Metabolic Signatures of Performance in Elite World Tour Professional Cyclists

To characterize molecular profiles of exertion in elite athletes during cycling, we performed metabolomics analyses on blood isolated from twenty-eight international-level elite World Tour professional male athletes from a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Team taken before and after a graded exercise test (GXT) to volitional exhaustion and before and after a long aerobic training session. Using dried blood spot collection to circumvent logistical hurdles associated with field sampling, these studies defined metabolite signatures and fold change ranges of anaerobic or aerobic exertion in elite cyclists, respectively. Moreover, established signatures were then used to characterize the metabolic physiology of five of these cyclists that were selected to represent the same UCI World Team during a 7-stage elite World Tour race. Collectively, these studies provide a unique view of alterations in the blood metabolome of elite athletes during competition and at the peak of their performance capabilities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors declare that TN, KCH and AD are co-founders of Omix Technologies, Inc. TN, AD and ISM, are co-founders of Altis Biosciences. AD is a SAB member for Hemanext Inc, Macopharma, and Forma Therapeutics Inc. AD is a consultant for Rubius Therapeutics. All other authors have no conflicts of interests to disclose.