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This is a descriptive epidemiologic survey on all traumatic and overuse injuries which occurred in 2 groups of male elite road cyclists based on retrospective clinical interviews and physical examinations. The historical group consisted of 65 professional road cyclists surveyed from 1983 to 1995. The contemporary group included 65 elite racers still active and reporting injuries from 2003 to 2009. Injury/cyclist ratio was 1.32 in the historical group and 2.13 in those still active. Traumatic injuries increased from 39.5% (historical) to 53.9% (contemporary) (p<0.05). Severe traumatic lesions decreased from 49.9% in the historical group to 10.5% in the contemporary group (p<0.01). Patellofemoral pain decreased from 28.8% (historical) to 6.1% (contemporary) (p<0.01). Muscle injuries substantially increased from 13.4% to 44.9% (p<0.01). In the historical racers, the rates of risk for traumatic injury were 0.104 per year per cyclist, and 0.003 per 1 000 km of training and competition. These figures increased to 0.287 and 0.009 respectively in the contemporary group. In summary, contemporary professional road cyclists are exposed to double the risk of traumatic injuries than those competing in the 80s and early 90s. However, these lesions have less severity. Overuse injuries had a completely different clinical pattern, with the currently active cyclist exhibiting more muscle injuries and less tendinous lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All traumatic and overuse injuries occurring during an average period of 4 years (2002/09) in a group of 51 currently active road top-level cyclists were retrospectively registered through clinical interviews. Average age was 25.8 years. Average training and competition period was 28.3 ± 2.4 h a week. Only 8 cyclists (15.6%) were completely free from lesions during the period of study. The remaining 43 cyclists suffered a total of 112 lesions; however, 9 out of these were unrelated to their cycling practice. These 103 cycling-related injuries include 50 (48.5%) traumatic and 53 (51.5%) overuse injuries. Twenty-eight fractures were reported, the clavicle being the most frequently affected bone (11 cases). The 68.5% of overuse injuries were located in the lower limbs. Most overuse injuries (89.6%) occurred during the training period. According to the injury abbreviated scale (AIS), severe lesions were only found in 4 cases (8% of traumatic injuries). Overall injury rates were 0.50 per racer/year, 2.02 per studied racer, and 0.007 per 1000 km of training and competition. Active professional top-level cyclists are exposed to a high injury risk. According to the scarce previously published data the current study provides relevant information on the injury occurrence of still active top-level road cycling.

Activities of enzymes involved in muscle damage [creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)] and levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of oxidative stress were monitored in the plasma of 27 members of an America's Cup yachting crew. The preventive benefits of allopurinol on muscle damage were also tested. In racing period A, the crew was divided into two groups according to their tasks on board. Blood samples from all 27 sailors were obtained before the start of a 5-day fleet race, after the last race, and after the ten match races. In period B, crew members were divided at random into two groups. One group (13 participants) received 300 mg/day of allopurinol 3 h before racing. The other ten members received placebo. Blood samples were collected just before and after the second round of the Louis Vuitton Cup. All participants showed increased CK and AST activities after the racing period A. The increase in CK activity was highest in sailors involved in strenuous physical work. At the end of period A, plasma MDA levels were higher in all participants as compared with non-participant athletes. In period B, a significant decrease in CK activity, but not in AST, appeared among participants receiving allopurinol. Plasma MDA decreased in sailors treated with allopurinol, but this reduction did not reach statistical significance. America's Cup is a sailing sport with high physical demands, as shown by the increase in muscle-damage markers. Treatment with allopurinol appeared to decrease the levels of muscle damage markers.

Purpose: To describe the mood profile of an America's Cup sailing team during competition and to evaluate the influence of previous injuries occurrence and intensity of physical work on the boat upon mood state. Relationships between mood domains and metabolic markers of muscle damage were also investigated., Methods: A descriptive study was conducted on an America's Cup yachting race crew comprising 21 male sailors (mean +/- SD; age = 27.6 +/- 8.5 yr, weight = 89.3 +/- 24.9 kg, BMI = 26.5 +/- 6.9 kg x m(-2)). All measurements were collected during the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 in Valencia, Spain. The POMS test and creatine kinase (CK) serum activity were measured and correlated. Sailors were grouped according to their presence or absence of previous musculoskeletal injuries (MI) and the intensity of physical work related to boat position: high intensity (HI) and low intensity (LI)., Results: According to normative data, pre- and postracing POMS scores were constantly high with prominent anger (24.2 +/- 9 before and 24.9 +/- 10.1 after the race) and depression (22.7 +/- 8.9 before and 20.6 +/- 7.3 after the race). The HI group displayed unchanged anger scores but showed significant differences compared with the LI group (z = -2.07, P = 0.038, mu2 = 0.22) at the end of the competition. The occurrence of a previous injury did not correlate with any interference with mood. Only the fatigue domain before racing had a significant negative correlation with CK levels (r = -0.509, P < 0.05)., Conclusions: The emotional profile of this America's Cup yachting crew showed stable mood scores with high values in anger and depression compared with normative data. Mood was dependent on physical work intensity related to boat position but not on injury occurrence. Enzyme markers of muscle damage had no bearing on most POMS domains, except for fatigue before racing.

Purpose: To analyze the effectiveness in reducing the number of sport injuries after application of different strategies of preventive physiotherapy during competition periods in an America's Cup yachting crew., Methods: A prospective physiotherapy intervention study during competition periods for three seasons was conducted on an America's Cup yachting race crew of 30 professional sailors. In the first two acts (2004), athletes did not receive any preventive physiotherapy. In the two acts celebrated in 2005, preventive intervention (phase 1) consisted of stretching exercises before the yacht race and preventative taping. During the four acts corresponding to the 2006 season, the physiotherapy program was implemented adding articular mobilization before competition, ice baths after competition, and kinesiotaping (phase 2). In the last act and the Louis Vuitton Cup (2007), a recovery program with "core stability" exercises, postcompetition stretching exercises, and 12 h of compressive clothing were added (phase 3)., Results: In the preintervention phase (2004), the rate of injured sailors/competition day was 1.66, decreasing to 0.60 in 2007 (phase 3). The number of athletes with more than one injury was significantly reduced from 53% (8 of 15) to 6.5% (2 of 12). In the preintervention period, mastmen, grinders, and bowmen showed a rate of 2.88 injuries per competition day. After phase 3, this group only suffered 0.35 injuries per competition day., Conclusions: The implementation of a program of preventive physiotherapy decreased the risk of injuries suffered during competition by an America's Cup yacht crew.