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article 2018 8 pages

The effect of aging on pacing strategies of cross-country skiers and the role of performance level

Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis, Elias Villiger, Thomas Rosemann, Beat Knechtle

Journal
European Review of Aging and Physical Activity
DOI
10.1186/s11556-018-0193-y
Study type
original research
Population
master cross-country skiers
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Abstract

Background

The participation of master cross-country (XC) skiers in training and competition has increased during the last decades; however, little is known yet about whether these athletes differ from their younger counterparts in aspects of performance such as pacing. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the combined effect of age and performance (race time) on pacing in cross-country (XC) skiing. We analyzed all finishers (n = 79,722) in ‘Vasaloppet’ from 2012 to 2017, the largest cross-country skiing race in the world, classified according to their race time into 10 groups: 3-4 h, 4-5 h, ..., 12-13 h.

Results

A trivial main effect of sex on total pace range was observed (p 

Description

The study analyzes pacing strategies of master cross-country skiers based on age and performance.