The Tour de France – currently taking place – has always been considered to be one of the toughest endurance sports in history. What does this mean in terms of physical fitness for the athletes who are taking part?
In 1903, when it was first introduced 1903, the Tour consisted of 2,428km of race over 19 days. Around 60 riders competed in the inaugural race, and amateur cyclist Maurice Garin won it in a record time of 94 hours, 33 mins. Although the format for the Tour has been altered since its first edition, the incredibly challenging nature of the race is still the same.
The end of the inaugural Tour 1903 with (on left) Maurice Garin, the winner for the first time. Maurice Garin.
The Tour of today runs for 21 days, with the top finishers completing more than 3,500km over some of the most ruthless roads in France. The streets are mainly long (around 200km) fairly flat initial stages that are built specifically for sprinters and run at incredible speed (around 45 km/hr).
After the stages that could take anywhere from four to six hours, cycling enthusiasts must overcome intense physical and mental tiredness for them to sustain speeds of greater than 60km/hr over the last five to ten kilometers of racing and reach speeds of 75-80km/hr by the point of finishing.
Anyone who wants to take part in the race will endeavor to save the most energy they can during the course to generate the necessary power (between 2,000 and about 2,500 Watts) needed to reach the speeds. (It’s worth noting that healthy women and men from different fields of life will struggle to generate more than 600W and 800W on a bicycle, for example.)
The power of such high outputs is required to speed up the cyclists despite the wind’s resistance. This would be enough to provide power to a refrigerator, TV, and the majority of the lighting fixtures in a typical home.
Climbing
One of the most challenging parts of the cycling tour includes those that traverse Europe’s most strenuous mountains (known by the term “horse category” ascents). They are usually more than 10 km in length and have an average grade between 5 and 10%, which require more than a half hour to climb continuously.
The altitude of the top of the mountain pass (in the region of 2,000-2500m) is what makes the speed that Tour cyclists climb (around 20km/hr) much more remarkable. The video of stage profiles below will give a sense of the challenges facing cyclists on this particular front.
At higher altitudes, the decreased atmospheric pressure restricts the ability to provide sufficient oxygen to the active tissue (muscles) and can limit fitness capacity by up to 10 to 15 percent.
Indeed, the tops of the peaks within the Alps and Pyrenees are so high that those who are sedentary and unacclimatized might begin to exhibit symptoms that are indicative of severe altitude sickness, such as dizziness and shortness of breath.
Since mountain races are usually significant to the general outcome during the course, those who want to be competitive within the public class must stay in front of the race’s top riders during every soaring assault or surge.
The average power output that cyclists apply to their pedals in their 30-to-60-minute climb of mountain passes can range up to 500W (6.5W/kg). In order to put this into perspective, a trained recreational cyclist can maintain this level of power for a period of 30 to 120 minutes.
Food
The intense and long duration of the stage races in the Tour de France requires riders to consume an average of 23-25MJ per day (5,500-6,000 kcal). This is more than twice the typical daily calories that are needed for the majority of people.