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Who is the tallest Tour de France cyclist and why does it matter?
Why does the UCI maintain a list of tall riders? And who is the tallest cyclist at the 2024 Tour de France?
Luc Claessen/Getty Images
Colin Henrys
From featherweight mountain goats to power-packed sprinters, there is no catch-all shape and size for professional cyclists.
But particularly tall pro Grand Tour cyclists are the rarity – hauling your body over the mountains generally favours lighter riders.
ProCyclingStats crunched the data in 2017 and found the average weight of riders on the men’s WorldTour was 68.8kg and their average height was 1.81m.
So, who are the riders at the extremes of the data? Who are the tallest and shortest riders at the 2023 Tour de France? And does it have any impact on performance?
Who is the tallest rider in the professional peloton?
Mathias Norsgaard is the tallest rider in the men's WorldTour peloton, measuring 1.98m according to the UCI and 2.02m on his team Movistar's tape measure.
The Danish classics specialist was 9th at Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2024 but did not make the Tour de France squad.
This leaves Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) towering at the top of the Tour de France tallest riders classification at 1.95m for the second year running.
Wæerenskjold is the Norwegian national time-trial champion and won the Tour of Belgium general classification. Weighing 92kg, the Hippo from Mandal is also one of the peloton's heaviest cyclists.
Ineos-Grenadiers' Ben Turner (1.94m) remains in second place. Stefan Küng (1.93m) and Brent Van Moer (1.91m) are not far behind Turner, nicknamed 'Big Ben' and 'The Clock'.
Max Walscheid (1.98m) was the loftiest Tour de France rider for three years running until 2023, but he didn't make the Jayco-AlUla squad this year.
Who are the tallest cyclists at the 2024 Tour de France?
- Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) – 195cm
- Ben Turner (Ineos-Grenadiers) – 194cm
- Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) – 193cm
- Brent Van Moer (Lotto-Dstny) – 191cm
Who is the shortest pro cyclist?
At the other end of the scale, Samuel Dumoulin – a veteran of 12 Tours de France before his 2019 retirement, and a stage winner in 2008 – stood at just 1.59m.
Harold Martín López of Astana Qazaqstan, who measures just 1.60m, is now the shortest WorldTour cyclist.
But the Ecuadorian is not racing the 2024 Tour de France. Neither are Laurens Huys (1.62m), Esteban Chaves (1.64m) or Caleb Ewan (1.65m).
Therefore, Ineos-Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock (1.7m) will be looking up to everyone on the start line.
The smallest male pro cyclist ever recorded appears to be Vicente Belda at 1.54m.
Why does the UCI maintain a list of the tallest riders?
Why does the UCI need to know how tall riders are? The answer relates to equipment regulations and the reach allowed on aero extension bars.
Following UCI rules changes in 2023 , cycling's governing body divides riders into three height categories .
On time trial bikes , the horizontal distance between the bottom bracket's centre and the extension bars' tips must be no more than 80cm for category one riders shorter than 180cm.
Category two riders, who stand between 180cm and 189cm tall, are allowed a maximum 83cm of reach.
Category three riders (taller than 190cm) are permitted a reach of up to 85cm.
The new rules also determine the maximum vertical difference permitted between the armrest pad and shifters.
Category one riders are allowed a 100mm gap, while category two and three riders can have a maximum of 120mm and 140mm, respectively.
Who is the tallest professional cyclist ever?
Conor dunne, 2.04m.
Conor Dunne, the 2018 Irish champion, never rode in the Tour de France , but he was at the 2017 Vuelta a España and the 2019 Giro d'Italia, and completed both.
He was the lanterne rouge at the Vuelta with Aqua Blue Sport and finished the Giro in 135th place overall for the Israel Cycling Academy – which is no mean feat considering the Irishman is 6ft 8in (2.04m) tall and towered over the peloton.
At An Post, bike sponsors Vitus had to create a new XXL 62cm (yes, sixty-two!) frame size to accommodate Dunne, with a longer top tube enabling extra reach.
Guillermo Brunetta, 2.04m
Dunne isn't the only 6ft 8in rider to have enjoyed a career on two wheels.
While it seems no pro rider has ever been taller, Guillermo Brunetta is the same height as the Irishman, at 2.04m.
