Racing performance and incremental double poling test on treadmill in elite female cross-country skiers.

The national Italian cross-country ski team has been evaluated on the basis of a new double poling cross-country roller skiing incremental test to exhaustion (DP) on a motorized driven treadmill. To verify the capacity of this specific test to predict performance, peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold (VO2Th), peak treadmill speed, and treadmill speed at anaerobic threshold (Speak and STh, respectively) were measured during the test and correlated with the level of performance of 10 world class Italian female cross-country skiers. The physiological data obtained were also compared with results of an incremental and maximal test carried out by the same athletes but with the diagonal stride (DS) technique.