Effects of a blackcurrant powder blend on repeated high-intensity cycling performance, attention and lung function under pollution exposure in highly trained male cyclists.

Blackcurrant powder supplementation and ozone exposure. Healthy participants will supplement with a proprietary blackcurrant powder (Arepa) before undergoing an exercise trial under conditions of ozone exposure. Participants will consume either blackcurrant (BC) or placebo (PL) for seven days prior to completing a cycling protocol on a cycle ergometer in a chamber with ozone set to 0.25 ppm. Treatments (BC or PL) will be administered in purple, berry flavoured gelatine capsules at a dose of 4.3 mg/kg body weight. Subjects will take their prescribed dose daily orally for a period of 7 days before reporting to the lab for testing. Participants will be oversupplied with capsules and a countback will be used to determine adherence to the supplement protocol. Participants will complete a preload protocol of 10 min @ 50%, 10 min @ 60% and 5 min @ 70% peak power output (PPO) followed by a 10 min rest. They will then complete a 4 km time trial (TT) as fast as possible. The PPO for the preload will be obtained from a VO2 max test conducted at the first visit and familiarisation trial. There is a 2-week washout before the next supplementation period. All exercise sessions (with the exception of the VO2 and familiaristaion) will be performed under ozone (0.25 ppm) conditions. Participants will be monitored at all times throught the entire study progress. Cycling data (power, distance, cadence, time) will be automatically recorded by the ergometers associated software). Metabolic data will be collected using breath-by-breath analysis using a metabolic cart.