20 Amazing Bodies of Female Cyclists

Dive into the world of elite female cyclists, where endurance, mental fortitude, and unparalleled dedication intersect. These 20 sensational women offer glimpses into their training regimens, dietary choices, and personal challenges. Whether it's Marianne Vos's intense hours on the saddle, Anna van der Breggen's stand against unhealthy weight loss pressures, or Puck Moonen's emphasis on mental well-being, each story is a testament to the multifaceted nature of top-tier cycling. Discover not just their athletic prowess, but the holistic approach they take to excel, both on and off the bike.

Marianne Vos shared some of her training secrets with Total Women's Cycling. "For me, most of the training I do is about those base level miles. I really spend time doing hours and hours on the bike, especially in the winter but also during the road season, to keep my base level high."

In an interview with Cycling News, Anna van der Breggen spoke out against the pressures of losing weight in the cycling industry. "Junior riders should not be trying to lose weight. They don't know how much of an influence it will have on their bodies, not just on their weight, but on all of the systems in their bodies, and their mental health. Junior girls need to have the right people around them to protect them from these [pressures]."

Lizzie Deignan talked about her diet secrets in an interview with WeLoveCycling.com. "I make sure that I have three main meals a day. I never skip a meal. I have seen so many riders who get into this cycle of putting on weight and starving themselves and you can only do that so many times before your metabolism is totally knackered. So I make sure I have three meals, and then it's about being consistently healthy, you have to be prepared to take weight off in a long way instead of really quickly."

Chloe Degert shared her go-to pre-race meal with Sports Illustrated. She has a unique approach to getting the right amount of energy. "I need sugar! I do it because I perform well on sugar—before Junior World championships in 2015, I ate like six cake pops before the race and I won. The day before a race, if I have, like, a ton of donuts? We're good."

Kristin Armstrong shared her training process with TrainingPeaks.com. "I would go to some yoga classes, but when we talk about strength training, that wasn't in my life prior to Rio. So as time has gone, I have found that it's very difficult to keep, you know, when you're younger you lose some muscle mass and you start training again, your muscle mass comes back, no problem. And so I had to focus a lot on, what am I going to do off the bike to, well, first of all, it was to prevent injury. You know, I had to make sure that my core, so if I go out for a long ride and I have tons of elevation that day, a lot of times our core or our transverse abs, they turn off and our lower back starts to carry that weight. And you know, over the years of riding bikes, a lot of us feel that."

In an interview with Cycling Weekly, Annemiek Van Vlueten broke down her training and weight loss process. "It is still healthy, but it is not my balance weight. I have to focus very much on it, weigh everything, to reach the weight with which I want to go to the Tour to win."df44d9eab23ea271ddde7545ae2c09ec

Clara Hughes likes to walk to stay in shape, and her native Canada has a lot of great walking spots. She tells Cycling Magazine,"You know, in every city and in Canada, there's public green spaces, there's bike paths, there's places to pause and it's just a matter of finding a little bit of time. I'm all about disconnecting to reconnect, disconnecting from all of this chaos, to reconnect with just, I don't know, mind, body, spirit, self."

In an interview with Women Fitness, Jolanda Neff talked about her decision to go pro in 2012. "I decided to put all my energy for the sport and go for it! The year 2014 showed that it was one of the best decisions of my life. The fact that I had more time for training and especially regeneration made it possible for me to improve and get to the top of the world level. It takes a lot of hard work but you must make sure you enjoy what you are doing, and I love riding bikes, and I think this is exactly the reason why I am successful: I love what I do."

Dani King shared her training secrets with Total Women's Cycling. "One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is doing too many junk miles," explains King:  "People think 'the longer I ride, the better I'm doing' – but you're not weight bearing on a bike, so you're not even burning that many calories by riding easy miles, especially if you're in a group. If you like that, and it's what makes you happy – you're not racing and you've not got other ambitions, keep doing it, but if you have got key targets that you want to achieve then it's really important to make sure every ride you're doing counts."

Evelyn Stevens shared her approach to dieting with Outside Online. "I'm a lover of food and eating. I don't follow any specific diet. I eat real, whole foods and avoid processed stuff. I'm a huge fan of farmer's markets, and am spoiled with good ones in California and when I'm on the road in Europe."

