Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
Ignoring any notions of "cleanliness," a pro cyclist is no different from any other pro athlete-- they were all born with a little extra something. A very good VO2 max for an adult male is above 52... Greg Lemond's was 92.5.
You can't just will yourself to hit a 95mph fastball, either. Think about that one-- the absolute best, most gifted humans walking the earth can successfully do it less than 1/3 of the time. They're a different breed. That's why there's so few of them.
I think when it comes to VO2 I bet most people who aren't "gifted" are under 50ish no doubt, most athletes I would guess are in the 70's and the best are 80+.....Mine is around 45, again no athlete but a decent cyclist. So that number Lemond put up is simply amazing!