
Why do Tour de France cyclists ride their bikes on rest days?
You've ridden 2,389 kilometres (1,484 miles) in the previous couple of weeks, with a solid proportion of those being up and down some of France's most unrelenting mountains.
Throw in the searing heat, the crashes, the incessant aches and pains, plus the intensity and the nervousness that cycling in the Tour de France brings on a daily basis and, when you've got a day off, you might never want to see a bike again.
So what do you do on your rest day? You get on your bike of course.
It's a curious notion, but one that is backed up by science. Not that all the 166 riders still in the race who have a free day in Montpellier today (Monday, July 21) will do the same thing.
A few may choose not to ride at all, perhaps to alleviate minor injuries or irritations, but most will get the legs pumping.
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'The main aim for us is that it's a real recovery day,' Loic Segaert, a coach for Bahrain Victorious, told The Athletic.
'The ride also shouldn't be an obligation — we want to have them all on the bike to have an active recovery, to not have sore legs the day after, but on the ride itself, actually we leave our guys free.
'We will motivate them to not ride all day at 20kph, let's say, and to have zero force on the pedals — but if somebody just wants to do it steadily, easy, this is fine.
'A few others will try to raise the heart rate a little bit to get some effort done, to not go too fresh into the next day, to stay in the rhythm.
'It also depends on what your target is for the next stage.'
Rest day on #TDF2025 = Coffee ride ☕️🚴♂️ pic.twitter.com/5qUVvSst49
— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) July 15, 2025
Riders who are targeting getting in the breakaway the following day may have a more active rest day than others, then.
The day after this rest day sees the riders head up one of the most iconic cycling destinations in the world, Mont Ventoux. It will be a brutal, punishing experience and going up stiff and cold isn't really an option.
Former Team Sky rider Russell Downing once explained how an inactive rest day cost him dearly during his Grand Tour debut in the 2011 Giro d'Italia.
'It was a hard race, the weather was bad and by the first rest day I was really tired,' he told Cycling Weekly.
'The others asked if I was going with them, but it was cold and raining and I said I'd go on the turbo in the hotel basement instead. I did that for about 45 minutes, just very easy, then went back upstairs to lie down.
'Next day, I was nailed for the whole stage, just hanging on. I was OK the day after, but I'd learnt my lesson and rode with the boys on the next rest day.
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'If you don't ride reasonably hard on the rest day, your body thinks you've stopped and switches off ready for deep recovery. You've got to keep it firing for the whole three weeks.'
Another staple part of the rest day, other than media and sponsor duties, is finding a good coffee shop.
Which pastries have the Tour de France riders been eating on their rest day? 🥐🧁 pic.twitter.com/875dR9VdI1
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 15, 2025
Segaert says that was high on Bahrain Victorious' priority list during last week's rest day.
'Just have an easy ride, good roads, no stress, find a nice coffee stop, which was a pretty popular one as I heard half of the bunch was there,' Segaert adds.
'For them, (coffee) is part of being relaxed. Maybe you and me, we are happy to go to a bar in the evening and drink a beer. Let's say this is their relaxing time, their chatting time, a little bit of holiday during this three-week big effort.
'Massage is also part of (the rest day), osteo-treatment is part of it. As on the day before, we had a long transfer post-stage, and there was actually no option to do it in the evening.
'The rest day is one day they can sleep for longer in the morning, have a relaxed breakfast, go for a ride, have a free afternoon except for a one-hour massage, and 30 minutes of osteotreatment. Maybe if some of them have family or a girlfriend passing at the hotel, they can have a relaxing afternoon and then an early dinner and sleep.'
Enjoying the rest day coffee ride ☕✅ pic.twitter.com/CeXOQWEGMQ
— #TeamVingegaard (@vingeupdates) July 15, 2025
It's a day to relax – but switching off during the Tour de France isn't really an option, as none other than Netherlands national team manager Ronald Koeman observed when he joined Visma–Lease a Bike during last Tuesday's rest day.
Koeman was surprised that pretty much anyone can join in a team's rest day ride, with amateur cyclists following the pros around France.
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'There's so much money in cycling — people invest in nutrition, fitness and data — and then some idiot who rides along as an amateur just bumps into Jonas Vingegaard,' he told WielerFlits.
'I find it truly unbelievable that this is possible and allowed. It's nice that they're so approachable, but a bit of safety and peace of mind are also important.'
Honored to welcome the visit of football legend Ronald Koeman during the Tour de France rest day ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/uu6YCwtvQf
— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) July 15, 2025
Vingegaard concurred, adding: 'I actually agree with it. I remember a reconnaissance from two years ago of the time trial to Combloux. Several cyclists were also riding there, and they almost brought Wilco Kelderman down. It can indeed be dangerous.'
