How do male pro cyclists deal with early parenthood - and what can we learn from them?

Parenthood brings significant challenges for cyclists, including physical changes and sleep deprivation, hampering recovery and performance. Daily childcare activities, such as lifting and carrying, add to physical strain, while mentally and emotionally, increased stress can impair focus and motivation. These adjustments often force parents to re-evaluate and sometimes de-prioritise their cycling commitments, balancing family needs with their passion for the sport. For pro riders, whose cycling puts food on the table, becoming a parent can have signifi cant consequences. So is it possible to balance being a parent with performing to your best as a cyclist?

Inspiring stories of female pro riders’ successes after having a baby have brought necessary attention to the challenges and possibilities of raising a family while being a professional athlete. In 2020 the UCI introduced a first-ever maternity leave clause to women’s WorldTeams after advocacy work by The Cyclists Alliance. This meant that professional women cyclists would be allowed three months’ maternity leave while being entitled to full salary, followed by an additional five months at half of their salary. This year’s Olympic Games was the first to feature a childcare facility to allow competing parents to have their children with them throughout.

While maternity leave allows female racers to continue their career while starting a family, little attention or research has been paid to the role of fatherhood in professional cycling. Professor Jeroen Belien, assisted by Anke Baetens, from the University KU Leuven in Belgium, has conducted the first piece of research in this area, published earlier this year. “I am a big fan of cycling,” says Belien. “I watched male riders winning stages in the Tour de France and taking their children onto the podium to celebrate, or talking about how the support of their family was a part of their success. I wondered if having a child had a positive effect on their performance.”

Belien began his work by reviewing the existing research into fatherhood. “There is a lot of literature into the changes that take place in the early period of fatherhood,” he says. “It shows fathers may have less focus, less sleep and more fatigue. If you are a father, you take fewer risks on the bike. Another factor to consider is that during the pregnancy of the wife or partner, testosterone decreases in men.” Belien also found studies showing that parenthood can motivate fathers to commit more deeply to their roles and responsibilities, motivating them to train harder.

It’s possible that fatherhood’s emotional benefits – satisfaction, joy, feelings of competence and confidence – could balance out some of the physical challenges, leading to a renewed sense of purpose and drive. “There were a lot of positives and a lot of negatives, so I was intrigued,” Belien explains. This moment of curiosity led to a study of 299 professional riders who had in total 496 children between the years of 2001 and 2019.

Performance decline

Belien’s research revealed several interesting things. The study found that having a child generally has a negative impact on male professional cycling performance. This was measured by Cycling Quotient (CQ), a world ranking based on performances during the last 12 months (cqranking.com). To give a sense of the scoring, a Grand Tour stage win is worth 80 points, while 20th place at a 1.1-classified race earns only five points. On average, cyclists scored 21.87 CQ points fewer during the 120 days after having a child compared to the same period the year before. This effect is even more pronounced for the birth of a first child, leading to an average decrease of 39.04 CQ points. Over a 150-day period, the performance drop remained but was slightly less severe. If the child was born during the off-season, cyclists experienced a larger performance drop, although this effect did not hold over the full 150-day period.

The results of the study are probably no great surprise to any parent who has struggled through the difficult, sleep-deprived and generally unsettling experience of the first six months with a new family member. Alex Dowsett had his first child Juliette in 2020 while racing professionally. “I am surprised by what the study shows,” he begins. “I had some of my best performances after Juliette was born, but I can also see why performance is affected. I’m amazed sometimes by the number of pro riders who manage to make it work.

“Some riders are very hands-on [as parents] but others put their recovery first, sleeping in a separate bedroom.”

Hormonal impact

Belien’s work was the first study of its kind into the experiences of fatherhood in professional cycling. As such, it raises as many questions as it answers. While overall cycling performance was significantly lower after the birth of a child, the study did not record whether, or when, the male professional cyclists took their paternity leave. While time away racing may reduce the number of sleepless nights, there may be added emotional strain or stress from being separated from their families. “I was very excited about our first child, but we knew it was going to be tough,” says Dowsett. “The pro lifestyle is tough on a wife and even more so on a mother. I expected to be upset about seeing my newborn mainly on the phone, and that Chanel [Dowsett’s wife] was going to be upset as she had no support.” For riders who live overseas, away from family or friends, the lack of support is even more pronounced.

Even at home, having a baby can have an impact on training and recovery. “I would come back from a session exhausted, but recovery [because of parenting duties] goes out the window,” adds Dowsett. This might be why off-season births have an even greater detrimental impact on performance. “This was a surprising result to me,” says Belien. “I thought having a baby during the season would have a larger negative effect but the opposite was true.” Another aspect highlighted in the research is that fathers become more risk-averse. “Riders have spoken to me about a fear of being in the bunch and descending that has manifested after having kids,” Dowsett confirms.

Multiple studies have shown that male hormones fluctuate, linked to those of their partners, when becoming a parent. A study published in American Journal of Human Biology showed that expectant fathers experienced drops in testosterone and oestradiol – a form of oestrogen – but no changes in cortisol or progesterone, two hormones implicated in stress. Research published in the journal Hormones and Behaviour in 2023 showed that fathers with lower testosterone are more sensitive to infant cues, and that testosterone levels may be linked to relationship quality with a newborn. Other research found that fathers experienced much larger declines in testosterone than men who remained single and childless. “I’m not an expert in hormones,” Belien says, “but the connection between testosterone and sporting performance is well known.”

Finding the right balance

Currently, the impact of fatherhood on professional cyclists’ lives is not well understood, and more research is warranted. “There are implications for team management,” Belien says. “As a father, you may need to take more rest, especially in the first four months. Team managers may not consider this.” Dowsett shares his own experience: “My team didn’t take into account the birth of my child at all. Time with a new baby was seen as an inconvenience.”

Consideration of the father’s experience and needs promotes gender equality by encouraging shared caregiving responsibilities, reduces workplace discrimination against women, and supports both parents’ involvement in child development. A lack of paternity leave could be seen as another form of misogyny in cycling. It isn’t easy for riders to create change, cautions Dowsett: “It takes a lot of balls to stand up to a team and cite your contract. Asking for paternity leave is likely to cause lasting problems.” He cites two examples: “I know of a team who were angry with a rider for having a child while Paris-Roubaix was taking place, another rider whose team were angry with him for watching the birth of his third child on FaceTime.”

While the parental predicaments of pro riders can be especially tough, balancing the demands of childcare with work and training in the early months after the arrival of a baby takes considerable planning, negotiation and compromise for all new parents.

Having retired, Dowsett is now effectively an amateur too. “I still race a bit, but I only need to be good enough, not best, form,” he says. “I now have an eight-hour, not a 25-hour, training week.” The demands of child rearing often require parents to develop greater mental toughness and adaptability. Life with children is much less predictable, plans frequently go out the window, and disrupted sleep is inevitable. But dealing with unpredictable schedules can build resilience, which can be benefi cial during high-pressure competitions. If you can learn to cope with less-than- ideal conditions and still perform at your best, it is a quality that can give you an edge. Are parenthood and high- performance cycling compatible? Of course they are, but as with so many things once you have children, finding and maintaining the right balance requires more commitment, more eff ort and more compromise.