Professional women's record power profile: across 44 female professionals (32,028 training and racing files over 1-6 years), mean maximal power averaged 15.3 W/kg for 5 s, 8.4 for 1 min, 5.2 for 10 min and 4.2 for 60 min; sprinters led at 5-30 s and time trialists in W/kg at 10-60 min

Mateo-March and colleagues set out to chart the record power profile of women professional cyclists and to see whether it differs by type of rider.

They analysed 32,028 power files from training and competition recorded by 44 professional women over 1-6 years, classed each rider as an all-rounder, time trialist, climber or sprinter, and took her mean maximal power (MMP) for efforts from 5 s to 60 min, both per kilogram and in watts.

Across the group, MMP averaged 15.3 (SD 1.8) W/kg for 5 s, 8.4 (0.8) for 1 min, 5.2 (0.5) for 10 min and 4.2 (0.4) for 60 min. For 5-30 s efforts sprinters had the highest values: higher per kilogram than all the other categories (Hedges g 1.40-2.31) and higher in watts than the climbers (g 4.48-8.06).

Time trialists had the highest values for longer efforts, with more W/kg than all-rounders and climbers for 10-60 min (P < .05, g 1.21-1.54). The authors conclude that the profile differs substantially by rider type and offer the values as a benchmark for coaches and scientists identifying talent in women's cycling.