# Are Clinical Balance Measures Linked to Cycling Performance?
## 4 Discussion  
The aims of this study were to explore the relationships between cornering performance and overall cycling performance, and to explore the relationships between balance and cycling performance. We found strong correlations between cornering performance and overall cycling performance. However, we found inconclusive results regarding the relationship between performance in the clinical balance test and cycling performance. Strong relationships between cornering and cycling performance have only recently been reported in the literature. [PERSON] et al. [27] collected lateral and longitudinal acceleration data from professional cyclists in two time-trial stages of the Giro d'Italia, and then created elliptical models to assess their cornering performance. They found strong correlations between the area of the ellipse and final performance time, indicating that cyclists who cornered their bicycles better, suggesting greater expertise in cornering, also finished the stages with quicker times [27]. Additionally, quicker cornering time was correlated with improved race time in a study of elite bicycle motoross riders [28]. Thus, the skills of cornering and bicycle handling are important components of performance in cycling. The correlations between performance in the clinical balance tests we selected and measures of field cycling performance were weak. Whilst we identified a range of correlations between balance and cycling performance, notably between the BESS and mean corner speed and mean velocity, and the SEBT and mean corner speed, most of these linked superior balance to worse cycling performance. These findings contradict our hypothesis. One explanation is that athletes develop skills specific to the performance demands of their sport [29]. Thus, the balance required by a cyclist to cycle their bicycle may not translate to improved performance in the clinical balance tests that we used. Furthermore, while the BESS has been used to effectively differentiate the balance of soccer players, basketballs, and gymnasts [30], it has never been administered to a cycling population. The balance demands of a cyclist are vastly different to other athletes. Thus, the BESS may not be specific enough to cycling to correlate balance to cycling performance, and may highlight differences in the motor control processes that underlie standing balance and dynamic cycling balance. Alternatively, limitations in our sample or the balance tests, rather than the true relationship between balance and performance, may have influenced the results. The left posterior medial direction of the SEBT was the only clinical balance test result that returned correlations to cycling performance that supported our hypothesis. The SEBT has not previously been administered to cycling populations. However, the posterior medial direction of the SEBT has been found to be the most sensitive SEBT direction for detecting superior balance in dancers compared to active controls, and balance deficits in chronic-ankle-instability populations [15,31]. While correlations between the left posterior medial direction of the SEBT and cycling performance were weak, there is potential for clinical balance tests, and the SEBT in particular, to correlate to cycling performance. Thus, further validation of the SEBT in cycling populations is warranted to explore the strength of the relationship between the SEBT and cycling performance. The LRT is potentially not challenging enough for athletes, as it is typically used in balance-deficient populations such as geriatrics and paediatrics [14,24,32,33]. Although the LRT incorporates a lateral lean, similar to that required to corner a bicycle, the test may be too basic to sufficiently challenge elite cyclists, who are accustomed to cornering at high speeds within constantly changing dynamic environments.