{
  "abstract": "Background: Cycling is an established Olympic sport associated with a distinct injury profile that has not yet been comprehensively investigated. This study aimed to retrospectively assess and analyze severe cycling-related injuries resulting in ≥ 3 weeks of time loss over a complete Olympic cycle.\n\nMethods: A total of 192 cyclists were included, based on a retrospective online questionnaire assessing injury location, type, context, time loss, and return-to-sport outcomes. Comparisons by sex, discipline, and competitive level were performed at the athlete level using exact tests with 95% confidence intervals and were considered exploratory.\n\nResults: Seventy-two of 192 athletes sustained at least one severe injury over the five-year period, corresponding to a proportion of 37.5% (95% CI 31.0–44.5). A total of 237 injuries were recorded, with the upper extremity (33.8%) and lower extremity (27.8%) being the most frequently affected regions. The most common diagnoses were hand fractures (n = 14), clavicle fractures (n = 13), and non-specific knee injuries (n = 9). Hand fractures (33.3%; p = 0.002) and shoulder dislocations (20.0%; p = 0.002) were most frequent among BMX athletes, while hand fractures also occurred more frequently in competitive athletes than in recreational athletes (13.5% vs. 1.0%; p = 0.001). Clavicle fractures occurred predominantly during competition and non-specific knee injuries during training. Mean time loss ranged from 6.5 weeks for hand fractures to 13.3 weeks for shoulder dislocations. Full return to pre-injury performance ranged from 85.7% after hand fractures to 28.6% after acromioclavicular (AC) joint separations.\n\nConclusion: Injury patterns differed by discipline and setting, suggesting that prevention strategies should address both. The low rate of full return to performance after AC joint separations despite moderate time loss underlines the importance of distinguishing return to sport from return to performance in rehabilitation.\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-02201-x.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Witten/Herdecke, Cologne Merheim Medical Centre, Cologne, Germany",
    "Orthopädie em Veedel, Praxis für Orthopädie, Unfallchirurgie und Sportmedizin, Cologne, Germany",
    "Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany",
    "Department of Sports Medicine, Charité – University Medical Center Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany",
    "Department of Orthopedic, Trauma and Hand Surgery, Klinikum Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany",
    "Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Traumatology, Sana Medical Centre, Witten/Herdecke University, Cologne, Germany",
    "Department of Biomechanics, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Christophe Lambert"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Maxime Lambert"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Marlene Galandi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Bernd Wolfarth"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Casper Grim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Sven Shafizadeh"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Ramona Ritzmann"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3q75p6p8mq7bd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s13102-026-02201-x",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13737534/",
  "id": "3q75p6p8mq7bd",
  "issns": [
    "2052-1847"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-02201-x",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2732|Sports injuries and prevention"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7208752366",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13737534",
  "pmid": "42983465",
  "published": "2026-11-03",
  "publisher": "BMC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3q75p6p8mq7bd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T12:22:41Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13737534",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-02201-x"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2732|Sports injuries and prevention",
      "subfield": "surgery"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Severe injuries in competitive cycling during an olympic cycle: injury patterns, time loss, and return-to-performance outcomes",
  "title_text": "Severe injuries in competitive cycling during an olympic cycle: injury patterns, time loss, and return-to-performance outcomes",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T12:22:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3q75p6p8mq7bd",
  "venue": "BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation",
  "versions": []
}