Road Bike Racing - What did Tchmil weigh in his prime?

He was obviously a successful road rider (perhaps not in the hills), but he looked very stocky and heavily muscled for a typical road racer.

???? How did he do so well when he was built like a track rider? Or am I wrong: was he not that heavy?

http://www.grahamwatson.com/2002/tchmil/tchmil/19.jpg

you are wrong.

I don't mean to trouble you to post more than 3 words, your higness, but is there any chance you could POSSIBLY elaborate? :p

Was he heavy-ish or not? He looks kind of stocky in many of the pics of his Paris-Roubaix wins

I don't mean to trouble you to post more than 3 words, your higness, but is there any chance you could POSSIBLY elaborate? : p

Was he heavy-ish or not? He looks kind of stocky in many of the pics of his Paris-Roubaix wins

incorrect.

http://grahamwatson.com/2002/tchmil/tchmil/17.jpghttp://grahamwatson.com/2002/tchmil/tchmil/4.jpghttp://grahamwatson.com/2002/tchmil/tchmil/16b.jpg

I never understood Tchmil.

He showed up on my radar when John Eustice was announcing some race (Philly?) and suddenly this guy attacks. Eustice got all excited and said this guy, Tchmil, T-C-H-M-I-L, is really good, you'll hear a lot about him in the future. Mind you, this was right when the fireworks were going off, and I thought it was somewhat inappropriate for Eustice to be blabbing about some new guy (even spelling his name) when all the favorites were pounding each other into a pulp.

In the tapes of Classics I have, he's always working. Like a lot. His teammates are sitting in (suffering I think), and Tchmil just takes it on himself to do all the work. Didn't seem very smart on his or his team's part. With much better teamwork I think he could have gotten more results.

He was a true diesel, always able to go but never at the peak speeds as the best guys. He could lead out a sprint and get 6th or 7th. He could bridge enormous gaps on his own, fly up power hills, but that was it.

I remember he was one of three ? Lotto guys finishing the Tour one year. That must have been depressing for the team, the support staff, everyone. At least the hotel had extra rooms for VIPs and stuff.

He has huge quads but he was a smaller kind of guy.

He seemed extremely level headed. In one Classic he attacks the field on a climb, chasing after some threatening break (LBL or TofFlanders or Ghent-W). Some spectator yells something to him. He sits down long enough to give the spectator the finger, then keeps going. That's the most emotion I ever saw him display on the bike.

He managed to keep out of the whole doping thing. Do you think he was clean? He seemed clean - super consistent, never the best. A whole lotta FTP.

cdr

Photos of pro riders can be deceptive. They mostly look like whippets in the flesh. Even the sprinters like Cippolini. Boonen has large thighs but isn't a solid bloke otherwise. At the worlds in 95 the only Euro pros who I reckoned looked 'muscular' as opposed to sinuewy were the German TTer Michael Rich and Fabian Cancellara.

He managed to keep out of the whole doping thing. Do you think he was clean? He seemed clean - super consistent, never the best. A whole lotta FTP.

cdr

He was one of the worlds top professionals at the height of the EPO era, and you reckon he was clean. You've got to be kidding?

Photos of pro riders can be deceptive. They mostly look like whippets in the flesh. Even the sprinters like Cippolini. Boonen has large thighs but isn't a solid bloke otherwise. At the worlds in 95 the only Euro pros who I reckoned looked 'muscular' as opposed to sinuewy were the German TTer Michael Rich and Fabian Cancellara.

That there is a man who puts the fear into me. He is BIG.

I can't find it now, but I remember seeing a picture of him at (I believe) the Eindhoven TTT start next to his Gerolsteiner teammates. His arms were twice the width of the next biggest guy on the team.

Michael Rich?

http://www.michael-rich.de/ROT_RICH_TF0501.jpg

He doesn't look that big.

Observe the size difference between Mr. Rich and the teammate drafting his large dorsal/posterior surfaces.

Looks like someone's trying to justify stuffing their faces again.

Michael Rich?

http ://ww w.michael-rich.de/ROT_RICH_TF0501.jpg

He doesn't look that big.

either do you, mr. munster.

Observe the size difference between Mr. Rich and the teammate drafting his large dorsal/posterior surfaces.


Well now that kind of puts it in perspective.

either do you, mr. munster.

Well, I am the biggest guy on my team.

Tchmil had that hardened Eastern Bloc look but he was not a large man in actual terms. He did appear "sturdier" than the average pro of his day.

He was one of the worlds top professionals at the height of the EPO era, and you reckon he was clean. You've got to be kidding?

Put that way it's hard to say that I'm not kidding. But he seemed so consistent, never altered his "style". Crap.

cdr