Heck, auto racing is an endurance event.
Heck, auto racing is an endurance event.
He's right, look at his TDF riders legs:
http://www.pulstreiber.de/assets/images/9/Interview_Foerstemann_1-1b04fa19.jpg
Definite TDF rider, of course.
Bio Dome wrote:
Heck, auto racing is an endurance event.
So is PGA golf.
frozen blood popsicle wrote:
He's right, look at his TDF riders legs:
http://www.pulstreiber.de/assets/images/9/Interview_Foerstemann_1-1b04fa19.jpg
That's a track cyclist....
Andre "The Gorilla" Greipel is one of the biggest guys in the pro peloton. Fat? Hardly! He's 6' tall and weighs 176 pounds. Chris Froome, an all rounder, is 6' 1" and 156 pounds and a climbing specialist like Nairo Quintana is 5' 5" and 127 pounds.
These are not crossfit gym fatties. They do carry more lower body muscle than runners for sure.
I switched to cycling after my hard running days were over and was very mediocre as a rider. Do not disrespect cyclists! Just for fun, try a cyclocross event. I guarantee that it will feel harder than anything you have ever done as a runner and you will be gassed 15 minutes into a one hour long painfest.
This is a bizarre discussion. It is like listening to football players argue that distance running is not an endurance sport because runners don't bump into anything and don't eat works record amounts of food.
It doesn't make any sense at all.
A little knowledge..
The Tour de France is a team sport it consists of at least 4 types of athletes.
All 4 types are capable of at least 5 hours of moderate aerobics output every day for a month.
1) General Classification (GC) contender - can ride very hard day in day out for long stretches, are light, fit and recover very well. Froome, Contador, Quintana- all of these guys are very similar to elite marathon runners in cardio output and stamina. But they recover better and they can push hard for longer.
2) General Domestiques- these guys are usually hoping to become GC contenders one day. There job is to provide support to the GC contenders.
3) Flat stage domestiques, stage win contenders time trialist- these guys are heavier and perhaps don't recover as well as GC contenders. They can sustain high power in strong winds for long periods.
4) Sprinters- these guys sit in the back of the bunch, and on flat stages try to make it to the front at the last second.
These guys have huge legs but they are not in the same category of "sprinter" as someone like Usain Bolt.
Tour de France Sprinters have to be capable of moderate sustained output for hours. (At the back of the bunch maybe it is like running 20 miles at 8:00 pace. Not an easy thing to do 20 days in a row).
Also the sprints themselves often involve 2- 5 minutes of hard effort.
In short Toure de France Sprinters are probably more like 800m runners that can handle high mileage.