We often hear about the idea of ‘burning matches’ in punchy races, where every hard effort above the rider’s maximal sustainable power expends a ‘match’. It also helps to have a good VO2 max, or capacity to take on and process oxygen to produce energy, because this helps you recover faster from hard efforts.

Repeatability depends a lot on your endurance, which itself relies upon your ability to tap into your body’s fat stores as a source of fuel between efforts, as well as muscular strength. The ability to repeat hard efforts throughout a ride or race is key to cross-country and enduro. Repeatability depends a lot on endurance. We see this reflected in athletes’ heart rate data, which doesn’t recover on descents as much as you might expect if it were on the road. The only real chance to get some respite is on descents, but even these are still very physically taxing, given you’re having to lift and manoeuvre your bike around the terrain. There’s often no peloton you can sit within to shelter and recover, and typically very minimal drafting. A good sprint off the start line is key to getting a strong position and not being held up by slower riders.Īlthough at first glance the intensity profile of MTB XC racing might seem similar to a road race in its punchy nature, a key difference between the two is the intensity really never lets up in XC racing. Race intensities usually start out high from the gun, with the course quickly narrowing down into singletrack.

Olympic-distance cross-country mountain bike racing has been reported to be one of the most aerobically taxing sports, second only to cross-country skiing, with pro riders having among the highest VO2 max values ever recorded. Riders will often hover around 80 to 90 per cent of their maximum heart rate, depending on the length of the race. Justin Setterfield / Getty ImagesĬross-country (XC) racing disciplines, such as Olympic, short track and marathon, test a rider’s endurance and fatigue resistance. XC racing tests a rider’s endurance and fatigue resistance.

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