Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine
Georgia Smith
Discuss the impact of climatic conditions on the body’s temperature regulation mechanisms and how they affect safe sports participation for athletes competing in the Tour de France. The Tour De France is a multiple stage bike-riding event competed in France every year. Starting on the 2nd of July at Passage du Gois and finishing at Champs-Elysées on the 24th of July. It consists of 21 daylong stages over a 23-day period. Based on the Tour de France in 2011, the race consisted of 10 flat stages, 6 mountain stages and 4 summits finishes, 3 medium mountain stages, 1 individual time-trial stage and 1 team time-trial stage covering an overall distance of 3,430.5 km’s. Athletes competed in temperatures of 5°C to 31°C, and humidity of 20% - 100%. Conditions during Tour de France can change rapidly resulting in athletes to be prepared for thermoregulation demands and to counteract heat loss within hours. These conditions can make it difficult for athletes to aid temperature regulation mechanisms (conduction, convection, evaporation and radiation) thus affecting safe sports participation.
Conduction occurs when the body comes in direct contact with something that is a different temperature to the body. It’s worth 3% of the bodies heat loss. During the stage 8 of 2011, the sky is chaotic, storms & showers are unpredictable all day. The contact athletes receive with the rain and the wind in 12°C temperatures can result in a decrease in performance. The body during these conditions will be falling out of the core body temperature, initiating a series of physiological responses to rebalance the core body temperature. Preparing for these conditions is vital in the days leading up to the event. The team leaders will be preparing for these conditions, and will have athletes wearing certain clothing. Athletes will be wearing, gloves, arm warmers, skins, booties and most importantly layers of thin clothing. This clothing needs to be
Georgia Smith
Discuss the impact of climatic conditions on the body’s temperature regulation mechanisms and how they affect safe sports participation for athletes competing in the Tour de France. The Tour De France is a multiple stage bike-riding event competed in France every year. Starting on the 2nd of July at Passage du Gois and finishing at Champs-Elysées on the 24th of July. It consists of 21 daylong stages over a 23-day period. Based on the Tour de France in 2011, the race consisted of 10 flat stages, 6 mountain stages and 4 summits finishes, 3 medium mountain stages, 1 individual time-trial stage and 1 team time-trial stage covering an overall distance of 3,430.5 km’s. Athletes competed in temperatures of 5°C to 31°C, and humidity of 20% - 100%. Conditions during Tour de France can change rapidly resulting in athletes to be prepared for thermoregulation demands and to counteract heat loss within hours. These conditions can make it difficult for athletes to aid temperature regulation mechanisms (conduction, convection, evaporation and radiation) thus affecting safe sports participation.
Conduction occurs when the body comes in direct contact with something that is a different temperature to the body. It’s worth 3% of the bodies heat loss. During the stage 8 of 2011, the sky is chaotic, storms & showers are unpredictable all day. The contact athletes receive with the rain and the wind in 12°C temperatures can result in a decrease in performance. The body during these conditions will be falling out of the core body temperature, initiating a series of physiological responses to rebalance the core body temperature. Preparing for these conditions is vital in the days leading up to the event. The team leaders will be preparing for these conditions, and will have athletes wearing certain clothing. Athletes will be wearing, gloves, arm warmers, skins, booties and most importantly layers of thin clothing. This clothing needs to be