MA (Bewegingskunde), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus THE SOMATOTYPES AND BODY COMPOSITION OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CYCLISTS An anthropometric analysis was conducted on 19 elite male South African cyclists having a mean age of 24.2 years and who had been competing on average for 8 years. Subjects were allocated, for purpose of comparison, to a track or road group on the basis of their best performance in an event. South African cyclists were also compared with elite international track and road cyclists on the basis of somatotypes and body composition. This was done to see if South African cyclists showed the same characteristics of elite international track and road cyclists. The South African track cyclists were characterized by a 1.9-5.1-2.3 somatotype, with a mean percentage body fat of 7.2% . The road cyclists showed a somatotype of 1.5-4.5- 2.9 and a mean percentage body fat of 6.5% . Track cyclists were younger (23.3 years vs. 26.9 years, p<0.05) and had larger fat mass (5.3kg vs.4.5kg, p<0.05), thigh griths (55.2cm vs. 52.4cm, p<0.05), subscapular skinfolds (8.3mm vs. 7.2mm, p<0.05) and supraspinal skinfolds (5 .9mm vs. 4.7mm, p<0.05) than the road cyclists. They were also more endomorphic (1.9 vs. 1.5, p<0.05) than the road cyclists. In conclucion the somatotypes of the South African cyclists were dominated by the mesomorphic component with most cyclists classified as ectomorphic mesomorphs (track = 50% and road = 44%). Although the track cyclists had larger endo- and mesomorphic components and a smaller ectomorphic component than road cyclists, there were only a significant difference (p<0.05) between the endomorphic component of the two cycling groups. In comparison to elite international track and road cyclists, South African track cyclists were in general less mesomorphic and endomorphic, while the road cyclists were also less endomorphic, but otherwise comparing well with international road cyclists. South African cyclists' mean percentage body fat compared well with international standards. Masters