 It's a simple fact of life that for most endeavors you wish to pursue, there are going to be people who are dealt a better genetic hand and that will give them an advantage. But exactly how much does your genes affect your potential as a cyclist? Can anyone become a pro given that they train enough and in the right way? Or are you simply destined for mediocrity if you picked the wrong parents? This is obviously a difficult question to answer because there's so many factors that affect human performance and genetics is just one of them. But we do have research in this area that may help us get to the bottom of this question. Perhaps a good place to start would be looking at research that tests how different people respond to the exact same training stimulus. This study in responses of maximal aerobic power to endurance training had subjects all undergo the same 20 weeks cycling endurance training program. And what they found was that the difference between those who responded the most and the least to the training stimulus was massive. Individual differences in response to training ranged from just 5% all the way up to 88%. This review finds an even wider spread stating that responses to standardized training programs have ranged from almost no gain up to 100% increase in large groups of sedentary individuals. This meta analysis on VO2max trainability comes to the same conclusion showing a bell curve distribution of trainability. What this means is that an unlucky few of us will see little to no improvement after training while a small lucky percentage of us will see a massive improvement. However, the vast majority of us lie somewhere in the middle. These high responders that make up a small portion of the population are your pro riders. For the same amount of training, they see huge fitness gains and scientists have been able to pinpoint the genes that may be responsible for this difference. This meta analysis evaluated the role of the peroxisome proliferate activated receptor alpha gene intron seven GC polymorphism in athletes high ability in endurance sports. Wow, that's a mouthful. And this video just went full nerd mode. Time to relieve my boredom with some TikTok videos. Taking 760 endurance athletes from five studies, they looked at how the G and C allele in the PP-ARA gene related to endurance performance. They found evidence that the G allele is associated with increased fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscles and in increased proportion of type one or slow-twitch fibers, which permits a sustained muscular contraction over a long period of time. Furthermore, the GGE genotype was shown to be correlated with high values of oxygen pulse. That got a bit complicated, but basically athletes with a high ability in endurance sports had a higher frequency of the GGE genotype and G allele. And the PP-ARA gene is just one of many genes influencing performance. This review on the genetics of athletic performance discusses performance enhancing polymorphisms or PEPs, which are genetic variants that when inherited can lead to improved athletic performance. It is now believed that over 200 PEPs exist. These genetic variations can affect a variety of functions, including blood flow to the muscles, muscle structure, oxygen transport, lactate turnover, and energy production. So not only have we observed differences in response to the same training between individuals, but we've pinpointed the genes that may be responsible. Let's dive a little deeper though into these genetic differences that lead to better performance in cycling specifically. VO2max or the maximum amount of oxygen a person can utilize during intense exercise has a big impact on endurance performance. Unfortunately, it's also the case that how high someone can get their VO2max has a lot to do with their genetics. We've even identified the genes associated with a larger VO2max improvement. And unfortunately, very little improvement is made to VO2max in individuals who are already trained. The good news is that VO2max is not the end all be all when it comes to performance. In fact, a pro may not necessarily have a higher VO2max than a fast amateur, but they are able to use more of it. This study on physiological and biomechanical factors associated with elite cycling endurance took elite national class cyclists and good state class cyclists and ran them through a series of tests. Interestingly enough, the two groups did not differ significantly in VO2max. However, the elite cyclists were able to complete a 40 kilometer time trial 10% faster and generate 11% more power. So if these two groups had a similar VO2max, then how were the elite riders able to go so much faster? The difference was in how much of their VO2max they were able to utilize. The elite riders were able to ride around 90% of their VO2max for the test while the others could only hold around 86% of their VO2max. Essentially, the elite riders lactate threshold lies at a higher percentage of their VO2max. And this isn't the only study that showed a significant difference in performance between subjects with the same VO2max. This study on determinants of endurance in well-trained cyclists found that endurance can vary greatly among individuals with the same VO2max. One of the key contributors to this difference may be a higher proportion of type one or slow-twitch muscle fibers in high performers. When looking at differences in elite cyclists' economy slash efficiency, this study actually found an inverse correlation between a rider's VO2max and their cycling economy and gross mechanical efficiency, suggesting that a higher efficiency and economy seemed to compensate for a low VO2max in professional cyclists. So while VO2max can be an indicator of somebody's potential in endurance sports, it is by no means the only factor. A rider with a lower VO2max can make up for it with improved efficiency and economy. It may be argued that being able to utilize a higher percentage of your VO2max at lactate threshold is actually more important. The good news is that this is trainable. And if you wanna know more about how to train your lactate threshold, I've left some of my videos on the topic down in the description. There are also differences in the way our bodies are structured that can have an impact on performance and determine the type of cyclist we may be. Just take a look at the difference in body type between sprinters and climbers. This is not by accident. In this study on determinants of peak power output in elite cyclists, they looked at 35 elite cyclists, 18 of which were endurance cyclists and 17 of which were sprinters. Not too surprisingly, sprint performance was highly correlated with quad and hamstring volume or basically the bigger the legs, the more powerful the sprint. