SO just how fit are the Tour De France Riders?
Discussion
Big Mig was definitely a freak of nature. He has a higher VO2 max than Lance Armstrong (88 versus 82 ml/kg/min)
Reading up on the VO2 figure, Greg LeMond was even higher (92.5), and on the wikipedia page, they mention a cross country skier who could have topped 100 ml/kg/min.
But thats just one method of calculating fitness.
Its possible that people doing cross country, cycling are amongst the fittest athletes around, but as with all disciplines, that fitness doesn't necessarily translate into fitness for other events. Armstrong did a reasonable job at a marathon, but it wasn't what he original trained in.
Reading up on the VO2 figure, Greg LeMond was even higher (92.5), and on the wikipedia page, they mention a cross country skier who could have topped 100 ml/kg/min.
But thats just one method of calculating fitness.
Its possible that people doing cross country, cycling are amongst the fittest athletes around, but as with all disciplines, that fitness doesn't necessarily translate into fitness for other events. Armstrong did a reasonable job at a marathon, but it wasn't what he original trained in.
i was taught the VO figure was only one part of the equation.The most important figure is the watts per kg of body weight.All the top super cyclists seem to have the magic 6.5watts per kg.
There have been cyclists with quite unspectacular VO readings that make 6.5watts per kg i'm told.
There have been cyclists with quite unspectacular VO readings that make 6.5watts per kg i'm told.
Pigfarmer3 said:
Astonishingly they're not as fit as F1 drivers!
Put that in your pipe and let someone else smoke it!
Where do you get that from? Its a different "type" of fitness for a different purpose.Put that in your pipe and let someone else smoke it!
How many F1 drivers could cycle hundreds of miles every day for weeks on end? Probably none of them. How many TdF riders could be competitive in F1? probably none.
Main thing that F1 drivers have is very, VERY strong necks ....
Alain prost as an F1 driver was one of the fittest and a very keen cyclist. He rode the first Letape de Tour and finished more than 30 minutes outside the time that the bunch completed the stage in the next day. And of course for them it was having already ridden a few days in the mountains and more to come.
What is amazing, almost unbelievable about Tour riders is their indurance and recovery capabilities on top of their power outputs. I remember Sean Yates claiming that it would take Boardman a minimum of 5 years of Peloton riding to start to get to the required level and there is no way to fast track it - I think he was proved right.
What is amazing, almost unbelievable about Tour riders is their indurance and recovery capabilities on top of their power outputs. I remember Sean Yates claiming that it would take Boardman a minimum of 5 years of Peloton riding to start to get to the required level and there is no way to fast track it - I think he was proved right.
XTR2Turbo said:
Alain prost as an F1 driver was one of the fittest and a very keen cyclist. He rode the first Letape de Tour and finished more than 30 minutes outside the time that the bunch completed the stage in the next day. And of course for them it was having already ridden a few days in the mountains and more to come.
What is amazing, almost unbelievable about Tour riders is their indurance and recovery capabilities on top of their power outputs. I remember Sean Yates claiming that it would take Boardman a minimum of 5 years of Peloton riding to start to get to the required level and there is no way to fast track it - I think he was proved right.
It's the improvement endurance and recovery times that are the main temptation of the drugs. EPO, for example, increases the number of red blood cells per ml of blood so you can carry more oxygen per ml and keep the muscles going for longer.What is amazing, almost unbelievable about Tour riders is their indurance and recovery capabilities on top of their power outputs. I remember Sean Yates claiming that it would take Boardman a minimum of 5 years of Peloton riding to start to get to the required level and there is no way to fast track it - I think he was proved right.
Even without the drugs, these guys are super-fit. Obviously that fitness is highly specialised as it is in all top-level sport. I have no doubt that if Armstrong put in the same level of training for the marathon as he did for Le Tour then he'd run a good time. As he demonstrated, he ran an OK time just on his cycling fitness, but nothing spectacular.
ewenm said:
XTR2Turbo said:
Alain prost as an F1 driver was one of the fittest and a very keen cyclist. He rode the first Letape de Tour and finished more than 30 minutes outside the time that the bunch completed the stage in the next day. And of course for them it was having already ridden a few days in the mountains and more to come.
What is amazing, almost unbelievable about Tour riders is their indurance and recovery capabilities on top of their power outputs. I remember Sean Yates claiming that it would take Boardman a minimum of 5 years of Peloton riding to start to get to the required level and there is no way to fast track it - I think he was proved right.
It's the improvement endurance and recovery times that are the main temptation of the drugs. EPO, for example, increases the number of red blood cells per ml of blood so you can carry more oxygen per ml and keep the muscles going for longer.What is amazing, almost unbelievable about Tour riders is their indurance and recovery capabilities on top of their power outputs. I remember Sean Yates claiming that it would take Boardman a minimum of 5 years of Peloton riding to start to get to the required level and there is no way to fast track it - I think he was proved right.
Even without the drugs, these guys are super-fit. Obviously that fitness is highly specialised as it is in all top-level sport. I have no doubt that if Armstrong put in the same level of training for the marathon as he did for Le Tour then he'd run a good time. As he demonstrated, he ran an OK time just on his cycling fitness, but nothing spectacular.
Slightly on & off topic, but I have this dreamlike recollection of a television programme in the 90’s that focused on levels of fitness. They had pitched Nick Faldo up against either a top cyclist or leading marathon runner and good old Nick wiped the floor with them.
Anyone else see this or remember the programme?
Anyone else see this or remember the programme?
XTR2Turbo said:
Alain prost as an F1 driver was one of the fittest and a very keen cyclist. He rode the first Letape de Tour and finished more than 30 minutes outside the time that the bunch completed the stage in the next day. And of course for them it was having already ridden a few days in the mountains and more to come.
I had totally forgotten about Prost being a cyclist, he was definitely built for it.Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff