The recent Cycling World Championships in Glasgow saw the home nation Great Britain collect a competition-high 100 medals across all 13 disciplines. While the plaudits deservedly go to the exceptional athletes, such as the Women’s Team Pursuit squad who won gold by over four seconds, it is worth recognising the key role that data played during and preceding the 10-day event.
The impact and use of data within sport is ever-increasing, with sport scientists and analysts collecting and sharing data to inform performance decisions. Though ‘Data Scientist’ or ‘Data Analyst’ may be job titles that most would associate with business or finance sectors, your favourite Premier League football team almost certainly has a practitioner fulfilling these roles. Elite cycling is no different. As competitive advantages can be gained through maximising the performance of both the human and their machine, cycling has long been at the forefront of innovation in sport. Associated data is essential to success, from bicycle and apparel manufacturers vying to produce the fastest equipment – to the top nations and professional teams aiming to optimise the capacity and position of their riders.
During cycling up to 90% of expended power output is used to overcome air resistance (Debraux et al., 2011), of which approximately 70% of this drag is due to the rider (Underwood et al., 2011). Consequently, emphasis must be placed on reducing the quantity of air resistance experienced by the cyclist through optimisation of their riding position. Research shows that gains of up to 16% can be achieved by reducing an athlete’s frontal area (Garcia-Lopez et al., 2008). This is typically accomplished by reducing the height of the handlebars, tucking the head, and shrugging the shoulders – a position many will be accustomed to seeing at the recent World Championships in the Pursuit and Time-Trial events. Due to the extreme nature of such positions, the human component of the optimal power-to-drag ratio cannot be ignored. Altering position can have a detrimental effect on cycling biomechanics, potentially reducing a rider’s ability to produce power effectively or increasing the likelihood that they experience an injury.
The Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) at Sheffield Hallam University created a bespoke analysis system, aptly named ‘CrankCam’, to allow GB Cycling Team to better understand their athlete’s pedalling biomechanics. Through a combination of optical motion capture and kinetic analysis, insightful data can be collected, processed, and visualised to inform riding position and technique. In conjunction with data accumulated from a state-of-the-art wind-tunnel, it is ensured that performance decisions are backed by the appropriate scientific rigour for a world-leading cycling nation.
CrankCam is not the only contribution that Sheffield Hallam has made to GBCT. SERG and GBCT collaboration, facilitated by the UK Sports Institute, has allowed past and current PhD research placements. A previous SERG student Dr Louise Burnie investigated the effects of strength training on sprint cycling coordination and biomechanics, generating important conclusions to inform future training protocols. I, the writer of this article, am another example of a SERG PhD student placed within GBCT and my research aims to better understand the acute and chronic effects of aerodynamic cycling positions on riding biomechanics. The use of doctoral research further demonstrates GBCTs ambition to achieve success through innovative, data-driven means.
Data that GBCT captures and utilises is not solely confined to scientific evaluations in a lab. Britain along with other major nations value the importance of real-time data capture in the competition environment. Therefore, travelling with each nation to the World Championships were Performance and Data Analysts. At their designated races, each analyst was tasked with collating key footage and information to allow instantaneous feedback and reflection during the competition. In July I had the opportunity to experience this process first-hand, providing performance analysis support at the Junior and u23 European Track Championships in Anadia. Using data derived from race and training efforts, I produced reports with a variety of data science methods to inform decisions related to performance, much like those at the World Championships. This experience was not only a testament to the growth and use of data in cycling but also how a SERG collaborative PhD placement can be a catalyst for development opportunities for students outside of their anticipated research focus – with both the student and partnering organisation benefitting.
GBCT’s recent World Championships success clearly demonstrates how they lead the way in international cycling, and this is in part due to their utilisation of data-driven practice. Despite this, sporting performance relies on many factors that cannot always be quantified. Ultimately, data can be used as a tool to provide important information, but a human still has to ride the bike.
To learn more about Dan’s PhD project check out his SHU profile, and follow him on LinkedIn.