The Impact of Grand Tour Cycling on Sleep and the Hematological and Metabolomic Profile in World-class Cyclists

• Conditions: Overreaching
• Interventions: Other: Cyclist

• Registration Number: NCT06386900
• Lead Sponsor: KU Leuven

Brief Summary

This project aims to identify the effect of a 3-week Grand Tour (e.g. Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España) on sleep, hematological parameters and the serum metabolome in world-class cyclists.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-07-01
• Status Verified: 2024-04
• Study First Submitted: 2024-04-17
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-04-24
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-04-24
• Study First Posted: 2024-04-26
• Last Update Posted: 2024-04-26
• Primary Completion: 2024-09-15
• Study Completion: 2024-12-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 16

Inclusion Criteria

• Cylist participating in a Grand Tour (e.g. Tour de France, Vuelta a España, Giro d'Italia)

Exclusion Criteria

• /

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Elite cyclists participating in a Grand Tour	Cyclist	* Sleep metrics will be tracked by a smart ring (OURA Gen3, OURA Health Ltd, Oulu, Finland) starting from one month prior to the start till the end of the Grand Tour * Nocturnal heart rate and heart rate variability will be collected by a smart ring (OURA Gen3, OURA Health Ltd, Oulu, Finland) starting from one month prior till the end of the Grand Tour * Fasted whole blood samples and urine samples will be collected on the morning of (i) the first stage, (ii) the first restday, (iii) second restday, and (iv) last stage of the GrandTour (only in one Grand Tour for a total of 8 cyclists).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sleep efficiency during the Grand Tour	Every night starting from one week before till the last night of the Grand Tour	Percentage change in sleep efficiency during the Grand Tour (measured by OURA ring)
Total sleep time during the Grand Tour	Every night starting from one week before till the last night of the Grand Tour	Change in total sleep time during the Grand Tour (measured by OURA ring)
Blood haemoglobin concentration	Start of the Grand Tour - restday 1 of the Grand Tour - restday 2 of the Grand Tour - last day of the Grand Tour	Change in the blood haemoglobin concentration during the Grand Tour
Serum metabolome abundance of cyclists participating in a Grand Tour	Start of the Grand Tour - restday 1 of the Grand Tour - restday 2 of the Grand Tour - last day of the Grand Tour	Changes in the abundance of serum metabolites within the cyclists between 4 timepoints (measured by mass spectrometry)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Light sleep	Before the start of the Tour - restday 1 - restday 2 - end of Grand Tour	Percentage change in light sleep during the Grand Tour (measured by OURA ring)
REM sleep	Before the start of the Tour - restday 1 - restday 2 - end of Grand Tour	Percentage change in REM sleep during the Grand Tour (measured by OURA ring)
Deep sleep	Before the start of the Tour - restday 1 - restday 2 - end of Grand Tour	Percentage change in deep sleep during the Grand Tour (measured by OURA ring)
Wakefulness after sleep onset	Every night starting from one week before till the last night of the Grand Tour	Percentage change in wakefulness after sleep onset during the Grand Tour (measured by OURA ring)
Red blood cell concentration	Start of the Grand Tour - restday 1 of the Grand Tour - restday 2 of the Grand Tour - last day of the Grand Tour	Change in red blood cell concentration during the Grand Tour
Subjective fatigue	Start of the Grand Tour - restday 1 of the Grand Tour - restday 2 of the Grand Tour - last day of the Grand Tour	Absolute change in subjective fatigue during the Grand Tour (measured by 11-point scale)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

KU Leuven; 🇧🇪 Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium