Mauricio Garzon, Associate Professor at the University of Montreal’s School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences
We suspected it, but now the science backs it up: cyclists born at high altitude would fare better.
That’s the conclusion of a Colombian study that Mauricio Garzon, a lecturer at the University of Montreal’s School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences, took part in.
To arrive at this result, the research team subjected 80 runners aged 80 to 80 to runners aged 17 to 22 from three ability classes and three age groups.
First, while cyclists born at altitudes greater than 2000m accounted for about 50% of the analyzed sample, cyclists who competed as professionals in a “grand tour” (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia or Tour of Spain ) a significantly higher proportion (84%) of the study group.
Second, runners born at low altitude had lower MAP and VO2max than mid- and high-altitude cyclists.
“For cyclists who get on the podium in the Grand Tour, the fundamental factor of their success is better oxygen consumption, and we have shown that being born, growing up and training at high altitude improves this consumption,” says Mauricio Garzon.
height and performance
At altitude, the available oxygen is reduced. To compensate for this, the body produces, among other things, more hemoglobin and hematocrit, elements of the blood that facilitate the transport of oxygen to the organs. These hematological adaptations would increase aerobic capacity in that total red blood cell volume increases and promotes oxygen consumption, a key factor in endurance sports success.
Many teams and professional organizations go on “altitude training courses” to improve the performance of their athletes. However, the hematological benefits of these approximately three-week stays only remain in the body for a short time.
“Our study shows that there appears to be a genetic component in high-altitude natives, possibly even more so if this is also the case in their parents and grandparents, that allows this adaptation to occur naturally,” continued Mauricio Garzon. This is what we see on the great tours: many cyclists from Ecuador, Colombia or in general from mountain areas such as the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Sierra Nevada or the Carpathians and even those who train at altitude in some areas of Colorado and Arizona manage to to stay on top during the mountain stages, they respond better to efforts at high altitude.
Favored, of course, but…
Athletes born at high altitude would therefore be more predisposed to becoming high-performance athletes, especially in endurance sports (when the socio-economic context allows it), thanks to a natural production of hematological components that favor oxygen transport in the body.
But there is a downside.
Professional athletes are subject to doping controls. And sometimes some cyclists exceed the permitted limits even without doping.
This applies in particular to erythropoietin (EPO). Used as a doping agent, EPO is a hormone naturally secreted by the kidneys to stimulate red blood cell production, thereby increasing oxygenation and saturation. And the hypoxia caused by the altitude just stimulates the production of EPO. It would therefore be possible to present high levels of this hormone naturally.
“In the world of sport, we are beginning to think about this hypothesis: that certain athletes react differently because of their environment or their genetics, and not because of cheating,” specifies the researcher.