elite track cycling performance and factors contributing to athlete and performance development; and, inform the development of a framework for guiding training and research in track cycling. Five studies, using a multiple methods approach, were conducted to address these aims.
Study One systematically reviewed and mapped existing track cycling literature. The review identified a high concentration of research in physical components of performance, with relatively little addressing mental, tactical, or technical aspects. These findings validate concerns about performance teams’ abilities to source track cycling-specific evidence to inform practice. Studies Two and Three analysed team pursuit training characteristics prior to world-record performances using race power and torque demands to quantify training intensities and load accumulation. Study Two profiled athletes’ general preparations, identifying major reductions from previous research in team pursuit training volume. A track-specific programme, complemented by road-based volume and resistance training, targeted greater development of anaerobic and neuromuscular attributes. Study Three contrasted the three-month preparation phases prior to world-record performances in successive seasons. Athletes accumulated greater load at, or above, their race-relative power and torque demands in the second preparation, while increases in race gearing reflected athletes’ neuromuscular development. Study Four surveyed coach, practitioner, and athlete perspectives of training components and research, and their contributions to performance. Respondents relied on personal experience for mental, tactical, and technical components, and highlighted issues with research accessibility and translation to practice. Finally, Study Five examined elite track cycling coaches’ perspectives to identify important contributors to world-class track cyclists’ development. Mental components were considered a differentiator of successful athletes, and greater understanding was needed to develop these qualities interactively with physical, tactical, and technical components.
This thesis reveals overlap between empirical gaps and practice needs, particularly in mental components and their integration with the physical, tactical, and technical. A framework to guide research and practice in track cycling provides opportunities for improving sport science and research impact.
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