How does an amateur rider compare to the demi-gods that are world-class road cyclists? It’s a question mulled over by many Sunday-morning club runs all around the world. A 2024 study didn’t necessarily set out to answer that question, but it did lift the physiological and performance lid on a recreational rider who’d completed the 2023 Tour de France parcours.
The 58-year-old completed the event in 191 hours compared to the WorldTour rider’s 87 hours, driven by a VO2max nearly half that of the professional and weighing 96kg compared to the full-time rider’s svelte 67kg. It makes for interesting reading, at least from the angle of who rode closer to their individual limits. But as far as seeing through a comparative lens? They were riding on a different planet.
