jppe

Either the TdF podium gals are super tall or the riders are way shorter than average. The podium girls were standing beside the winners and also a step lower. The girls were taller than all the winners except for Sagan.

They must recruit from the French basketball team????

I enjoyed catching most of the tour this year. Seemed like unexpected results almost every day. Bob Roll did a nice job. The analysts did a decent job as well. Horner seemed to get more comfortable the last couple weeks. Christian made an excellent point today that if Thomas had been in yellow after the individual TT that the team would have ridden for him and he would have been the winner. Alaphilippe rode really well and changed the outcome of the race.

I still don’t see how those guys produce the Watts they do for 21 days. Incredible athletes.

I had had a friend that was in France riding some of the routes during the tour. He loved it.

Barrettscv 

I would expect then the ladies are unusually tall, they are professional models. This years TDF winners were mostly climbers and not the lanky winners of the last few years.

bruce19

I'm guessing they are taller than average and they are wearing high heels. If you're 5'7" in 3" heels you are 5'10". There are a lot of TdF guys who are not 5'10".

John00

I was expecting more from this thread......Pix or it didn't happen

AmFaeEmbra

Not sure if you can access this link outside GB https://www.itv.com/hub/itv4

If you can, there are edited highlights 7-8pm GB time Monday.
Also catch-up on all other episodes at https://www.itv.com/hub/tour-de-france/34067

Brocephus

I loves me some TDF podium girls !!!!
And yeah, you can tell many of the girls are very tall just seeing them walk, even before seeing them next to the diminutive riders.
BTW, that girl that was to Egan's right, during the white jersey presentation IIRC, was a seriously pretty girl !! Hubba hubba !!

2cam16

Anyone is taller than Caleb Ewan.
Not only that, they turn out to become wives of riders too. Check out Hincapie's wife. Talk about love on the podium. lol

indyfabz

Ouch! But so true. Pantani was also quite small.

Retro Grouch 

I noticed that too. My suggestion is to make the podium a little taller.

berner

I was going to mention that George Hincapie had married a podium girl. His auto biography was interesting. As for the girls themselves, I like a big girl. Whatever it is girls have, big girls have more of it. Simple arithmetic.

bbbean 

This.

rutan74

A combination of both I believe.

Most of the riders are tiny, like jockeys. I saw somewhere that Richie Porte rides a 48 frame! I am 5'11' and ride a 56. This guy must be like 5'2''! They are complaining that Sagan is a beast at around 155lbs! Some think if he lost 10 kilos he could win the Tour, but that is a lot of weight. Usually the climbers are like 120-130lbs. Valverde was down to like 126 at this years tour and folks thought he had cancer he was so thin.

It is a power to weight ration thing. Froome and TJ to mention just two are the exceptions being tall. Most of the these guys are pocket rockets so it is no wonder when they stand next to anyone that is average in height, they look like little kids.

john

2cam16

Tao Geoghagan Hart is another tall rider.

big john

He is listed at 5'7"1/2 or 5'8". Many of the top climbers are around 5'9". You're right about the power to weight ratio part. They say the weight to height should be 2 pounds per inch of height for the climbs. I have friends in that range but at 74" tall that would put me at 148 pounds. Never happening.

shelbyfv

IIRC, we used to have "Podium Girls" on BF. It's 50+ though, so "IIRC" is chancy.

big chainring 

I'm a fan of Samuel Dumoulin...5'2".

Lemond1985

But when he's on the bike, he looks at least 5'3".

jppe

Seems like I always wind up behind the 5’ 5” riders in pacelines, and I’m 6’+......