What The Tour De France Does To A Rider’s Body - Cheddar Explains

The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever made by man. In order to make cycling difficult you have to make it last 2000 miles and climb through literal mountains. Meanwhile a marathon is ~1/100 the length, covers 1 day and is typically flat. The tour de France is really a love letter to the bicycle, thank you for your efficiency and simplicity

People don’t race the Tour de France for the health benefits, it’s about dedicating your life to the sport and seeing just how far you can push your body before it breaks on you

I once rode 40 miles as fast as I could to see if I could beat 2 hours on a mountain bike. I was tired for 3 days. How these guys go faster & further daily with no rest is miraculous.

I'm still in favor of a clean class and a full doped class. Just how far can a human go?

My first criterium (CAT 5). Averaged 184 bpm over 30 minutes. Final 10 minutes I held 195 bpm, 207 bpm peak. Absolutely felt like death. I repeated it later that morning in my second ever crit with similar data. Absolutely the hardest physical effort I have ever undertaken and I was dead last...even the last rider in the TdF peloton has god-like form.

I have done a few TDF stages. I am a good club rider but couldnt even get within 40 minutes of the pro cut off time. Even the spinters and lantern rouge are superhuman.

I used to do long distance running in my early 20s. Unfortunately, that along with the military, destroyed my body. I can’t run without pain, but luckily I found road cycling, and all I can say is it’s just about as addicting as running, I love the feeling of what some refer to as “toy” (like runners high). I find I get the bike feeling like toy faster than I did runners high. I have also bonked more than I have hit the wall.

The fact that these athletes cycle 100+km for 3 weeks with only a few days off is amazing. Here I am calling it quits after 50km of 'easy' group ride and resting for a week after that.

Taylor Phinney described a grand tour as like going through reverse puberty. The intense mileage just wastes away your muscles and you lose so much weight even though you're eating 7,000 calories per day.

Elevation changes in ft are one thing, the road gradients are a whole different thing. Some climbs can be 10 km at 5%, and 4 km at 13% while achieving the same elevation gain. The distance and percentage matters in the immediate picture, the elevation change in the longer picture.

It's beyond all imagining! The physical fitness tests that I had to endure while in the Navy included a 3 mile run. That was about the only running I did, but somehow I managed to finish 2nd or third out of a group of three dozen, or so--some of whom trained all the time. I always got the dry-heaves at about the 2 mile mark, but I kept moving. I was also rewarded with a day-long migraine, afterward. I just don't know how these people can put their bodies through even one day of this grueling competition. The house I grew up in was 7,600 ft. above sea level, so the one advantage I had was lung capacity of about 120% of normal (sprirometry tested), which came in handy since most Navy installations are at sea level.

There is definitely such a thing as taking fitness too far. It is certainly possible to cross over into a realm in which the intensity and duration of your training is actually taking years away from your life, rather than adding years to it. Cycling is very healthy. Grand touring seems to be pretty unhealthy. But obviously these guys aren’t training for and competing in these insane endurance races for the sake of health and wellness. They’ve chosen to wreck their bodies in pursuit of glory and excellence.

Some of these guys don't like having the rest day in the middle and they will go out and ride a few hours on the rest day. This helps flush out the lactic acid etc. and helps with recovery. And while you do need sleep for recovery, don't forget you are traveling and sleeping in a new hotel every night. I was a Cat. 3 for some years and when i overtrained i slept terrible at night.

I followed the Tour de France from the 80s,to the middle 2000s. Then I got tired of the continuous doping scandals. This year was my first return to the TdF. And I think I can clearly see a difference. Riders are just looking more exhausted. They also look like they are spending more time to recover, after a stage. And I heard the other day, that the winner on the final climb, yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard, took 2 minutes longer, to climb the mountain, than Bjarne Riis in the midt 90s. Riis was doped.

Somehting else to consider during the Swiss portion of the race is the oxygen density at that altitude. You will tire much, much quicker than you would if you were at sea level. I've personally experienced the drastic difference in physical performance; I live at sea level elevation and went to Philmont in the New Mexico mountains for two weeks when I was in Boy Scouts. The first few days are brutal, but your body adjusts to the oxygen density after a few days. When I got back home, for about a week I was astounded at how I simply could not get tired no matter how much I ran. This is exactly the reason why the US Olympic training facility is on a mountain in Utah.

For non cyclists, Just get on a bike and try to ride 200 meters (650 feet) up a 9 degree incline. You will get the picture.

I got a resting heart rate of 41 and I really cannot imagine doing that. Though I am a mid-long distance runner I gotta say it is insane how long they do the exercise, cycling is a completely different type of strain on your body

The ending was pure gold.

Unfortunately, the organizers of the TDF and Giro seem to be intent on making every year’s race harder than the year before. That this will foster more doping seems to be of little concern to them.

Yes they have rest days but most riders will go out for like a 100 km lazy ride, just to keep things moving. You have to remember yes they do eat , but it is mostly easily digested energy gels, rice cakes and formulated energy bars. Along with the water, sports drink, oh and maybe a small can of Coca Cola or similar, all whilst travelling along about 40kph. After the end of the stage you see a lot of the riders have some sort of shake product. Plus the omelettes, pasta, etc that is consumed every day at the evening meals and in the morning at the breakfast table. Yet with all of the eating and the fact they will come to the start lean, they will lose weight over the course of 3 weeks…