What Does It Take To Win A Grand Tour?

The best technology, single minded determination, years of training... and something one has absolutely no control over, genetics. But not just in physiology, also size. Arlene Woodcock is a pretty small lady. Ask her about Roberto Heras. He looked like a little boy next to her. I swear my arms are almost as big as Andy Scheck's thighs. We all know Froome is tall and thin, but it's hard to get an appreciation of just how much so.

Last year a couple of the guys from Donkey Label (Minneapolis company. Check them out here) were along the Pacific Coast Highway in California during the Tour when they see a guy on a bike totally decked out in Sky kit. “dude really needs to ease up on the full team Sky kit when out riding on a Monday.” But hey he's pretty good. Kinda looks like Chris Froome. It is Chris Froome. Long story short, he gets a flat, they pull over...

Photo:Donkey Label

"John is a skinny runner, notice in the picture he looks like the hulk"
For some perspective, John is an elite US masters distance runner. Here's a picture of him from the same blog finishing 2nd in the Carlsbad 5000. How good a race is it? $1000 to the first place MASTERS runner. For the first two miles he "cruised" at 5 minutes per mile. The guy is a rake and Froome is tiny next to him.

Photo: runnerazzi

You can read the full story here.

You can see a picture of Andy Hampsten and me in 2007 on our members page here. I'm fairly thin this year, but was even a little skinnier back then. I felt like Andre Greipel next to him. I was at least 2-3 inches wider and my legs were huge compared to his.