The Tour de France lasts three weeks and covers more than 3,000km, which makes it one of the world’s most demanding sports events.
As well as the number of days and sheer distance, the riders will average breathtaking speeds of around 50kph on certain stages and this year they’ve even ridden through temperatures touching 40˚C.
This all adds up to an odyssey of endurance, power, rest, recovery and fuelling, which is unlike anything amateur cyclists will experience. There is, of course, a certain natural ability you must have to compete at the world’s biggest cycling race.
So with that in mind, here are the numbers behind a Tour de France cyclist’s physiology.
6
Pro riders at the Tour typically produce 6 watts-per-kilogram for a one-hour effort, whereas amateur cyclists might average half of that.
34
Tour de France cyclists have incredibly low resting heart rates. Stage winner Mathieu van der Poel’s is only 34bpm.
51
They may have low heart rates off the bike, but the opposite is true when pro cyclists are racing. US rider Neilson Powless is said to have spent 51% of the four hours during stage 8 of the 2020 Tour averaging 165bpm.
66
Cyclists who win the Tour typically weigh between 60 and 66kg. Tadej Pogačar has said his natural weight is 69kg, but he dropped to 64.5kg for the 2024 edition.
97
Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard reportedly had a VO2 max of 97ml/kg/min at 17. A healthy man in his 20s can have a VO2 max of 35-45, while a trained amateur’s might be 50-60.
442
A study in the Journal of Science and Cycling estimated Pogačar has a mean power output of 442W on 40-minute climbs.
A video released on Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's YouTube channel in June revealed Remco Evenepoel’s power output. Performance coach Dan Lorang said the Belgian’s threshold power is around 425W.
10,000
According to EF Pro Cycling, their riders can burn up to 10,000 calories per day during the Tour de France, with up to 120g of carbohydrates being consumed per hour.
