How Hard They Go

Jonas Vingegaard’s face, after his Tour crushing time trial on Stage 16, was striking in its portrayal of complete depletion, a face that seemed to have experienced trauma. I think that the great innovation of this new, science-driven cycling of today, is the ability to train the racers to far greater depths of effort than ever before. The Jumbo-Visma team, for example, uses a hospital pain scale as part of their training plans, teaching the riders to surpass any previous levels of suffering. The racers spend their lives in altitude camps, away from their families, like Shaolin Monks supremely focused on their art with no worldly distractions. They come down from the mountains only to race then back up to their austere lives of sacrifice and dedication.

You can see the exhausting effects of this approach in the long breaks the racers must now take between races. Vingegaard, for example, didn’t race for two months after his Tour win last year, then did a small stage race in October, one Classic (Tour of Lombardy - 16th just the same) to keep the motor running, before shutting it all down until the following February. American Matteo Jorgensen, sadly out of this Tour with a muscle problem, stated that it took him a full five-months to recover from the 2022 Tour so deep did he go. It’s rare for a rider to do more than 50-races a year now; years ago, 100-120 was the norm. You can also see the effects in the frantic racing style of today, every race ridden ‘full block’, under stress and deemed of crucial importance. These riders are giving us, the viewing audience, incredible viewing pleasure with their performances, but I wonder just how far all this can go, how far the teams can continue to push these riders without them developing long lasting physical and mental damage. It’s beautiful to watch, but I find a sense of cruelty in there too.

Today will be wild, non-stop attacking, more incredible, beautiful racing on this final day in the Alps.