Katie Compton tells Men's Journal that she likes to use the keto diet to help her stay in cycling shape. "I love [the ketogenic] diet for how I feel," she says. "I think well, I have tons of energy, I'm not hungry, I lean out, I just feel better when I eat less carbohydrates."

Manon Carpenter talked about her motivations in a 2013 interview with Total Women's Cycling. "My goal is always to win. I'm not going to have a massive strop if I don't but it's good to see what you can do. I want to ride like I know I can because riding to my full capabilities makes me happy."

Caroline Buchanan shared her workout routine to Women Fitness. "I do 3 gym sessions a week in the pre season and off season. Track sessions, interval sprint training on the Watt Bike, swimming for some cross training, speed sprints, uphill sprints, skills sessions etc. Recovery is also big, so yoga, stretching & pilates are also part of what it takes."

In an interview with Velo, Sarah Hammer talked about missing out on the 2004 Olympics, and how it made her want to work harder. "I decided that I had unfinished business and that I would come back and it would be completely different," she said. "There was never gonna be another wasted moment on my side where I didn't put in the effort that was needed. If I'm gonna do it, I am only gonna do it for one reason, and that is to be the best that I can be."

Kate Courtney revealed to Men's Journal that she's struggled with food sensitivities, which made her want to seek help. "I started working with a new nutritionist, tracking my macros, and paying attention to what's actually in the food I'm eating," she says. "I realized that a lot of the time, I wasn't fueling enough around riding. So now I have a game plan to make sure that doesn't happen." Courtney revealed that she has a gluten sensitivity. 

 

Laura Kenny shared her diet and training process in an interview with Women's Health. "So, in the morning I will have Special K for breakfast, and maybe a crumpet or a bagel afterwards. Then I tend to go out on the bike, so that will be like 2 hours. Then when I'm back it will be lunchtime and that can be anything from having beans on toast to an omelette, anything like that because normally I'm training in the afternoon, you want something quite easy to digest and not something that's going to sit on your stomach for that long. Then I will go back out on the bike, I might take a cereal bar or something with me to keep me going till dinner. Then for dinner, it varies, a bake, like a tuna bake or a roast dinner if it's a Sunday and Jason is feeling nice."

Earlier this year, Emily Batty announced her retirement from cycling. She talked about what she has learned from her career in her announcement. "As I reflect on all these moments, I am reminded that the core of life's meaning and purpose lies not in pursuing medals and achievements but in the journey of self-improvement through unwavering dedication to our craft, experiences, and skill advancement. It is a testament to our character, reflecting who we are and what we strive for, and how this transformation unfolds beautifully, leading us to become enlightened and better versions of ourselves."

Rachel Atherton broke down her typical training week with GQ. "When it comes to training, we don't fix a rigid schedule for the week (eg do X on Monday etc) as the programme is so fluid (for example, good weather equals time on the bike). My trainer, Nick Grantham, gives me a menu – there are some non-negotiables but everything else is adaptable."

Puck Moonen opened up about how she is taking care of her mental health in this Instagram post. "Slowly settling back into more of a rhythm at home. Coffee, work, training, doing bits around the house, cuddling the cats🥰Much of how I used to behave around training flowed out of fear. Fear of doing less than others, fear of failure, fear of not burning the calories I just ate to do said training. During all the time I was racing for pro-teams, I never had a healthy relationship with food or training and only started becoming fully aware and changing my behaviour well after. Looking back it wasn't a very happy time and putting my mental health first over the last year has answered a lot of why's on why things weren't working out, or only temporarily. I've been thinking about it a lot recently and how I can use my experience to positively impact others and learn more about myself in the process to build back better."

In an interview with Trek Bikes, Ellen van Dijk talked about her training process and what motivates her. "I'm a type of rider that never wants to hear any intermediate times. It doesn't matter how fast somebody else is going because I'm going the maximum, so I don't want to hear that information because it can only distract me from what I'm doing at that moment. It's my fight with myself. I give everything that I have in a time trial.  It can be demotivating if I know that somebody is faster or, if I'm the fastest, it can be distracting. I just go full gas to the finish anyway."