Aim Although 5 of 6 Olympic events in cross-country skiing involve mass-starts, these events are sparsely examined in the scientific literature. Therefore, this study investigated race-develop ment and performance-determining factors during a in cross-country skiing mass-start competition. Methods Fifty-seven male seniors were monitored with high-end GNSS sensors in a 21.8 km (Lap-1-6) national mass-start skate competition and later followed up by an online questionnaire. Skiers with final rank 1-45 were included in the analyses and split into four performance-groups (Gr1-Gr4). Results All skiers stayed together in one large pack until 2.3 km, when the weaker skiers gradually lost the leader-pack and formed new, dynamic packs of 2-8 skiers. Speed differences between groupswere largest in uphill terrain and the skiers in Gr4, Gr3 and Gr2 lost the leader-pack during Lap 3, Lap-4, and Lap-5, respectively. Finally, the skiers in Gr1 (n=10) sprinted for the win during the last 1.2-km and a photo finish was needed to differentiate between the first and second place. A considerable accordion effect occurred during the first half of the competition for the skiers in the back of the pack, and 31% of the skiers reported incidents (none of those were in Gr1). Practical application Adequate start-position (set by performance level), the ability to maintain high speed throughout the competition and particularly in the uphill terrain, to avoid incidents and well-developed final sprint abilities were the key performance-determinants of a skating mass-start competition in cross-country skiing.
© Copyright 2022 Book of Abstracts. 4th Nordic Winter Sports Conference "Performance in snow sports: Translating science into practice" 3rd-4th October, 2022, Mid Sweden University, Campus Östersund, Sweden. Published by Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre at Mid Sweden University. All rights reserved.