Professional cycling is not healthy

During the recently concluded Tour de France Femmes, beyond the spectacular performance shown by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, controversy has arisen over the extreme thinness of the French cyclist. A level of weight not very different from that of her male counterpart in the Visma-Lease a Bike team, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard, but which, however, in the case of the Frenchwoman has once again brought to light the debate about how unhealthy top-level cycling can be.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's extreme thinness in the Tour reignites the debate between cycling and health

On many occasions, the unhealthy nature of the nutrition carried out by competitive cyclists to push their body fat percentage to the limit and, at the same time, be able to meet the tremendous energy requirements demanded by a top-level race like the Tour de France has been discussed.

An aspect that has once again become a topic of conversation due to the appearance that Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has shown in this Tour de France, extremely thin, and which has allowed her to have the best power-to-weight ratio to be able to perform exhibitions like the one she gave us in the queen stage with the finish at the Col de la Madeleine.

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Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has made use of all the training and nutrition arsenal available to her from the super team Visma-Lease a Bike, even moving her residence to Andorra, as many male professionals do, seeking to live at altitude and, at the same time, have some of the most demanding Pyrenean climbs practically at her doorstep, in addition to, obviously, the economic reasons that always drive those who choose to reside in that country.

In any case, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and her team were clear that the 2025 Tour de France would be decided on the slopes of the Col de la Madeleine, an ascent of almost an hour and a half, so they sought to reduce her weight to a minimum, which led her to lose 4 kilos, a real madness when starting from already minimal weight levels. "You have to adapt to the terrain" pointed out the Frenchwoman, indicating that in the spring she had done the opposite, gaining weight in the form of muscle that would allow her to have more power for flat terrain, a decision that allowed her to emerge victorious from the Paris-Roubaix.

However, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot herself is aware that such a weight limit is not sustainable over time "My job is to give my best. We know that this is an endurance sport and climbing requires a high power-to-weight ratio. I made the decision and worked hard to achieve it. I don't want to stay like this."

At the same time, the French cyclist reassured those who think she is putting her health at risk with such a drastic weight reduction "We had a good plan with the team nutritionist and everything is under control. I didn't do anything extreme, in fact, I still had energy after 9 days of competition."

From some circles, the paternalistic tone of those who have pointed out that Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's thinness may not be healthy has been criticized when, in the case of her male counterparts Pogacar or Vingegaard, who are as close to the weight limit as she is, no mention has been made of this same aspect, although that is already another topic of debate.