Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson were expected in the top five of this year’s Tour de France – a level reserved for the climbers’ elite. But after the 2nd stage of the race, on July 6, the two played about adopting a very different style of cycling.
“You’re a sprinter now,” said Jordeon after Vingegaard almost surpassed Mathieu van der Poel, the stage winner, and Tadej Pogacar, second-placed, in Boulogne-sur-Mer. “I liked it. You said you were bigger, so you had to prove it.”
“You don’t grow for nothing,” Vingegaard replied. Still thin, the Dane revealed before the tour that passed the preseason gaining muscle mass.
Two days later, in the 4th stage, arriving in Rouen, Vingegaard seemed not only one of the best climbers in the world, but also one of the strongest in wavy land. Following a final pogacar attack, he recorded the best power performance in a minute of his entire career, equating Slovenian’s explosive acceleration.
Vingegaard was not the only one to physically evolve. Several cyclists who fight for the overall classification have also gained strength this year.
These include Pogacar (Slovenia), Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), Kévin Vauquelin (France), Jordeon (USA) and Florian Lipowitz (Germany) – all over 68 kg. Derek Gee, from Canada, which ended in a fourth at Giro d’Italia last month, weighs about 74.8 kg.
Traditionally, elite climbers prioritized losing weight to increase their watts relationship per kilo. From 1990 to 2020, the average weight of the tour cyclists fell from 70 kg to about 68 kg. Names like Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Accountant and Fabio Aru were exponents of this approach.
Vingegaard would have fit this profile. But this year, adopted a new strategy: instead of seeking extreme lightness, it increased its power with a controlled muscle mass gain.
It is a bold bet for the two -time champion, now 28. He is ahead of an emerging trend in cycling – and it is early to know if his physical reformulation will bring the expected results.
Mathieu Heijboer, head of performance of the Visma-Lease Bike team, has worked closely with Vingegaard in recent months.
“Jonas began this process because of the serious accident he suffered last year,” said Heijboer, referring to the fall in the Basque country tour. “In the ICU, unable to ride, lying in bed, he lost a lot of muscle mass that we had to recover.”
“Last season there was no time for that. But this winter, we were able to face the problem with a long -term vision. The priority was on the legs, but to endure explosive accelerations, it also needs strength on the trunk and core.”
Vingegaard realized that he was being behind Pogacar in the most intense moments of the stages – a weakness he set out to correct before the Tour 2024. In the Rouen stage, he managed to accompany his rival and show the fruits of this work.
“Cycling is a resistance sport, but also separation – you need to open an advantage over the opponent,” said Heijboer. “The level is very high. In these races, the difference is made in the explosion – who can still accelerate with strength in the legs. Before, some cyclists won only based on aerobic power. Now this margin is decreasing.”
But knowing how to gain muscle is an essential part of the challenge.
Cyclists do not want to develop muscles in useless areas. For a climber, the force at the top of the body is limited utility.
“Cyclists try to use the most of their muscle fibers,” explains Dan Lorang, head of the technical team of Red Bull-Bons-Hansgrohe. “Sometimes it is not about adding new fibers – which require more oxygen – but learning how to recruit all you already have to gain explosion and resistance. And you still need to maintain aerobic capacity not to run out before using this force.”
Much of the work is done on the bike, because it is no use gaining muscles that will not be used on the pedal. Still, strength training at the gym helps develop specific muscle fibers. The secret is to avoid unnecessary gains – especially at the top of the body, which only represents extra weight on climbs.
