The university of Ghent and has been in the 120 profwielrenners, both men and women, mainly from Belgium but also from France and Holland, and how they will be coronacrisis to deal with. “In spite of the loss of the classics, and they continue to be motivated” is the most important outcome.

The study was carried out by the department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology. “I am primarily concerned with the study of motivation in sport,” said researcher Adam Morbée of the university of Ghent. “A lot of the riders gave the media on which it was very difficult to stay motivated in this coronaperiode where the course is cancelled and they are not in the group will be able to work out. This crisis is, of course, is very off-putting, but it was a unique opportunity, and now just got the motivation to researches in the wielerprofs in these difficult times.” The survey was launched on the 17th of march, and the survey was closed on the 1st of april.

In total, nearly 200 riders participated: 177 males and 19 females. It was the final 120 wielerprofs, the distribution is about 93 à 94% were male, approximately 6-7% of which are women. It is not only in the Belgian pro riders, but also riders such as France and the Netherlands. The riders rode for a total of 9 different world tour teams, a 13-ProTeams and 22 other continental teams. They were contacted through social media and took part in a onlinebevraging.

Zwift and Strava

“The results of this study show that it is so good with the motivation of the riders”, said doctoral student Adam Morbée. “Most of the riders are trying to be positive with this situation is to deal with it. It is a digital alternative to the Tour Of Flanders is a good example of this: riders are looking for challenges and want to be it’s a lot of fun to keep. You will stay motivated if you do it for yourself, like trying to keep up, fascinating, and useful, and if you go looking for challenges. Not only that, the digital circular, but also, for example, by pressing the Strava KOM’s, to try to address Zwift rides to do, etc.”

“We’ll see in the results that the pro riders are in it to train with, full of ‘enthusiasm,’ in ‘moetivatie’, in the sense that it should have been. They can practice their profession like, and find it to be personally important and meaningful to me to keep on working hard. This is very important,” stated the researcher. “Because earlier studies showed already that the type of motivation to exercise is a key component of the experience, the tenacity and the mental fatigue of sportsmen and women.”

the Danger of ” moetivatie’ is around the corner

“of Course, some of the more difficult to recharge itself in order to keep up your training”, she continued. “This is dangerous, because if you profwielrenners to be less motivated, or tend to be more ‘moetivatie out, then they turn out to be self-made in this period have more push to it. They will make use of a binding zelfmotiverende strategies. They can increase their motivation by thinking that the others would be disappointed or she would be guilty of would like to feel like they are in their training, or incomplete and would have to finish. And that’s not a good thing, because that leads to boredom. You are going to have less and less to see what the point is to work out.”

Conclusion: put yourself on!

“Thankfully, the use of riders is much more common strategies to deal with the situation is exciting, and fun to give, and ended them. “We encourage cyclists to think of itself in these times, it is not pressure, but rather to find ways to find the exercise interesting and it makes sense to keep it. It works in a liberating way.”