Conference Paper

COMPARISON OF BIOMECHANICAL DATA OF A SPRINT CYCLIST IN THE VELODROME AND IN THE LABORATORY

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a reliable testing method to measure biomechanical variables that describe sprint cycling performance on a velodrome track, compared to on an ergometer in a laboratory. Seven elite track sprint cyclists performed sprints on an isokinetic ergometer in a laboratory and over half lap distances in a velodrome. Key biomechanical variables characterising sprint cycling were measured. Relatively small differences in the variables were found between the ergometer and track sprints. However, the static task constraints of ergometer cycling led the cyclists to adopt a different position which seemed to allow them to increase overall power output and rate of force development. Future research is needed to assess whether the differences in joint angles and crank powers were due to the different environmental and task constraints between the ergometer and the track bicycle sprints.

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... Estimating a rider's CoM movement while cycling on an ergometer, treadmill, or overground can be done using an optical motion capture system (Ericson, Nisell, and Nemeth 1988;Miller, Martin, and Wells 1988;Burnie et al. 2018). However, there are limitations to each of these experimental setups. ...
... Treadmills can improve ecological validity, but performing maximal sprinting is problematic due to the danger of matching the belt velocity to the rapid acceleration and high velocity of the bicycle wheels. Overground cycling can be captured (Burnie et al. 2018), but the calibrated volume of the camera system will limit the number of cycles that can be collected. Thus, a method for tracking a rider's CoM motion when motion capture is not feasible would make it possible to examine the preferred movement pattern of cyclists outside of the laboratory. ...
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