Can the Performance Gap between Women and Men be Reduced in Ultra-Cycling?

Sabrina Baumgartner, Caio Victor Sousa, Pantelis T. Nikolaidis and Beat Knechtle
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Sabrina Baumgartner: Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland
Caio Victor Sousa: Health Technology Lab, College of Arts, Media and Design; Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Pantelis T. Nikolaidis: Exercise Physiology Laboratory, 18450 Nikaia, Greece
Beat Knechtle: Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: This study examined a large dataset of ultra-cycling race results to investigate the sex difference in ultra-cycling performance (100 to 500 miles) according to age and race distance. Data from the time period 1996–2018 were obtained from online available database of the ultra-cycling marathon association (UMCA), including distance-limited ultra-cycling races (100, 200, 400, and 500 miles). A total of 12,716 race results were analyzed to compare the performance between men and women by calendar year, age group (18–34, 35–44, 45–59, and 60+ years), and race distance. Men were faster than women in 100 and 200 mile races, but no sex differences were identified for the 400 and 500 mile races. The performance ratio (average cycling speed men /average cycling speed women ) was smaller in the 200 mile races compared to the 100 mile races and remained stable in the 400 and 500 mile races. In all race distances, the difference in average cycling speed between women and men decreased with increasing age. The gender gap in performance was closed in several distance-limited ultra-cycling races, such as the 400 and 500 mile races.

Keywords: ultra-endurance; performance; gender; cycling speed (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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