From featherweight mountain goats to power-packed sprinters, there is no catch-all shape and size for professional cyclists.
But particularly tall pro Grand Tour cyclists are the rarity – hauling your body over the mountains generally favours lighter riders.
ProCyclingStats crunched the data in 2017 and found the average weight of riders on the men’s WorldTour was 68.8kg and their average height was 1.81m.
So, who are the riders at the extremes of the data? Who are the tallest and shortest riders at the 2023 Tour de France? And does it have any impact on performance?
Who is the tallest rider in the professional peloton?
Mathias Norsgaard is the tallest rider in the men's WorldTour peloton, measuring 1.98m according to the UCI and 2.02m on his team Movistar's tape measure.
The young Dane was 19th at Classic Brugge-De Panne in 2023 but did not make the Tour de France squad.
It's tight at the top of the 2023 Tour de France. In fact, it's a tie.
Ineos-Grenadiers' Ben Turner and Trek-Lidl's Alex Kirsch both tower at 1.94m.
Turner (nicknamed "Big Ben" and "The Clock") was a key worker in his team's cobbled classic squad after winning the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia Costa Cálida in February.
Kirsch is the Luxembourg road and time trial champion. He sprinted to second in stage 21 of the Giro d'Italia.
Max Walscheid (1.98m) was the loftiest Tour de France rider for three years running, but he didn't make the Cofidis squad this year.
Who are the tallest cyclists at the 2023 Tour de France?
- Alex Kirsch (Trek-Lidl) – 194cm
- Ben Turner (Ineos-Grenadiers) – 194cm
- Nathan van Hooydonck (Team Jumbo-Visma) – 193cm
- Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) – 193cm
- Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny) – 193cm
Who is the shortest pro cyclist?
At the other end of the scale, Samuel Dumoulin – a veteran of 12 Tours de France before his 2019 retirement, and a stage winner in 2008 – stood at just 1.59m.
His retirement in 2019 means EF Education-EasyPost's Esteban Chaves is the shortest Tour de France cyclist in 2023 at 164cm.
The Lotto-Dstny sprinter Caleb Ewan (1.65m) is the second shortest at this year's race.
They are not the shortest male WorldTour cyclist, however. That title is held by Laurens Huys of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, who measures just 1.62m.
The smallest male cyclist ever recorded appears to be Vicente Belda at 1.54m.
Why does the UCI maintain a list of the tallest riders?
Why does the UCI need to know how tall riders are? The answer relates to equipment regulations and the reach allowed on aero extension bars.
Following UCI rules changes in 2o23, cycling's governing body divides riders into three different height categories.
On time trial bikes, the horizontal distance between the bottom bracket's centre and the extension bars' tips must be no more than 80cm for category one riders shorter than 180cm.
Category two riders, who stand between 180cm and 189cm tall, are allowed a maximum of 83cm of reach.
Category three riders (taller than 190cm) are permitted a reach of up to 85cm.
The new rules also determine the maximum vertical difference permitted between the armrest pad and shifters.
Category one riders are allowed a 100mm gap while category two and three riders can have a maximum of 120mm and 140mm, respectively.
Who is the tallest professional cyclist ever?
Conor Dunne, 2.04m
Conor Dunne, the 2018 Irish champion, never rode in the Tour de France, but he was at the 2017 Vuelta a España and the 2019 Giro d'Italia and completed both.
He was the lanterne rouge at the Vuelta with Aqua Blue Sport and finished the Giro in 135th place overall for the Israel Cycling Academy – which is no mean feat considering the Irishman is 6ft 8in (2.04m) tall and towered over the peloton.
At An Post, bike sponsors Vitus had to create a new XXL 62cm (yes, sixty-two!) frame size to accommodate Dunne, with a longer top tube allowing extra reach.
Guillermo Brunetta, 2.04m
Dunne isn't the only 6ft 8in rider to have enjoyed a career on two wheels.
While it seems no pro rider has ever been taller, Guillermo Brunetta is the same height as Irishman at 2.04m.
Brunetta was not just tall, he also weighed in at 97kg – a product of his track-cycling upbringing.
Brunetta’s career was spent in South America in the 2000s, where his powerful frame was put to good effect in winning four Argentinean national time-trial titles.
Does height matter for cyclists?
In short, yes, height does matter for professional cycling – sort of.
ProCyclingStats’ 2017 study found the top time triallists were, on average, taller than the average WorldTour pro.
Further down the tape measure, climbers were much shorter; the top climbers were, on average, 1.6cm shorter than the top sprinters and 2.7cm shorter than the average WorldTour pro.
General classification contenders are usually on the shorter side.
Last year's Tour de France winner and this year's favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) measures 174cm tall. Double Grand Boucle winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is three centimetres taller.
There are exceptions to the rule. The fourth-placed rider in the 2021 Tour de France, Australian Ben O'Connor, is 1.88m and 2012 Yellow Jersey winner Sir Bradley Wiggins (1.9m) is taller still.
But the key to cycling performance is power, not height – and, for climbing, the power-to-weight ratio.
