{"id":184534,"date":"2021-07-14T12:11:13","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T12:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=184534"},"modified":"2021-07-14T12:11:13","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T12:11:13","slug":"cyclists-legs-after-the-tour-de-france-why-are-they-so-veiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/07\/14\/cyclists-legs-after-the-tour-de-france-why-are-they-so-veiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclist’s Legs After the Tour de France: Why Are They So Veiny?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you seen those crazy Tour de France pros\u2019 legs with bulging veins? How does that even happen? Can any cyclist train their muscles to look like that? There\u2019s a perfectly logical and normal explanation for this phenomenon. But don\u2019t get your hopes up! It\u2019s really hard to achieve that kind of physique.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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What you see in those images from Tour de France<\/a> riders is something that happens to all of us to a certain extent. When you exercise in warm conditions, your blood flow increases and veins expand. But you might not even notice. Let\u2019s examine the main differences between you and the pros that make their legs look so crazy compared to yours when you exercise.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Cyclist<\/a>
What makes the pros’ legs so veiny? \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Low body fat<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The most obvious reason your legs don\u2019t look as veiny is body fat. The average active man might have around 20% body fat, while women have around 25% body fat.<\/a> Professional cyclists at the Tour de France have as low as 6%. There\u2019s no visible layer of fat covering their veins. But still, there are many slim people and their legs don\u2019t look like this. We need to delve deeper.<\/p>\n

A super-developed blood supply network<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The vascular system is just as important as leanness if you want veiny legs. The gruelling training that elite cyclists go through puts a big strain on their vascular system.<\/a> They need to push a lot of oxygenated blood into the leg muscles and extract deoxygenated blood back out to the heart and lungs. Both their arteries and veins have to increase in diameter to accommodate this. And they also get much better at dilatation, expanding when under pressure.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, on Instagram, one cyclist shows us what 16 stages of riding the Tour De France will do to your legs. pic.twitter.com\/7HHgVS6uia<\/a><\/p>\n

— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) July 18, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n