Fallon Thomas, Nolan Rory, Peters John, Heron Neil
Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast T12 6BA, UK.
Edinburgh Sports Medicine Research Network & UK Collaborating Centre on Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport (UKCCIIS), Institute for Sport, PE and Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK.
Sports (Basel). 2025 Jan 14;13(1):20. doi: 10.3390/sports13010020.
Injury and illness rates within cycling are a growing concern for riders, medical personnel, and event organisers. This study is the first to document injury and illness rates in professional cyclists throughout one competitive season including training and racing. A prospective, longitudinal study was conducted with 47 professional cyclists (30 males and 17 females) over the 2024 season (1 November 2023-31 October 2024). Injuries and illnesses were defined and recorded following the International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus guidelines for injury reporting in sports and its cycling-specific extension. Data collection utilised a centralised online hub, integrating exposure metrics (e.g., training hours and kilometres) and medical records. All data were processed on a Macintosh computer using the Microsoft Office and R statistics packages epi tools, binom.test function, and ggplot. (V.4.3.2, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Ethical approval was obtained from Queens University Belfast, number MHLS 23_175. Fifty-five injury events were logged, with 1.15 (±0.359) locations injured per incidence and 1.57 (±1.06) injury types per incident. The overall combined injury rate for racing was 4.14 (95% CI: 2.65-5.79) per 1000 h of exposure, with the overall combined rate for training being 1.23 (95% CI: 0.8-1.7) per 1000 h. The injury risk ratio (RR) for injury during racing and training for females was 11.10 (95% CI: 2.69-37.60), and the RR for males was 10.24 (95% CI: 3.84-43.06), both indicating there is a significantly higher risk of injury during racing compared to training. Abrasions were the most common injury type, with fractures being the most burdensome injury. The most common illness was upper respiratory, 0.63 (95% CI: 0.27-0.99) per year for males and 1.11 (95% CI: 0.64-1.59) per year for females. Saddle sores were the second most common at 0.20 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.36) per year for males and 0.08 (95% CI: 0-0.18) per year for females. This study provides the first comprehensive, season-long surveillance data for injuries and illnesses in male and female professional road cycling, highlighting the significant differences in injury profiles between racing and training. These results underscore the need for targeted injury prevention strategies and the establishment of a standardised injury and illness framework for professional cycling.
自行车运动中的伤病发生率日益受到车手、医务人员和赛事组织者的关注。本研究首次记录了职业自行车运动员在一个完整竞技赛季（包括训练和比赛）中的伤病发生率。在2024赛季（2023年11月1日至2024年10月31日）对47名职业自行车运动员（30名男性和17名女性）进行了一项前瞻性纵向研究。按照国际奥委会（IOC）关于体育赛事伤病报告的共识指南及其自行车专项扩展内容来定义和记录伤病情况。数据收集使用了一个集中的在线平台，整合了暴露指标（如训练时长和公里数）以及医疗记录。所有数据在一台苹果电脑上使用微软办公软件和R统计软件包的epi工具、binom.test函数以及ggplot（版本4.3.2，R统计计算基金会，奥地利维也纳）进行处理。获得了贝尔法斯特女王大学的伦理批准，编号为MHLS 23_175。记录了55起伤病事件，每次发病受伤部位为1.15（±0.359）处，每次事件伤病类型为1.57（±1.06）种。比赛的总体综合伤病发生率为每1000小时暴露时间4.14（95%可信区间：2.65 - 5.79），训练的总体综合发生率为每1000小时1.23（95%可信区间：0.8 - 1.7）。女性在比赛和训练期间的伤病风险比（RR）为11.10（95%可信区间：2.69 - 37.60），男性为10.24（95%可信区间：3.84 - 43.06），两者均表明比赛期间的伤病风险显著高于训练期间。擦伤是最常见的伤病类型，骨折是负担最重的伤病。最常见的疾病是上呼吸道疾病，男性每年发病率为0.63（95%可信区间：0.27 - 0.99）例，女性为1.11（95%可信区间：0.64 - 1.59）例。鞍疮是第二常见的疾病，男性每年发病率为0.20（95%可信区间：0.04，0.36）例，女性为0.08（95%可信区间：0 - 0.18）例。本研究提供了首个关于男女职业公路自行车运动员伤病情况的全面、长达一个赛季的监测数据，突出了比赛和训练期间伤病情况的显著差异。这些结果强调了制定针对性伤病预防策略以及为职业自行车运动建立标准化伤病框架的必要性。
