Author(s): BUSSENEAU, P., VONDERSCHER, M., CORBEX, E., MOREL, B., SAMOZINO, P., BOWEN, M., Institution: UNIVERSITÉ SAVOIE MONT-BLANC, Country: FRANCE, Abstract-ID: 2348

INTRODUCTION:
Ski mountaineering (SkiMo) is a newly introduced Olympics sports under the format of sprint race: a 3-min effort alternating skiing uphill, running in steps to reach the top of the slope (70m elevation) and skiing down the slope. This requires athletes to produce high levels of power output and to maintain it over time against different constraints. In this context, individual’s power capacities in different force, velocity and fatigue conditions are well described by the Force-Velocity-Endurance (FoVE) relationship characterized by initial and critical force and velocity parameters (F0i, F0c, V0i,V0c)(1). When assessed during locomotion (e.g. running), the FoVE profile includes both muscular capacities and specific technical abilities. The aims of this study were i) to characterize the interindividual variability in FoVE profiles in elite SkiMo athletes and ii) to evaluate to what extent the FoVE profile is specific to the locomotion.
METHODS:
Individual FoVE profiles were determined on 10 athletes from the French SkiMo team in running (close to SkiMo locomotion) and pedaling (not specific to SkiMo). A submaximal decreasing ramp test (RACLET (2, 3)) interspaced by 10 sprints was performed in 120m-shuttle running. Then, a 3-min all-out was performed in pedaling against a sinusoidal-changing friction (SAVOI test (4)). In both tests, FoVE profile parameters (F0i, F0c, V0i, V0c) were determined from fitting FoVE model on force and velocity data measured/computed over time.
RESULTS:
Initial and critical capacities (F0i vs F0c and V0i vs V0c) were not correlated for both testing modalities (r <|0.402|, p from 0.249 to 0.955). While F0i and V0i were correlated within the same task (r>0.880, p<0.001), F0c and V0c were not (r<|0.180| , p>0.6). Regarding association between pedaling and running, initial capacities (F0i and V0i) were correlated (r>0.847, p<0.01) whereas critical capacities were not (r<|0.217|, p>0.540).
CONCLUSION:
In elite athletes, FoVE profiles brings insightful and complementary information. In both tasks, initial and critical capacities are not correlated. Yet maximal force and velocity were strongly associated in free-fatigue conditions, critical force and velocity capacities were not. This underlines the interindividual variability in endurance capacities across the velocity spectrum: athletes may present a high endurance at low velocity but a low one at high velocities. Moreover, critical capacities (F0c and V0c) were not correlated between running and cycling, showing that endurance capacities are very specific to locomotion. Running test provided here the FoVE capacities with closer technical abilities to SkiMo, with the possibility to translate force parameters into locomotion capacities in various gradients, which can be. of great interest to orient training, notably throught repeated resisted sprints training.

(1) Morel et al. 2023 ECSS
(2) Bowen et al. 2023 ECSS
(3) Vonderscher et al. 2025 BioRxiv
(4) Bowen et al. 2024 Medecin sciences