The purpose of this research was to quantify the power, heart rate, perceived exertion and mood disturbance during the 2020 Costa Blanca Bike Race. Data was collected from six athlete’s who shared power output and heart rate data from each stage of the race whilst completing a Profile of Mood States questionnaire and perceived exertion scale post stage. The results suggested that both physiological (power output and heart rate) and psychological measures (RPE and POMS) remained relatively stable over the course of the four-day race suggesting the athletes did not fatigue. The strongest correlate of performance was relative normalised power output (r = -0.997) with mean power (r = -0.955), in race critical power (r = -0.980) and maximum power output (r = -0.967) were also correlated with performance (time). This evidence extends the finding of both previous road and mountain bike Olympic literature which highlights the variability of power output in cycling and its importance in success. This evidence can be used to improve the training programs of XCS athletes by ensuring that they incorporate variable intensity cycling into their training in addition to the predominantly aerobic training that has been suggested previously.
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