Thank you very much everyone. I am gaining a much better appreciation for the sport by understanding it. Obviously I have never been a racer so I cannot picture what these athletes go through during a race. I golf and frankly I don't consider it an athletic event. Any sport where you can smoke a cigar and drink a beer while performing its activity can't be considered athletic

I am amazed these athletes can keep going day after day at such sustained paces for a few weeks. Unreal.. I have sustained 50 km/h on the flats once -- with my electrically assisted cycle. I cannot imagine doing that on the flats solely on self-generated power.