roger89

Hello,

Just wondering who those have speciality in climbing, do they have 'thin' legs compared to 'huge' legs like the sprinters? Just wondering too if that's an advantage to cyclist in climbing..

jtree

thin everything.

EURO

Rasmussen

Pantani

Virenque

Coppi

Bahamontes

christo87

Only the pure climbers have skinny legs.

Jan Ullrich can be classified as a having a specialty in vlimbing, there is only one guy, maybe two who can drop him in the mountains of the Tour, and his legs are huge.

EURO

Ullrich is an all-rounder, like Armstrong (was), Vinokourov, Valverde, Basso etc. He does not have a 'speciality'.

The question is about pure climber's physiques.

jtree

how many polka dot jerseys does he have?

roger89

lol.. thanks for the pix

Now maybe I know why I have thin legs too.. lol jk

H20.1

Exactly.

cyclintom

Jan leads in the climbs only at the very end after his team has beaten the real climbers into submission with a relentless pace on the flats.

Do not mistake this for the act of a REAL(tm) climber. When these guys go uphill it is breathtaking. They ride up hills almost as if it were flat ground. It leaves you stunned.

giantcfr1

I am in no way a specialist in climbing but in the last 11 months I have done all my training in the mountains. I have lost so much weight, and lost so much size and shape in my legs that friends in Oz who have seen pictures of me (In Japan) think I've been sick. I've lost my biceps too but my triceps have shape and a little size.
Steve.

Jared88

I climb very often and have thin legs too. Don't have a picture but the widest part of my calves is only 5 inches.

roger89

That's cool. I never seen my calves broadened either. Could be the reason I'm climbing too much...

acathi_cyclist

eddy merckx was great in the mountains, though, like ulrich, he was more of an all arounder. The difference between eddy and jan is that eddy could crank a big gear up the mountains and jan just tries to. I think generally a "pure" climber is very thin, but big guys can climb to, they just need to find a balance between emense power and light weight.

simplyred

14 inch calves, 20 inch [at the thickest] quad...
Are those climbers legs or too thick?

tinrobot

Maybe it's the difference between fast twitch and slow twitch muscles.

I would imagine sprinters have more fast twitch.

timmhaan

i have thin legs and suck at climbing. better at flats even though my body seems well suited for climbing (thin and light).

Keith99

Eddy unlike Jan was also a great decender. His amazing 140 K solo breakaway in the 69 TDF started just 100 meters befor the top of the next to last climb. Yes he got a gap, but at the bottom it was a minute and was 6 by the top of the next climb. But unlike pure climbers the elite group of 6 (plus Vandenbosche Eddys Faema teammate) could not pull back any time on him for the last 40 flat Kms.

Sled Driver

Good thread... I'm an ex power lifter who back in the day could squat 600 lbs. I still have very strong legs, and thought that I would dominate climbs. NOT! I can go like a bat out of hell on the flats, and keep up with the guys in my paceline without any problems. However, I get pulled like a wisdom tooth on the climbs. I thought it would be the exact opposite.

It shocks me all the time when these guys with skinny legs fly up these mountains.

~Rich

reich17

I'm curious what the girls out there think about skinny legs on the guys? Or is that another thread?

jrennie

I think it would matter more on style, the riders who push larger gears tear more muscle(making it larger like weight lifting) than the rides spinning

CPcyclist

This is the first season that I worked on sprinting. I have seen my leggs grow and my climbing drop a bit (may do to change in fibers or just that I was not climbing as much).

pcastlouis

We are currently studying muscles in my physiology class, and many times (with shame) during the class, "The Legs Thread" came to mind. Anyway, that is also what I came up with. I also came to the conclusion that I have better legs than 90% of the girls in that class.

skinnyone

Me too..


Wonders with great interest... Please start a thread dude...

oldspark

At 6 feet and about 160 lbs I would not call his legs "huge".

skinnyone

Woot!!... Thats the first I have heard of that..