Heaviest rider to ever win the Tour?

[Velo Dude]

I was curious, who is the heaviest rider to ever win the Tour de France? What is the upper weight limit for an elite (genuine contender to win the Tour) rider in a grand Tour?

 

[Mainerider]

Just a guess....Big Mig. At one time heard he weighed about 175 lbs.

 

[usedtobefast]

Just a guess....Big Mig. At one time heard he weighed about 175 lbs.

my guess too. and i am guessing.

 

[palmerq]

i asked any quetion answered text service thing this once(well i asked if indurain was the heaviest to win), they didnt know and first told me it was backstedt :S, i put them right though, but they didnt know so I think records are sketchy maybe.


My guess is indurain too.

 

[psychlist]

Just a guess....Big Mig. At one time heard he weighed about 175 lbs.

What a pig!

 

[collateral damage]

I am certain that its Big Mig

 

[runninboy]

Just a guess....Big Mig. At one time heard he weighed about 175 lbs.

he was alot more when he was a domestique, i think in the 185 range
I think when he won the tour he was 170.

 

[pedaling squares]

i asked any quetion answered text service thing this once

Dude, you lost me.

 

[Laszlo]

I think he is refering to a new service that I happened to catch a few commercials on tv. Basically you send a text msg (question) from your cellphone to their number and they will give you an answer...obviously, not necessarily the correct one. I don't think such a service would be free either. And for what could be a pitance to some, could be plenty to a pauper.

 

[Velo Dude]

I thought it might be Indurain. Wikipedia lists him at 6'2" and 176 lbs.

 

[anubisza]

Yea I agree likely to be Indurain.. Dunno if there was anyone heavier back in the early days, but certainly in recent history he must be the biggest.

 

[issoisso]

Roger Walkowiak. 1.95m and almost 100kgs of roleur who won the Tour only due to winning an absurd amount of time in a Pereiro-like breakaway.

 

[cromagnon]

one of the big dutchmen or belgians in the early 1900's probably. they would cane the cigars and cognac after each stage.

not that cigars make you heavier, just saying there were complete animals.

 

[Sheltowee]

I think it was Mig too. But what did Ulrich weigh the year he won?

 

[luckyboy]

Wasn't Ullrich around 72-74kg?

 

[Mainerider]

It's funny what different people's perception of what 'big" means. I'm 6'3" and when I was racing 20 years ago my "racing weight" was about 190 lbs...people that I knew outside of cycling used to ask my wife if I had an eating disorder. In contrast, folks inside the cycling world talk about Mig and Ulrich like they're Shaquille O'Neal. I think the last time I weighed 175 lbs. was when I was 14.

 

[Jonathan]

one of the big dutchmen or belgians in the early 1900's probably. they would cane the cigars and cognac after each stage.

not that cigars make you heavier, just saying there were complete animals.

No dutchmen won the Tour in that period; I think you mean the 'Flandriens' of the Lucien Buysse type. Perhaps there were some heavy guys among them.

 

[mistahsinclair]

It's funny what different people's perception of what 'big" means. I'm 6'3" and when I was racing 20 years ago my "racing weight" was about 190 lbs...people that I knew outside of cycling used to ask my wife if I had an eating disorder. In contrast, folks inside the cycling world talk about Mig and Ulrich like they're Shaquille O'Neal. I think the last time I weighed 175 lbs. was when I was 14.

Yeah, this is interesting. I'm 6'-0" and 175, my wife calls me anorexic (I'm not even close to that) but in the cycling world I'm WAY at the upper end of the spectrum.

I don't know that I would call Big Mig a pig, as an earlier poster did. It would seem that pigs can fly!

 

[stephens]

It's funny what different people's perception of what 'big" means.

"Funny," wouldn't be the word I'd use. Misperception of what "big" is (in the wrong way) is absolutely disastrous to people's health and health costs in the usa (and other countries too). Americans, for example, consider properly sized people to be too skinny, overweight people to be about right, obese people to be just slightly overweight, etc.

Maybe the cycling world errs a little to the opposite extreme: big mig's 6'2" 175 isn't really "big", it's about right. But seeking lowest possible percentage of body fat is much healthier than the rest of the population's obsession with making excuses for being "big".

 

[Sheltowee]

At 6' 160 I get comments like: "Are you sick." You look like a rack of bones." And "poor as a Whip-Or-Will". "You need to eat..." etc. Life ain't always easy for an ectomorph in a nation that has a supersized population such as the USA. And what's even more confounding is when you tell someone that you are actually about four pounds over your best race weight and the look you get is: "you must have an eating disorder..."

 

[Velo Dude]

Wasn't Ullrich around 72-74kg?

Yes, Ullrich is listed at 6'0" and 160 lbs. (72 kg). What a fatty!

 

[Velo Dude]

At 6' 160 I get comments like: "Are you sick." You look like a rack of bones." And "poor as a Whip-Or-Will". "You need to eat..." etc. Life ain't always easy for an ectomorph in a nation that has a supersized population such as the USA. And what's even more confounding is when you tell someone that you are actually about four pounds over your best race weight and the look you get is: "you must have an eating disorder..."

I am 6'0" 190 and even though I don't race anymore I'm clearly over my optimally healthy weight, but I'm considered by many to be thin.

 

[FFWally]

I am 6'0" 190 and even though I don't race anymore I'm clearly over my optimally healthy weight, but I'm considered by many to be thin.

Love it, I raced at 5'10" 162 in the early 90's and was 3.5-4% body fat. What the hell are those guys racing at???

I look at those pics now and wonder how I was ever that thin.

 

[Greyhound Velo]

When I was racing I'd start the season at 6'2" and 170 pounds, by the end of the season I'd be around 155, and the lowest body fat % I ever measured was 5% so I could have been lighter if I tried. An old room mate of mine was even "worse": 6'5" and 190 pounds with a body fat of 2.5%, his skin was like paper. Both of us endured the usual "you look sick" and "are you hungry??" on a regular basis, but the funny thing was that we were both in the best shape of our lives. Like someone else said above, Americans just look for excuses to continue being fat.

 

[usedtobefast]

big mig never looked fat, he looked tall, so he carried the weight fine i think.
i'm 5'10.5" and weigh 142. skinny climber type.
americans have gotten fat and bloated. too much of everything. i'm in the
epicenter of it. sorry i went off topic.