![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-29-at-8.48.47-AM.png?resize=436%2C694&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cCycling is healthy until a certain point,” he said. “After that, it starts to become unhealthy. What we do in professional sport is not healthy.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Would I wish for my kids to be professional cyclists? Absolutely not. I would show them all the bad things first, so maybe they would choose something else. For me, it’s about how you’re destroying your own body. If you want to be healthy, go play badminton.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Certainly, riding three weeks for hours each day in France in a summer that is breaking heat records, does not seem a great idea at the moment! I had a brief glimpse of this life when I was racing on the UCI Asia Tour in the early 2000s – and at the highest level at the tours of Oman and Qatar – and whilst it is very rewarding to see how strong and fit you can become, to go deeper than you thought possible, there’s no doubt that the physical and mental strain is massicve – not to mention emotionally also. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can’t imagine some of these guys who are in the 30s who started young. Here in Taiwan, when I go to local events, I often see guys I raced with back in the day and can’t believe they’re still at a high level, knowing all the work it takes to get and stay there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kudos to them, but Pedersen is right, it’s not healthy after a certain level, and as mentioned, not just physically. If you are ever around a few pros for a decent length of time, you’ll generally fiond that they’re not exactly lighthearted! That mental toll is real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s look at how pro-level riding messes you up! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The toll of WorldTour cycling can be broken down into a few critical areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The Toll on the Body<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Physical Danger<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Mental Health and Lifestyle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sounds fun eh!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Extremely fit & extremely close to a breakdown, the life of a pro cyclist is unhealthy, says Mads.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":40955418,"featured_media":25449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159546164,112364],"tags":[767234040,767234204,767234205,767233965],"class_list":["post-25442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-punkopinion","category-world-tour","tag-cycling-health","tag-cycling-unhealthy","tag-is-cycling-safe","tag-mads-pedersen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n
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