Officially included in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the sprint format is one of the 5 race formats currently in practice for competitions by the International Ski-Mountaineering Federation (ISMF).1 Defined by the ISMF competition rules as short uphills and downhills, sprint races cannot exceed 80 m in elevation and must last approximately 3 minutes. Multiple studies highlighted different characteristics between sprint and distance competitors in cross-country skiing, especially by a higher aerobic capacity (VO2max) relative to body weight in short-distance athletes2 and the determining impact of the anaerobic capacity whose energetic pathway would cover 25% of the energy needed during the race.3 In addition, the recovery capacity has also been presented as a determining aspect of performance for multiround race formats4 wherein better preservation of muscular contractile properties and improved lactate concentration ([La]) reduction between sprint heats seems to contribute to the performance among elite cross-country sprinters.5,6 Although any limiting effect of blood [La] accumulation on performance is debated,7 [La] remains an interesting marker of fatigue related to metabolic acidosis and subsequent impaired muscle function.8 It was recently shown that (1) maximizing recovery time improves sprint cross-country skiing performance and (2) shorter recovery time between repeated ski sprints limits blood lactate recovery.9 Taken together, these results suggest that a larger decrease in lactate between sprint repetitions would support subsequent sprint performance. Besides, if several results highlighted the determining aspect of VO2max and the second ventilatory threshold in overall ski-mountaineering performance,10,11 limited investigations have been conducted on the specific physiological properties of sprint racing. Therefore, with a demonstrated effect of active recovery on [La] reduction in sprint cross-country athletes,4 it is of interest to investigate the impact of active recovery sessions on physiological responses and subsequent performance in ski mountaineering. Commonly used by cross-country skiers between heats in knock-out sprint races, ergocycles may offer optimal intensity adjustment for the recovery protocol close to the finish line where space is limited for an on-skis recovery. Consequently, the aim of this study was to compare recovery phases between multiple sprint sessions in elite ski mountaineers using a 10-minute ergocycle protocol at 70% of maximal heart rate intensity compared with a self-selected recovery strategy and passive recovery. Active recovery on an ergocycle was hypothesized to improve multiple-heat sprint performance compared with a self-select modality.
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