AUTHOR=Weiss Katja , Valero David , Andrade Marilia Santos , Villiger Elias , Thuany Mabliny , Knechtle Beat 

TITLE=Cycling is the most important predictive split discipline in professional Ironman® 70.3 triathletes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1214929

DOI=10.3389/fspor.2024.1214929

ISSN=2624-9367

ABSTRACT=Our study analyzed 16,611 records of professional triathletes who participated in 163 Ironman® 70.3 races across 97 countries from 2004 to 2020. Our goal was to identify the most predictive split discipline. Correlation matrices were used to assess the association between the dependent variable 'finish time' and the independent variables 'swim time,' 'bike time,' and 'run time.' For both males and females, the correlation coefficients for 'bike time' (0.85) and 'run time' (0.75 for females and 0.82 for males) were higher than 'swim time' (0.46 for females and 0.63 for males). Our univariate and multiple linear regression models revealed that 'bike time' had the strongest association with overall race time (R2=0.8), followed by 'run time' (R2=0.689) and 'swim time' (R2=0.414). All three split times and the total race time followed a normal distribution. Overall, 'bike time' was found to be a stronger predictor of race time than 'run time' and 'swim time' for both sexes. Additionally, the performance of male and female athletes was more comparable in swimming than in cycling or running.