EF Education EasyPost rider Kasper Asgreen rode 40 kilometres on last Tuesday's rest day.
He told The Athletic: 'I think it's very individual. I've also had team-mates who prefer to just take the day off. For me, I prefer to ride easy. I did a bit of a shorter loop than some of the other guys today.
'Some guys do a bit longer, some do efforts. I think it's just whatever you feel comfortable with really and what makes you feel good the next day. Luckily, we go through a lot of kilometres in a year, so you have a pretty good idea of what you normally like to do.
'For my own self, just really easy, 180, 200 watts, spinning the legs, but yes, like I said, some guys also like to go out and either do some sprints or some longer efforts at threshold or zone three or whatever, like it's highly individual.'
Additional reporting by Jacob Whitehead
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Tour de France stage 18: Ben O'Connor wins Tour's queen stage as Pogacar slays his Col de la Loze ghosts
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Jacob Whitehead No-one wants to return to the more conservative cycling tactics of the 2000s and 2010s, where a day like stage 18 would have been controlled over the first two hors categorie climbs and then raced aggressively in the final few kilometres of the Col de la Loze. But perhaps today showed that the current milieu, encapsulated by its high-carb, high-risk approach has its limits. Former England soccer manager Sven Goran Eriksson became known for his phrase 'first half good, second half not so good', and that is a useful description of what happened on Thursday afternoon. The Col du Glandon is a climb that is as unusual as it is beautiful. Where mountains such as the Col de la Madeleine take riders upwards at a steady gradient, the Glandon is uneven, and even contains a couple of steep downhills as you head the way the race did today. That unevenness can encourage attacking mayhem and so it proved today, with Roglic attacking, eventual stage winner O'Connor bridging across and the peloton being thinned down to the usual favorites with more than a hundred kilometres left to race. Visma had Jorgenson up front too, and after he crossed the summit of the Glandon in third place, it looked like the team was plotting a similar move to the one that worked so well for them in the pivotal stage in this year's Giro d'Italia. 💥 Let's go! Jonas Vingegaard attacks! @TamauPogi stays on his wheel! 💥 Et c'est parti ! Jonas Vingegaard attaque ! @TamauPogi ne le lâche pas d'une semelle !#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 24, 2025 And in some ways it did. After Vingegaard and his team pushed even harder on both the ascent of the Madeleine — the Visma leader put in an exploratory attack near the top — and then down the other side, Pogacar was clearly on the limit. At one point he radioed to his team about the speed at which Jorgenson was taking the super-fast descent. At this point of the day it looked like we were about to witness an all-timer of a Tour de France stage. But then… not much happened. Whether it was tactical or fatigue-based, or more likely a combination of the two, Pogacar rode defensively while Vingegaard wasn't willing to risk another attack that could have put him in the red and ended his slim hopes of overhauling the Slovenian. Advertisement Anyone tuning in for the closing stages is likely to have been underwhelmed by what they saw, but those who saw the whole day will always remember the Glandon and the Madeleine fondly. For a brief moment the race had everything, everywhere, all at once. Duncan Alexander Lenny Martinez is strengthening his grip on the polka dot jersey, a classification which has its own hold on the French public. Bucket hats are thrown from caravans, T-shirts line the sides of Alpine slopes. 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En difficulté dans le col du Glandon, le Français a visiblement utilisé la technique du "bidon collé" pour remonter… Suivez la 18e étape en intégralité sur Eurosport et HBO Max #LesRP #TDF2025 — Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) July 24, 2025 Martinez was immediately criticised by professional riders. Fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot replied to a video of the incident with a 'sick' emoji. It left race organisers with a decision to make — under race rules, they could have disqualified him from the race, but that option would have been seismic, especially to a home rider with a chance of taking the jersey. Instead he was docked eight points from his total, which leaves him 33 behind Pogacar in the standings, a gap that might be difficult to close even with the help of a car. Jacob Whitehead 🎙 🇸🇮@TamauPogi: "I would have liked to win the stage, but the priority is, of course, the Yellow Jersey." 💛 💛 Interview with the #LCLYearlyYearlyJersey wearer ⤵️ 💛#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 24, 2025 Another tough — albeit short — assignment in the mountains, with the Col du Pre a less-well-known but extremely difficult climb midway through the stage, before the 1980s-flavour to the 2025 race continues with a finish at La Plagne, a climb used in 1984 and 1987 but which has not featured in the Tour since 2002. For more cycling, follow Global Sports on The Athletic app via the Discover tab


New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
INEOS team member leaves Tour de France amid investigation into historic link with doping doctor
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