This Is What 16 Days Long Tour de France Had Done To This Cyclist Legs.
Tour de France is one of the world’s most challenging sporting competitions and this picture shared by a cyclist who took part proves it.
After sixteen days of cycling during the competition, Pawel Poljanski shared a picture of his weary legs on his Instagram account
“After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired,” Poljanski wrote on Instagram. The picture, which quickly went viral, people on social media expressed concern at the state of his legs. “That can’t be healthy,” one horrified user wrote.
Poljanski is part of German team Bora-Hansgrohe, and is ranked 75th in the general classification after the 16th stage of the Tour
Cyclist showing the aftermath of long-distance cycling is not a new trend. Chris Froome, who is currently leading the Tour, displayed his veins in 2014.
Dr Bradley Launikonis from the University of Queensland’s told ABC, “The amount of blood that we get normally going down to our legs is five litres per minute, for anyone at rest. For an untrained athlete, their maximum exercise will have 20 litres per minute flowing through the muscles,” he said.
“One of these elite cyclists will have double that, about 40 litres per minute. They have massive volumes of blood moving through.” he added.
“The blood can pool there and that’s what’s happening in this extreme case. There is blood pooling in his veins which is why you’re seeing them (so visibly)”