Pre-Competition Readiness in Cyclists: Role of Sleep Quality and Recovery–Stress Balance

This study investigated pre-competition sleep quality and its relationship with recovery-stress indices and performance indicators in competitive cyclists. Twenty competitive cyclists (age: 20.8 ± 2.0 years) completed assessments of body composition, resting heart rate (RHR), standing broad jump (SBJ), medicine ball throw (MBT), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), the Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Participants were stratified into good sleepers (PSQI ≤5) and poor sleepers (PSQI >5). The mean global PSQI score (7.7 ± 1.8) indicated predominantly poor pre-competition sleep. Spearman's correlations revealed moderate associations between global PSQI and Recovery Index (ρ = −0.41), Stress Index (ρ = 0.48), and Recovery–Stress Balance (ρ = −0.52; all p < 0.05). Good sleepers demonstrated superior Recovery–Stress Balance (2.50 ± 1.68 vs. 1.71 ± 0.93), lower Stress Index (1.72 ± 0.13 vs. 2.48 ± 0.59), and greater SBJ performance (265.0 ± 7.1 vs. 231.4 ± 38.1 cm) compared to poor sleepers. Effect sizes indicated practically meaningful between-group differences despite limited statistical power. Routine monitoring of sleep and recovery-stress via validated brief questionnaires may facilitate early identification of athletes at risk of suboptimal competitive readiness, informing individualised training load management and sleep hygiene interventions.