I think it's unfair to emphatically say that strength isn't important to cycling. There is no black and white (except maybe in accounting and even that's questionable). Science evolves dramatically and if you review information from a decade ago it will be different than information from today or information from two decades ago. Gosh, how many of you remember when doctors endorsed cigarette smoking on television and in magazine ads? My point being that while there is some evidence that points toward little/no benefit of resistance training, there is other evidence that points to definite benefits. And given that most of the studies performed on cyclists wrt resistance training are completed with athletes at a very high level, it's unfair to advise athletes at a more recreational level based on that research.

I'm a cycling coach. I do this for a living. I've studied this sport extensively since 2000 (including a resistance training for cyclists three-day clinic presented by USA Cycling at the Olympic Training Center). I'm also active on a handful of coaching forums and email groups where there are other coaches, exercise scientists, biomechanists, and some of the greatest minds in the cycling science world. There is strong debate about this subject in the cycling science world. Obviously USAC and USOTC still believe there are gains in performance due to resistance training or they wouldn't be teaching it in their curriculum or training their resident athletes in resistance training.

Here's my opinion (no more or less important than anyone else's on this forum).

Most of the women on this forum, including the competitive athletes, would benefit from resistance training. Now, here's my rationale. Some of these reasons are performance-related and some are health-related. Knowing the demographic of most of the women on this forum, I absolutely believe they would benefit from resistance training.

  • Adding lean muscle mass and reducing adipose will improve your power to weight ratio.

  • Adding lean muscle mass will help you reduce adipose by increasing your rmr, thus also improving your power to weight ratio.

  • Improved cycling (increased strength and decreased injury) depends on a strong core (abs, back) and strong upper body. Resistance training will improve both of these.

  • Most women do not create enough testosterone to gain strength benefits without overload.

  • Most cyclists don't train in a manner that generates overload (ie there's lots of soft-pedalling going on). Most cyclists also don't train enough hours to create overload.

  • From a health perspective, resistance training is one of the best things women can do to prevent osteoporosis and osteopenia.

  • Most cyclists do not train with enough variety or intention to continue performance gains past their first 2,000 hours of cycling.

  • Many cyclists aren't able to train sufficient hours in the winter to maintain base fitness and strength. Resistance training is a great alternative to losing fitness.