Training characteristics of male and female World Tour professional road cyclists before the competitive phase

Abstract

Evidence regarding the training characteristics of professional cyclists is limited, particularly for female athletes, so this study aimed to compare the week-by-week training characteristics of female and male professional road cyclists at the highest competitive level. Data were analysed from 16 female (age 26 ± 5 years) and 16 male WorldTour cyclists (age 29 ± 6 years), with power output (PO) and heart rate (HR) recorded during the 10 weeks preceding the first competition of the season. Various measures of training load (e.g., total time, training stress score [TSS], training impulse [eTRIMP]) and training intensity distribution (i.e., time spent in each intensity zone) were assessed. Female and male cyclists completed a similar number of training sessions (5.9 ± 0.9 vs 6.0 ± 0.9 sessions/week, respectively; p = 0.760), although males trained more hours (16.7 ± 2.6 vs 19.1 ± 2.7 hours/week; p = 0.016). A significant reduction in training volume was observed during the last week before the competitive phase, particularly in females (11.2 ± 4.6 vs 17.7 ± 4.9 hours; p < 0.001). Most cyclists (> 90%) followed a pyramidal training intensity distribution throughout the study period regardless of sex; however, females spent less absolute and relative time in low-intensity zones measured by both PO (p < 0.001) and HR (p = 0.009), with more time allocated to higher-intensity zones. No differences were found in relative training load indicators such as TSS (p = 0.986) or eTRIMP (p = 0.612). Overall, female cyclists exhibited lower training volumes—particularly at low intensity—than male cyclists, although similar relative training loads were observed in both sexes, likely due to the higher relative training intensity among female cyclists.