SynthesisBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2020
'As easy as riding a bike': a systematic review of injuries and illness in road cycling.
Synthesis in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Injury and illness in short-course triathletes: A systematic review.Journal of sport and health science · 2024Pooled it
- Trends and disparities in cyclist injury metrics across world bank income groups: a comprehensive analysis of orthopaedic trauma epidemiology from the Global Burden of Disease study (1990-2021).European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2026Article
- Association of alcohol use with helmet use in cyclists: analysis of the National Trauma Data Bank.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2026Article
- Long-Term-Effects of Training-Accompanied Myofascial Self-Massage on Health Complaints, Symptoms of Overload, and Training Compatibility in Recreational Cyclists.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Injury and Illness Surveillance in Para-Cycling: A Single-Centre One-Season Prospective Longitudinal Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- "Beyond the Finish Line" the Epidemiology of Injury and Illness in Professional Cycling: Insights from a Year-Long Prospective Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Epidemiology of injury and illness across all the competitive cycling disciplines: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Comparison of Kinematic Outputs and Reliability of Plug-in Gait versus Conventional Gait Model 2 During Cycling.International journal of exercise science · 2025Article
- A systematic review protocol of injuries and illness across all the competitive cycling disciplines, including track cycling, mountain biking, road cycling, time trial, cyclocross, gravel cycling, BMX freestyle, BMX racing, e-sport, para-cycling and artistic cycling.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Epidemiology of injuries at the 2023 UCI cycling world championships using the International Olympic Consensus: a protocol for a prospective cohort study.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Epidemiology of Paediatric Trauma During National Lockdown: A Retrospective Study With 12 Months of Follow-Up.Cureus · 2023Article
- 'If in Doubt, Sit Them Out': How Long to Return to Elite Cycling Competition following a Sports-Related Concussion (SRC)?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Characteristics of Electric Scooter and Bicycle Injuries After Introduction of Electric Scooter Rentals in Oslo, Norway.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- An Investigation into Helmet Use, Perceptions of Sports-Related Concussion, and Seeking Medical Care for Head Injury amongst Competitive Cyclists.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Return to competition following clavicle fractures in professional road cyclists.Journal of orthopaedicsArticle
- Injury epidemiology of youth cross-country mountain biking coaches: analysis of data from the National Interscholastic Cycling Association injury surveillance system.Research in sports medicine (Print)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo allow the implementation of effective injury and illness prevention programmes for road cyclists, we wanted to first identify the injury/illness burden to this group of athletes. We, therefore, undertook a systematic review of all reported injuries/illness in road cycling.
designSystematic review. DATA SOURCES: Identification of articles was achieved through a comprehensive search of: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Cochrane Library from inception until January 2020. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: Studies reporting injuries/illness in adults participating in road cycling. Cycling commuter studies were excluded from the analysis.
methodTwo review authors independently screened titles and abstracts for eligibility and trial quality. Initial search criteria returned 52 titles and abstracts to be reviewed, with 12 studies included after reviewing the full text articles.
resultsThe most common injuries sustained were abrasions, lacerations and haematomas accounting for 40-60% of the total injuries recorded. Fractures (6-15%) were the second most frequent type of injury. Head injuries (including concussions) accounted for 5-15% of injuries with musculotendinous injuries accounting for 2-17.5%. The upper limb was more frequently affected by injuries than the lower limb, with amateurs appearing to be at higher risk of injury/illness than professionals. Clavicle was the prevalent fracture, with patellofemoral syndrome the number one overuse diagnosis. No meta-analysis of the results was undertaken due to the inconsistent methods of reporting.
conclusionThis is the first systematic review of road cycling injuries. Injuries most often affected the upper limb, with clavicle being the most prevalent fracture and the most common overuse injury being patellofemoral syndrome.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.