Eminence in Endurance Cycling Sports

The objectives of this dissertation were to define and explore eminence in endurance cycling. To accomplish these objectives, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Chapter 1 involved a narrative review of the literature and provides a historical account of the development of the body of knowledge around eminence in sport. In Chapter 2, a definition of eminence in a specific context of endurance cycling sports was explored. This was done by way of a Delphi method including two panels, the first involving athletes and the second involving technical experts such as coaches and performance directors. The next two chapters utilized quantitative designs where the research questions explored the developmental histories of athletes who met the criteria of eminence. For all quantitative analyses, the Union Cycliste International (UCI) database, which includes all UCI sanctioned race results from across the globe (~ 4.7 million race results), was interrogated. Several notable findings were revealed. In Chapter 2, criteria for the achievement of eminent status in endurance cycling sports were established, which included the need to win at least three high level races including the World Championships, Olympic Games and some sport specific races and general classifications such as the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders in Road cycling and the World Cup general classification in Mountain Bike. Chapter 3 revealed that becoming an eminent cyclist was more strongly related to a diversified approach to racing across multiple cycling sports rather than fully specializing in a single cycling sport. Findings also revealed that those that achieved eminent status reached their first podium in elite races at a much younger age than those who did not. In Chapter 4, it was revealed that whilst junior to elite predictability varied between sports, junior performance in these cycling sports has a higher predictive value than suggested in other pieces of research on talent identification and development. In summary, this research program provides a framework for researchers to explore eminence in sport specific settings and provides guidance for administrators and coaches to increase the likelihood of athletes becoming eminent through specific selection and development approaches.