Body Mass Index trends in men’s Grand Tour cycling events from 1992-2022: Implications for athlete wellbeing and regulatory frameworks

Abstract

Background: Weight-related issues and adverse weight-management behaviours are prominent concerns in elite-level sports, notably in competitions like men’s road cycling. Whilst other sporting bodies have introduced measures based on Body Mass Index (BMI), no such provision exists in elite-level cycling, which is overseen by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). However, these may be necessary to protect the short- and long-term health of riders and improve perceptions of the sport. Methods: To ascertain the potential need for targeted policies, we gathered height and weight data from the ProCyclingStats website to investigate BMI trends for the top five male finishers between 1992-2022 in the General Classification (GC) category of the UCI’s Grand Tours: the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España. Results: We calculated the BMI of 156 unique top five finishers in the GC of the Grand Tours with a total of n=445 BMI values (this includes riders who had multiple top five finishes in different races and years). Whilst singular data points varied, we observed overall declining mean BMI trends for these cyclists between 1992-2022. Conclusion: Our results supplement existing anecdotal and scholarly evidence and suggest that lower BMIs are increasingly associated with top finishing positions in the GC of the men’s Grand Tours. This could have substantial implications for athletes and regulators, since performance pressures could lead to detrimental weight-management practices that can harm short and long-term health and affect the sport’s reputation. Accordingly, we propose that the UCI could consider multifactorial interventions, including prevention and awareness campaigns, screening programs, and BMI-based guidelines.