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Purpose: To evaluate the predictive value of a (non-)sport-specific test battery on the future success of young cyclists, test scores were compared with competition performances 2–3 years later. Methods: Three motor coordination, 5 physical performance, and 2 cycling-specific measurements were collected in 111 U15 (13.0–14.9 y) and 67 U17 (15.0–16.9 y) male road cyclists. In addition, maturity status, relative age, and competition history were assessed. National and provincial competition results 2–3 years later, in the U17year2 and U19year2 categories, were submitted to 2 separate 4-stage hierarchical regressions. Results: The results of the model of the U15 group revealed that maturity, relative age, competition history, motor coordination, physical performance, and cycling-specific performance accounted for 22.6% of the variance in competitive success. For the U15 category, only maturity and motor coordination were significant predictors of competitive success in the U17year2 category. Maturity and motor coordination each uniquely explained ±5% of the variance. However, for the U17 group—neither motor coordination, physical performance, nor cycling-specific performance could predict competitive success in the U19year2 category. Conclusions: The current study underlines the importance of general motor coordination as a building block necessary for optimal development in youth cycling. However, considering the lack of predictive value from the U17 category onward, other features may determine further development of youth athletes. Nevertheless, it is questioned why athletes need to possess a minimum level of all physical, motor coordination, and cycling-specific characteristics to experience success and enjoyment in their sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between youth road cycling success and becoming a professional cyclist. Specifically, the authors sought to analyze (1) the differences in the success scores in youth categories between future professional (PRO) and future nonprofessional (NON-PRO) cyclists, (2) whether relative age effect influences youth road cycling career pathways, and (3) whether youth competition success could predict a future career as a professional cyclist. Methods: The number of points gathered in the annual national ranking of 1345 Italian cyclists in the U17, U19, and U23 categories were retrospectively analyzed. Participants were divided into 2 groups: PRO (n = 43) and future NON-PRO (n = 1302), depending on whether they reached the professional level. Results: PRO outperformed NON-PRO in all the youth categories considered (ie, U17, U19, and U23). Older cyclists within the same annual age group were not overrepresented in PRO and do not have an advantage over younger cyclists within all the competition years. The number of points gathered in youth competitions provides an indication of probability of becoming professional cyclists from U17 onward with the predictive value increasing with age category. Conclusions: Handling the transition to a new age group well (especially the U19–U23 transition), and therefore having success competing against older and more experienced cyclists, is an important factor for talent identification in youth cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Mireille, M, Johan, P, Matthieu, L, and Pieter, V. A retrospective analysis of the national youth teams in volleyball: Were they always faster, taller, and stronger? J Strength Cond Res 36(9): 2615–2621, 2022—Although there are numerous studies comparing the characteristics of young and adult volleyball players of different levels, it remains unclear to what extent these findings can be used for performance prediction because very few are based on longitudinal or retrospective analyses. The aim of the current retrospective study was to test to what extent anthropometry, physical performance, and motor coordination can predict future selection in national youth teams. From 2012 to 2015, 1738 10- to 13-year-old boys and girls who played volleyball completed 3 anthropometric, 4 physical performance, and 3 motor coordination tests. In January 2020, 52 athletes of this sample were found to be part of one of the national youth teams of Belgium. A multivariate analysis of covariance, discriminant analyses, and logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare the test results of the selected vs. the nonselected players. Significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results showed that the selected players were already taller and showed better jumping performance, and for females, they tended to have better motor coordination at the time of baseline measurement. Therefore, it seems important to focus on the development of motor coordination and jumping performance at young ages because superiority in these characteristics increases the chances to be selected for the national team 4–8 years later. Nevertheless, considering the large variation in results, selection cannot be made based on these characteristics alone. The practical implications for coaches and federations with respect to training and talent detection are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sports, outperforming your peers at young age does not guarantee a professional sports career as an adult. To gain more insight in how performance in youth cycling competitions can be an indicator for future success, the current study (a) examined differences in success rate between future achievers and future non-achievers, (b) investigated whether the relative age effect affects these career pathways and (c) explored to what extent youth competitive performance can predict success at adult age. The sample consisted of 307 male road cyclists who achieved at least one top 10 result during national and provincial youth competitions (U15, U17, U19). Thirty-two were classified as future achievers because they reached senior elite level; the remaining 275 were classed as future non-achievers. Non-parametric analyses of longitudinal data, Kruskal–Wallis and logistic regressions were applied. These analyses revealed that the future achievers started to outperform the future non-achievers from U17 onwards. While the relatively older cyclists have an advantage over other cyclists in U15, this effect was smaller in U17 and was absent in U19. Finally, the competitive success rate of U15 cyclists could not predict success at adult age. However, for U17 and U19 cyclists each additional top 10 result was associated with 3–5%, and 6% higher chance to reach elite level at adult age, respectively. Overall, these results demonstrate that estimating potential based on competition results is unpredictable in the U15 category, however, may provide a better indication of future success from U17 onwards. Highlights The competitive success rate of U15 cyclists could not predict success at adult age From the U17 category onwards, future achievers had higher success rates, and success rate has some predictive value for performance at senior elite level. Competitive performance is influenced by relative age effect in the U15 category, however, this effect disappeared as the athlete progressed into older age categories. Future non-achievers experience a significant decrease in success rate when transitioning to a new competition category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to document the athletic profiles of adolescent and young adult high performance cycling athletes and to investigate to what extent different cycling disciplines can be discriminated from each other based on a generic test battery. A total of 243 adolescent (12.0- 15.99 y) and 63 young adult (>=16 y) male cyclists from road cycling, track cycling, cyclo-cross, and mountain bike (MTB) participated in the study. All participants performed four anthropometric, five physical, three motor coordination, and two cycling-specific tests. Using discriminant analyses, the young adult athletes could be correctly classified to their discipline for 80.7%. Track cyclists outperformed the other disciplines in explosive and coordinative skills while for cyclo-cross, and particularly MTB, the performance on the shuttle bike test seemed to be a distinctive variable. Road cyclists however, showed a significant overlap in performance characteristics with the other disciplines. In spite of the less pronounced discriminative character in the adolescent cycling population (51.0%), the discriminative characteristics are in line with the results of the young adults. This study allows to orient cyclists towards their best-fitted discipline in young adulthood. The relevance of these findings for coaches, experts and federations with respect to early/late specialization, and talent orientation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated differences in generic and soccer specific motor coordination, as well as speed and agility depending on age and maturity in elite youth soccer players (U10-U15, N = 619). Measurements included body height, body weight and sitting height to estimate age at peak height velocity (APHV); three Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder subtests (i.e. jumping sideways (JS), moving sideways (MS), balancing backwards (BB)) to assess generic motor coordination; the UGent dribbling test for soccer specific motor coordination; a 5m/30m sprint and T-test for speed and agility, respectively. Age specific z-scores of the predicted APHV identified players as earlier, on time or later maturing. (M)ANOVA analyses showed significant age by maturity interaction effects for the speed and agility test cluster, revealing maturity related differences in U14 and U15 players. Next to an overall higher performance with age for all test clusters (η2 0.080-0.468), earlier maturing players outperformed their later maturing peers in 5m/30m sprinting. The opposite was seen for JS and BB. So, players' maturity status should be taken into account to adequately value performance in talent identification. Also, the focus on characteristics that appear to be minimally biased by an earlier maturational timing (i.e. motor coordination) should be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]