alexvpaq

Seriously I found a few pictures recently of some cyclists and some do looks dangerously skinny...
here's Brajkovic


and now Bradley Wiggins


I now understands why so many people on the forum are saying : I'm too fat for this sport.
or maybe it's just the point of view and the fact that they have the minimal amount of body fat...
Are the normal shaped guys too big or do they end up being great athletes a bit like Cavendish or Armstrong, both are looking quite muscular compared to some other.


anyway what are you guys thinking about that?

DMF 

Janez is thin but not exceptionally so.

That pic of Wiggo has got to bogus.


There is a correlation between mass and success in the sport. Larger bodies have relatively larger amounts of non-muscle that has to be toted up them 20% grades. A larger man can be successful in other disciplines, but mountain goats are almost invariably tiny or super-thin.

Pedaleur

Fahrrad macht frei.

Romans8:28

Rule of thumb......

World class climbers are generally < 2lbs for every inch of height... so <140 lbs @ 5'-10" would be an example target

tulip

I hope the Wiggins shot is Photoshopped.

Ariostea

Nope, that pic is from after Paris-Roubaix 2009.

pearcem

As to the Wiggins pick, extremely dehydrated maybe? Or maybe he did some serious dietary cutting in the week or two before the race, but that doesn't seem like it would make sense from a performance point of view, only a weight loss point of view.

fly:yes/land:no

per the wiggins pic - this was discussed at the time it came out in the 33. it isn't shop'd, but the lens is stretching his legs significantly. if you notice, his foot is curving unnaturally from the distortion, and is approximately the same length as his tibia. here is a picture of him during the race. notice that there is no distortion, and he looks fairly normal.

to the point, some people are just skinny. it just so happens that this sport sometimes rewards being light - smaller athletes are attracted to cycling. janez has always been tiny. brice feillu is similar - he was always skinny. maybe you think that they just cut weight to be cyclists, but my guess is that they are just naturally tiny guys that found a sport where their build is a boon rather than a disadvantage.

Garthr

Yes guys, the Wiggins photo is shot with a wide angle lens. This can make things appear out of normal.

It's likely that this is the only lens the photographer had to use at that moment. Better to get the distorted shot than no shot at all.

USAZorro

Some people are definitely like that. When I was 22, I was 5' 9" and 125. It certainly was not because I was watching my weight or depriving myself.

vredstein

Here's perhaps a more accurate photo.

BadBoy10

ewww pass him the carbs asap naturally thin and emaciated are quite different