Introduction:

There is limited information referred to the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (AMD) and sports practice.

Objective:

To determinate the association of cycling practice and cycling training volume with the AMD and the influence of the participation in a high-demand cyclist event on the AMD.

Material and methods:

A first evaluation of AMD in 785 (84 women) amateur cyclists (volume: ≥ 7 hours/week), 514 (224 women) indoor cycling practitioners (volume: 2-6 hours/week) and 718 (411 women) inactive adults was conducted in May coinciding with the participation of cyclists in a cycling event. A subsample of 359 cyclists and 148 inactive subjects agreed to be retested in November, far from the cycling event date. The MEDAS-14 questionnaire was used to assess the AMD and a self-designed questionnaire was used to assess the volume of training.

Results:

40% of subjects showed high AMD. In both sexes, athletes showed higher AMD than inactive subjects, with the highest indexes for groups of cyclists (p < 0.001). The relationship between AMD and training volume was weak (men: r = 0.137, women: r = 0.173; p < 0.001). The AMD of cyclists decreased from May to November (p < 0.001) with no significant changes in inactive subjects (p = 0.535).

Conclusions:

Cycling is associated to higher values of AMD with a limited influence of training volume and transient positive effects of participation in a cycling endurance event.

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