Brunetta was not only tall, he also weighed in at 97kg – a product of his track-cycling upbringing.
Brunetta’s career was spent in South America in the 2000s, where his powerful frame was put to good effect in winning four Argentinian national time-trial titles.
Does height matter for cyclists?
In short, yes, height does matter for professional cycling – sort of.
ProCyclingStats’ 2017 study found the top time triallists were, on average, taller than the average WorldTour pro.
Further down the tape measure, climbers were much shorter; the top climbers were, on average, 1.6cm shorter than the top sprinters and 2.7cm shorter than the average WorldTour pro.
General classification contenders are usually on the shorter side.
Last year's Tour de France winner and this year's favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) measures 174cm tall. Double Grand Boucle winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is three centimetres taller.
There are exceptions to the rule. The fourth-placed rider in the 2021 Tour de France, Australian Ben O'Connor, is 1.88m and 2012 Yellow Jersey winner Sir Bradley Wiggins (1.9m) is taller still.
But the key to cycling performance is power, not height – and, for climbing, the power-to-weight ratio .
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How Did Bodies of the Tour de France Riders Change Over Time
Have you ever thought about the hypothetical chance to win the Tour de France if you really tried? Let us skip contemplations about training, financial support and a bit of luck as we want to focus entirely on the potential hidden within the human body. Robert J. Wood from Topendsports.com examined the body sizes and ages of TdF winners of the past and this is what he found out. Would you fit into his findings?
Slimmer, despite keeping the same height
As you might have noted, professional cyclists tend to be outstandingly lean and easy to distinguish by skinny arms and considerably long thighs. Proportionally longer femurs give them extra leverage while pushing the pedals. Moreover, climbers are usually smaller and lighter than sprinters and time trialists in the peloton. Since climb stages are decisive in the overall standings of the Tour, auspicious riders should have proportions somewhere in the middle between a climber and a sprinter. Have the bodies of the Tour participants changed throughout history? Let us make a brief trip into the past of the race.
Losing body fat
Despite limited resources, the basic measurements of the Tour de France cyclists, such as height and weight, are available for the winners all the way back to the 1940s. Using these two figures, Robert J. Wood calculated their average BMI measurement and analysed their body size. The average height of the participants has stayed almost the same yet their weight dwindled substantially. According to the calculated Body Mass Index, successful riders are getting leaner than they have ever been. According to available data, there has been a 5-kg drop in riders’ weight since 1990 with no remarkable impact on their average height.
Sometimes, the weight itself is not indicative of the chances for winning the title as we can demonstrate on flyweight rider Luis Ocaña who dominated the race in 1973 with as few as 52 kg or five-time serial winner Miguel Indurain with fair 80 kg. The average data from the roster of winners, however, show that the overall weight is decreasing while height remains almost the same. That means that riders have less and less fat on their body in contrast with the past.
Does optimal height exist?
If your height is under 180 cm, we have bad news for you. Despite exemptions, the average TdF participant’s height has been between 180 and 182 cm since 1990. The giant of the peloton was Marcel Sieberg with his phenomenal 198 cm who took part in the 2007 and 2008 Tour, while the shortest rider was Samuel Dumoulin at 159 cm who raced the Tour de France 12 times between 2003 and 2016. The data collected since 1947 show that riders’ height is increasing – with several title winners remarkably taller in the recent decade – except for Columbian Egan Bernal who is only 175 cm. Legendary winners like Chris Froome, Andy Schleck or Miguel Induráin, though, could overlook the peloton with their height of 186 cm.
Riders are getting older – by a few years
The youngest winner was Henri Cornet winning in 1904 at mere 20 years of age while the oldest was Firmin Lambot aged 36 and winning in 1922. Even though we saw Tadej Pogačar winning the last Tour at the age of barely 22, the average age of a title-holder in the last decade has been established at 28 years. The age of the winners is in direct relation with the average age of the participants, which slowly increased from 28 to the current 30 years. The increase can be taken on account of advances in medicine and nutrition as well as more and more satisfactory rewards that motivate cyclists to keep competing at a higher age. The average age of winners is growing slightly, declaring that more experienced riders are more likely to succeed though there are striking exemptions like Egan Bernal who became the youngest winner of the Tour de France since World War II.
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