Cycling has a long, complicated relationship with weight. In a sport where every watt matters, and climbing is often king, power-to-weight ratio is an inescapable metric. In the fight against gravity, every extra kilogram costs precious watts. Just like the equipment used, riders strive to optimise their bodies for the demands of the terrain. Over the decades, that obsession has driven many athletes, men and women alike, into disordered eating, and the sport still struggles to draw the line between what’s healthy and what yields the best performance.
Fortunately, the culture is evolving. Today’s top riders fuel smarter, train more holistically, and place greater value on mental and physical well-being. But elite sport is rarely healthy, and body scrutiny is hard to escape. And when it comes to who gets scrutinised most, the burden is still far from equal, as this past week in France made painfully clear.
