title: Demands of World Cup Competitions in Elite Women's Road Cycling.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the demand of recent World Cup (WC) races comparing top-10 (T10) and non-top-10 (N-T10) performances using power data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Race data were collected in 1-d World Cup races during the 2012-2015 road cycling seasons. Seven female cyclists completed 49 WC races, finishing 25 times in T10 and 24 times in N-T10. Peak power (1 s) and maximal mean power (MMP) for durations of 5, 10, 20, and 30 s and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min expressed as power to weight ratio were analyzed in T10 and N-T10. The percentage of total race time spent at different power bands was compared between T10 and N-T10 using 0.75-W·kg-1power bands, ranging from <0.75 to >7.50 W·kg-1. The number of efforts in which the power output remained above 7.50 W·kg-1for at least 10 s was recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MMPs were significantly higher in T10 than in N-T10, with a large effect size for durations between 10 s and 5 min. N-T10 spent more time in the 3.01- to 3.75-W·kg-1power band when compared to T10 (P = .011); conversely, T10 spent more time in the 6.75- to 7.50- and >7.50-W·kg-1power bands (P = .009 and .005, respectively) than N-T10. A significantly higher number of short and high-intensity efforts (≥10 s, >7.5 W·kg-1) was ridden by T10 than N-T10 (P = .002), specifically, 46 ± 20 and 30 ± 15 efforts for T10 and N-T10, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ability to ride at high intensity was determinant for successful road-cycling performances in WC races.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Menaspà
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sias
authors.forename: Gene
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Torre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010807:Physical Endurance
keywords: intermittent; performance analysis; power output