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Just take a look at the legs of the world's best sprinters or track cyclists for that matter and you come to that conclusion pretty quickly. Hmm, yeah, you're right. Pretty big. Wait, we're talking about their legs, right? Perhaps the less obvious advantage that sprinters have is the angle of their muscle fibers. The penation angle is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the entire muscle and its fibers and can affect the force a muscle can produce. What they found was that while quad volume explained 76% of the variability in sprint performance, the penation angle explained an additional 11% and was the second most important variable. If you're not naturally a sprinter, there are things you can do in training to improve your sprint, but it's unlikely that you'll ever be able to compete with the best and vice versa for that matter. And most of that comes down to physiological differences that are outside of your control. Up to this point in the video, we've been talking about physiological differences between people that make someone a great cyclist, but we shouldn't ignore the mental side of the sport. Cycling is a sport that requires a high pain tolerance and a lot of mental toughness, both to push through training sessions to make bigger gains and to push harder in races to get better results. This is obviously something that we can all work on, but is it true that elite level riders seem to naturally have a higher pain tolerance and mental toughness? This study on resistance to mental fatigue in professional road cyclists had both professional and recreational cyclists perform a cognitive test known as a strupe test, which is designed to assess inhibitory control followed by a 20 minute time trial. The pros performed better on the strupe test, but on top of that, their power was not lower than baseline in the 20 minute test afterwards. This was not the case for the recreational cyclists who averaged 10 watts less after the mentally taxing test. The study concluded that inhibitory control and resistance to mental fatigue may contribute to successful road cycling performance. These psychobiological characteristics may be either genetic and or developed through training and lifestyle. And it's likely a little bit of both. Sure, resistance to mental fatigue is something that you can develop over time, but then again, there are riders that just seem to naturally have an ability to suffer even at a young age and in cycling, that's an extremely valuable trait to have. Further research into the mental toughness of cyclists comes to the same conclusion. High level cyclists appear to be less susceptible to mental fatigue and reviews on the topic agree that it's a skill that can be both inherited and learned. Now, while I have touched on the major physiological and psychological factors that contributes to performance, there are of course many other factors that play a role. Your natural set point or body weight could affect your climbing ability, your height could affect how aerodynamic you can get, whether you're more of a carb burner or a fat burner and so on are all traits that people are born with that can affect results. Given all these factors, it's a bit difficult to pinpoint exactly how much genetics plays a role in your cycling performance, but we do have some rough estimates. This review set out to assess how much genetics plays a role in the making of a Tour de France champion. They state that twin and family studies have shown that approximately 50% of the variants in a number of performance related phenotypes, including those important to cycling can be explained by genetic variation. This number right here may give us a rough estimate of how important genetics is, but there's still a lot in this field that we don't know. Over 200 genes have been identified containing common genetic variants involved in the genetic predisposition to physical performance. However, typically these explain only a small portion of the variants, perhaps one to 2% and collectively they rarely explain anything approaching 50%. Thus there's a gap in our understanding. In the conclusion though, they sum up the all important question that I'm sure all of us were wondering, can anyone become a Tour de France champion? For this to happen, an individual must possess the right genetic and epigenetic variation to display natural talent at cycling, the right genetic and epigenetic variation to be able to respond to appropriate training. And last but not least, actually do the training with the right team, supporting them in the right way. This is not an either or situation. Champions of the Tour de France are both born and made. Genetic and epigenetic variations provide the potential in some individuals, but they must then unlock that potential with appropriate training and lifestyle. So basically, no, it's not possible for just anyone to become a winner of the Tour de France. It's shocking, I know. So to summarize this video, it was basically a long-winded lead up to telling me that I don't have what it takes and I'll never win the Tour de France. Thanks, I'm thoroughly depressed now. The percentage of people who have the genetic potential to even make it as a pro is extremely small, but setting that aside, whatever cycling endeavor you're pursuing, genetics will play a large role, but it's only half the battle. The fastest riders are not only naturally talented, but also possess heaps of drive and determination and train their asses off because of it, but also train in the right way without beating themselves into the ground. And if you wanna see just how far your genetics can take you in this sport, you have to do the same. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to give it a like, subscribe for more science-based cycling videos just like this one, and share this video with your cycling friends. I'll see you in the next one.