Pro Cycling Enters the Zeitgeist

Thoughts on Pog's Interview on Peter Attia's Podcast

Peter Attia wasn’t always a one-(attractively bald, extremely intelligent) man cottage industry; he lurked in the second tier of the podshpere for several years, known largely among young, muscled men for his recurring role in the Joe Rogan Universe, and for his two-plus hour podcasts, going deep on topics ranging from sleep to weight training to archery.

Attia’s profile ascended — steeply — with the publication of his book Outlive in March 2023. Quickly his following mushroomed, as every health-conscious Boomer and Gen Xer, determined to lift grandkids and hike the Wiggles in Zion well into their 80s and beyond, subscribed to his podcast, bought the book, and laid out their detailed plan to conquer the Centenarian Decathlon.

Turns out, though, that the polymath Attia is narrowly a sneaky cycling fan, and can go deep not just on pedal power as it relates to fitness, but also on the Tour — and the Vuelta, the Giro, the Classics and more. My guess is that he admires cyclists’ unique, combo Zone 2/VO2 max capability; what other sport calls on athletes to perform for five hours — and periodically at explosive heart rates during those five hours?

I was nonetheless surprised when Attia posted a (mercifully short) conversation with Tadej Pogacar. “Pog” is a generational talent, now considered the odds-on favorite finally to replace Eddy Merckx, for decades virtually unanimously known as the G-COAT; still I’ll estimate that…5% of North Americans can tell you who won this year’s Tour? And the interview went characteristically, wonkishly deep, spending time on power zones, carb grams per hour, and even VAM. (As Attia said on the podcast, I know we’re getting obscure here; if you’re not familiar, look it up.)

The Interview — known in the cycling world that way, capitalized; this was a big deal in our world! — yielded a few revelations, most notably that we’ve been mispronouncing Tadej’s name all along: It’s tuh-DAY (like how must of us say the word for “this day right here right now”), not TAH-day. And that he regularly eats chocolate, and cake, and chocolate cake, and occasionally mis-optimizes sleep by drinking beer. And that he can ride at 330 watts for 5 hours; for embarrassing reference, I’ll share that I can probably hold 330 watts for…10 minutes. Maybe 15 when rested. And chasing a friend. Whom I’m mad at.

The chocolate cake disclosure was surely dismaying to his rivals; while professional cyclists are known for very strict, even disordered fueling, Pogacar shared that only recently did he implement anything like a nutritional plan. Mostly he eats what he wants, when he wants; he rides steady-state most of the time; and he definitely prefers to win — but he's not obsessive. Unlike…most of those rivals.

A week after The Interview, Pogacar positively dismantled the pro peloton, by way of winning the World Championships in the most audacious, panache-ious manner possible: Riding away with 100 unrelenting kilometers still to go, and fending off a chasing, rotating, drafting, sometimes cooperating group of the Best of the Rest. I’m afraid that The Interview, then, fueled Tuh-DAY’s fanbase, but also his detractor base, the deniers who have concluded that such domination is impossible without “assistance” — especially if he’s hardly optimizing nutritionally, or even in his training.

Attia, for one, falls into the Pog-a-stan category; he practically fawns over Pogacar during the interview. But who’s going to tell him that while the World Champion’s aerobic and anaerobic output are quite literally off the charts, he doesn’t seem to check Attia’s other criteria for healthy aging: stability, flexibility — and especially, um, upper body strength?

?