Becoming father negatively affects professional road cycling performance

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the non-categorical variables in the regression model.

	120 days				150 days
Variable	Average	SD	Minimum	Maximum	Average	SD	Minimum	Maximum
Dependent variable
Performance (CQ points rider)
Reference	173.68	217.09	0.00	1605.00	209.43	231.79	0.00	1605.00
After birth	148.01	185.56	0.00	1462.00	189.42	223.21	0.00	1935.00
Independent variables
Number of race kilometers
Reference	3941.87	2055.64	188.8	9162.5	4853.94	2211.57	202.5	10498.60
After birth	3802.59	2069.07	86.00	9173.9	4719.41	2296.26	239.7	10595.14
Age (years)
Reference	28.24	3.36	20.00	38.00	28.24	3.36	20.00	38.00
After birth	29.24	3.36	21.00	39.00	29.24	3.36	21.00	39.00
Relative role in the team
Reference	2.70	7.62	0.00	144.5	2.39	2.68	0.00	15.28
After birth	2.44	6.32	0.00	100.45	2.29	3.81	0.00	55.84
Team strength (CQ points team mates)
Reference	2263.29	1482.23	6.00	6893.00	2815.02	1696.74	65.00	8643.00
After birth	2337.56	1539.62	39.00	7841.00	2885.45	1751.78	51.00	9015.00
Proportion races in own country
Reference	0.22	0.29	0.00	1.00	0.23	0.27	0.00	1.00
After birth	0.23	0.3	0.00	1.00	0.23	0.27	0.00	1.00
Number of observations	403

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the categorical variables in the regression model.

	120 days		150 days
	Frequency	Percentage	Frequency	Percentage
First year with team
Reference
No new team	294	72.95	291	72.21
New team	109	27.05	112	27.79
After birth
No new team	298	73.95	297	73.7
New team	105	26.05	106	26.3
Olympic games
Reference
No Olympics	365	90.57	360	89.33
Olympics	38	9.43	43	10.67
After birth
No Olympics	369	91.56	365	90.57
Olympics	34	8.44	38	9.43
Number of observations	403

Table 3. Regression results for the fixed effects model with a period length of 120 days after having a child and for the model with a period length of 150 days after having a child.

	120 days		150 days
Performance (CQ points)	Coefficient	SD (robust)	Coefficient	SD (robust)
Childbirth (reference: year before) Firstchild Childbirth*Firstchild interaction Number of race kilometers Age (years) First year with current team Relative role in the team Team strength Proportion races in own country Olympic Games Off-season Constant Number of observations Number of cyclists R² F-Test Sig. F-Test	−21.866 −39.350 22.185 0.015 −6.588 −2.563 43.933 0.036 −10.042 −3.074 −32.607 151.904 800 267 60.377 72.309 0.000	11.274* 19.908** 14.024 0.004*** 4.600 10.405 6.006*** 0.007*** 31.906 11.987 17.633* 128.517	−18.523 −42.227 25.871 0.017 −5.364 0.363 54.642 0.037 −40.375 −5.918 −27.146 86.221 800 267 63.875 83.908 0.000	10.081* 21.326** 12.942** 0.004*** 4.465 10.421 5.107*** 0.006 32.480 12.524 17.654 125.738

The reference period is the same period of 120 (resp. 150) days in the previous year. Robust standard errors are shown. Coefficients marked with *, ** and *** are significant at the p < 0.1 level, the p < 0.05 level and the p < 0.01 level, respectively.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in figshare at https://figshare.com/s/9d21d94a04bb5c06bf1d