Observation of Response Strategies in Cycling Time Trials

Abstract

Athletes in sprint events use various mental and physical starting strategies prior to beginning a race. Included among these strategies are sensory-set and motor-set strategies. A sensory-set strategy is one in which the athlete concentrates on reacting as fast as possible to an auditory or visual stimulus. A motor-set strategy is one in which the athlete consciously attends to a component of a well-learned skill rather than to the stimulus which evokes the initiation of the skill. The purpose of this study was to observe differences in starting techniques of 20 championship cyclists in the one-kilometer time-trial sprint race. Analysis showed that 10 highly proficient cyclists responded significantly faster after the auditory stimulus and recorded faster 1/2-lap split times than 10 proficient cyclists. Strategy selection and use of elite cyclists should be investigated further to examine efficient starting strategies and procedures.