Can the Performance Gap between Women and Men be Reduced in Ultra-Cycling?
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Retrospective observational registry study of historical race results
PubMed 32272640 · doi:10.3390/ijerph17072521
What was done
Researchers analyzed 12,716 race results from 1996 to 2018 obtained from the Ultra-Cycling Marathon Association (UMCA) online database. The analysis compared cycling performance between men and women across four race distances (100, 200, 400, and 500 miles), four age categories (18-34, 35-44, 45-59, and 60+ years), and calendar years.
What was found
Men achieved faster average cycling speeds than women in the 100-mile and 200-mile events, but no sex differences were detected in the 400-mile and 500-mile races. The performance ratio (average male speed divided by average female speed) was smaller in 200-mile races than in 100-mile races and remained stable across 400- and 500-mile events. Across all race distances, the sex gap in average cycling speed diminished as age increased. The abstract did not report exact numerical speeds, ratios, confidence intervals, or p-values.
Why it matters
This study suggests that the physiological performance gap between male and female endurance athletes narrows and may disappear as cycling race distance extends beyond 400 miles and as athlete age increases.
Limits
The abstract does not disclose exact numerical values, effect sizes, statistical significance metrics, or the unique number of individual participants (as opposed to total race entries). It is an observational registry analysis unable to control for training volume, pacing strategy, environmental conditions, drafting, nutrition, or attrition bias across longer events.
Cited by
- supports As endurance race distances increase, the performance gap between male and female competitors narrows.