Why the Tour de France is exclusively for insane people

For the people watching it, the 2022 Tour de France was one of the most exciting in recent memory, but for the riders themselves, it was as brutal as always. The Tour has a real claim to being the most difficult athletic event on earth, both physically and psychologically.

Who would do this to themselves?

Video Courtesy of:

Tour de France
NBC Sports
GCN
Lantern Rouge
ESPN
Jumbo-Visma

[joowsty]

whats also a fun fact to know about Roglic is that he came from ski jumping and that in the first few years in the professional peloton he used to think he was the only one who was suffering and having this much pain. when he realized everyone in the peloton was having the same pain he started to understand his possibilities.

[friesewiese]

also, when roglic crashed he dislocated his shoulder, put it back into place himself and rode on for 100+ km like a true madman

[skwb]

As a person cycling to work 20km a day, I can attest to the emotions, pain and uncertainties of going to work every day.

[skexy]

It wasn't just the dislocated shoulder slowing Roglic down in the tour; a few days after he abandoned it was discovered he had also fractured two vertebras, on which he rode that stage 11.

[stavrosk.]

On one of my car vacations in France we were on the Mont Ventoux. I watched amateur cyclists creeping up these slopes . Then I saw a professional cyclist on a training passing them by a such speed that the (trained) amateurs seemed to be standing still. The power and endurance of professional cyclists really is quite incredible.

[SHDW-nfki]

One of my favourite stories is from a French foriegn exchange girl I met.

Her grandad rode in the Tour De France back in the day when it was acceptable for riders to just raid cafes and shops for food and sustenance along the trip.
He left his number with a girl he bumped into at a wine store, promising to pay her back for the two bottles of expensive wine he just grabbed and then proceeded to down while riding with his friends. Couple days after the end, he gets a call and the girl thinks he wanted to date her. They end up going out and within a few years are happily married and thats how her grandparents met :)

[darrylperry]

If you’re an amateur cyclist training really hard five to six days a week but don’t have a VO2 max of 92, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt just the same as a pro—you just don’t go as fast. If your max H.R. is 190 and you’re time trialing at 180+ for 40 minutes you’re in hurt locker. What I’m trying to say is regardless if you’re a pro or not you still have to deal with all facets of the sport: the pain, the suffering, and particularly your mental state.

[MrDominicharrison]

To clarify ‘bonking’ aka ‘hitting the wall’ is the metabolic phenomenon when endurance athletes run out or carb stores, the muscles can then only fire using fatty acids for fuel which takes twice as long to process as carbs hence the feeling like u can’t move

There is a lot of experimental physiology surrounding this phenomenon and lots of mystery such as why the day after bonking an athlete can be much stronger … this latter point has long been exploited by pros before a big one day race by making themselves bonk on purpose

[alessandrot]

When comparing TDF distance to South Carolina -> Los Angeles, you forgot to mention you'd also been riding up Mt. Everest 5 times on the way hahaha. Awesome video man!

[billybud]

I used to laugh at cyclists as wusses for a lightweight sport....until I seriously watched the Tour de sport is the real deal...these guys endure pain at a level higher than most other pro athletes even imagine....only a few sports can equal this ordeal. I salute them all. Combat sports, distance running, and real wrestling are among its only equals. Wout and Jonas are animals.

[BrookeOsment]

I'm sitting here watching this video while recovering from a knee replacement at age 28. So remember: pushing through pain can win you greatness as an endurance athlete, but there's little bit of info that got glossed over in the video, that there's a big difference between exertion pain and injury pain. If you learn to push through pain but you don't learn to differentiate, you'll end up like me.

[tylerm]

Loved the guest, the difference he pointed out between non-elite athletes vs elite in how they deal with pain is fascinating. Your production value continues to get better and better

[rolopolo]

As Greg Lemond said, “it never gets any easier, you just get faster.”

[zgSHDOW]

I am quite mentally weak and weak-willed overall, but cycling has really brought out strength and toughness I never expected to have. Discovering my love for road bike riding is one of the best things to happen to me

[tonynorris]

Very germane to this fascinating video is the fourth rider pictured in the central story, Geraint Thomas. In 2022 he was 36 years old, an Olympic gold medallist, former TdF winner and had over the years broken pretty much every bone in his body. He'd supported Froome in his 4 wins, guided Bernal for his win and as Pogacar and Vinegaard tried to neautralise each other, he quietly rode in to third spot. He used experience and techniques he'd learned over decade of racing, rode at his pace and was always just behind the other two - watch the highlights.

[jessederooij]

nice to see an analysis from a non cyclist, as a performance cyclist myself we always like to discuss how the sports looks and feels like for people who don’t understand the sport and maybe never even tried to pursue their physical boundaries. Interesting stuff

[Major_Nuance]

as an ultramarathoner this was a fun watch for me. We call the hurt locker the pain cave in our sport. The breakdown of mentality was a little eye opening to me. Never heard that explained before

[USC]

I have been seriously watching pro bicycle racing for a decade and a half. I watch YouTube videos of stages and behind the scenes doc (The people of Belgium take their annual spring series of races as seriously as Americans follow and watch the Super Bowl and NBA Finals combined). I also use Spin Bikes for my cardio and have tapped into the edges of the challenges of what pro bike racers encounter. The average non-elite athlete on a Peloton usually want to end after 45 to 50 minutes. A TdF stage lasts 3 to 4.5 hours. The guest sports psychologist was great explaining that pro bike riders are not "riding" their bike, but are "racing" against other competitors from the first pedal stroke and the mental exertion required to keep going at that great intensity (24 to 27 MPH average on flat stages)... the whole endeavor is just insane for one day. Then think that they do this 21 out of 23 days in the middle of summer in the heat of the day. It is completely nuts, and mesmerizing to watch. The rider who comes last in the TdF, or any other three week stage bike race, is a total gangster worthy of the utmost respect.

[justsomedude]

As an endurance rider, when I was younger, it did not take much for me to call it a day, being older, I now have the mental ability to over ride my brain telling me to stop.

[samcross]

Cool video. Worth noting that the Tour de France takes place in July when it can be brutally hot, particularly in the South of France. Just another layer of exhaustion the riders have to work through.