At Tour de France, non-fictional ‘supermen' test the limits of human endurance

The Hindu

6 days ago

The recent release of the movie 'Superman' has grabbed headlines, but turn on your television, and you can perhaps watch real-life 'supermen' compete in what is arguably the world's toughest race: the iconic Tour de France. The race, spanning 21 days, began on July 5 this year. It weaves through the quaint villages of the French countryside and the brutal French Alps for a total of 3,338.8 km before culminating at the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
A test of endurance
The Tour de France is a physical and mental test that would perhaps make even the fictional Superman do a double-take: the riders cover a staggering 160 km a day at an average speed of 40 km/hour, with a total elevation of 1,72,244 feet. To put this in perspective, it is like going up and down Mount Everest close to six times. The physical toll is immense, with the riders burning around 5,000 kcal a day in the flat stages and approximately 8,000 kcal on the mountain stages. The fluid requirement can be as much as 10 litres per day to keep them functioning. But the most challenging part of endurance sports is not physical, it's mental. It's the ability to undergo suffering and pain that truly sets these athletes apart.
What does the body of these supermen look like? The leading contenders are generally in the 65 kg range or less, as carrying weight on the mountains requires more energy. The average BMI (body mass index ), which is a measurement of height and weight, is between 19 and 22, with body fat in the 5% range. The average heart rate of these riders is 40 beats per minute, with many of their heart rates routinely running in the 30s and even the late 20s. These heart rates are sustainable for them, as the amount of blood pumped per beat (cardiac output) is much higher than that of the average amateur athlete. The VO2 max, a marker of how efficiently the body utilises fuel (oxygen), is between 75-90 ml/kg/min. The VO2max and resting heart rate are excellent gauges of your cardiovascular system, and can be calculated with most smart watches.
All machines need fuel, and as an amateur endurance athlete, I can vouch for how difficult it is to take in calories while exercising. The body directs blood flow to the muscles at the expense of the gut, so digestion and gut motility are impacted. I have done a few 100-mile bike rides in preparation for the Ironman triathlon (a 16-hour endurance race), and after trying various nutritional options and experiencing the dreaded rot gut, where food sits in your gut, I found that liquid nutrition is what works for me. Studies of pro-cyclists during these races show an average consumption of 843 g of carbohydrates a day, peaking at 1,100 g on demanding days, which is equivalent to 4kg of boiled rice. Protein intake is about 2 g/kg body weight. Each team has a chef, and its nutrition is tailored accordingly.
The toll taken on the body
Despite these nearly superhuman bodies, the tour takes its toll: by the first week, the riders begin to enter a catabolic state: this happens, when unable to keep pace with the carbohydrate caloric demands, the body starts dipping into its protein, leading to muscle breakdown. They become more prone to infections. The sheer stresses of accelerations and decelerations cause changes in the heart's pumping efficiency, leading to a loss of 200 billion red blood cells and a drop in haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of the bloodstream. As the tour goes on, the release of stress hormones keeps increasing, leading to more catabolism and the vicious cycle of stress, exhaustion, and infections worsens. Riders find it challenging to raise their heart rates as the circulatory system begins to collapse.
During the actual racing, high speeds on the skinniest of tires in all kinds of weather and terrain, with your body breaking down, leads to minor errors, which could be catastrophic. I ride in a group every week, and even at an amateur level, with tires being inches apart, a second of inattention could lead to a nasty crash. Jasper Phillipsen, the Belgian sprinter, is already out of the race with a displaced fracture of his collarbone and ribs. One of the riders in a previous race dislocated a shoulder and used a spectator's chair to pop it back in, and continued racing. Riding down the mighty Alps at speeds of 100km/hr could be fatal, and professional cycling is littered with such tragedies.
The eternal why
So why do men attempt this feat? For the winners, there is glory and money. For most of the other riders, also called domestiques, their job is to support the leading rider and hope to become a main rider some day. The difference between winning and losing after 21 days of racing is generally under two minutes to a few seconds. As we go enter into another week of the race, the heights the human body can rise to are on display: battling pain and anguish, these athletes stretch the limits of human endurance and flirt with divinity.