This study investigated physiological, anthropometrical, and training characteristics of off‐road competitive cyclists, and the relationship between these variables and off‐road race performance. Eighteen male cyclists (ages 16 to 35 years) participated in the study. The subjects were divided into two groups for further comparison. Group 1 consisted of 10 cyclists classified as expert and pro‐am racers and group 2 of cyclists classified as intermediate racers. Performance times on each subject from two sanctioned races, one uphill race, and one 28 mile cross country race were obtained. The results showed that these cyclists each had high VO2maxvalue (67.2 ml.kg1.min1), low relative body fat (10.5%), and ventilatory characteristics comparable with data from road cyclists, previously reported. There were no significant correlations between any of the physiological, anthropo‐metric, or training characteristics and race performance, for either race. The only significant difference between the groups was relative body fat (8.9% versus 12.3%). These data show that competitive off‐road cyclists have physiological characteristics comparable to other cyclists. However, performance times were not related to VO2maxor ventilatory threshold, nor to any other physiological variable measured. This is in contrast to data previously reported on other cyclists, suggesting that off‐road cycle performance is to a large extent dependent on variables other than aerobic power.