Pro Cyclists Have Big Hearts

Literally. Years of peak aerobic output tend to enlarge endurance athletes' hearts 20 to 40 percent of the norm of other males in their age groups. This report gibes with the most often touted blurb about the genetic freak known as Lance Armstrong: his heart is 33 percent larger than most men. I was suprised that other cyclists also had enlarged hearts, and that they lose a quarter of the muscle's mass after they stop racing. Unfortunately, the study by the french hospital did not say whether the cyclists' hearts were bigger to begin with. Certainly, Armstrong's heart was already bigger before he restarted his career after battling cancer, but he'd already been an endurance athlete for more than a decade. Besides, the freakiest thing about Armstrong's physiology was not his heart, but that his muscles produce less than half the normal lactic acid than other athletes. He actually can ride harder, longer, without as much pain as the rest of the peloton.

In other big-hearted cycling news, Levi Leipheimer beat his team mate George Hincapie by over a minute to win the U.S. Road Racing Championship, which George was trying to defend as last year's champion. It truly has been a dream year for Levi's career. Let's hope he can find a good team for next year to keep his good race results coming.