Increased Average Longevity among the “Tour de France” Cyclists

Abstract

It is widely held among the general population and even among health professionals that moderate exercise is a healthy practice but long term high intensity exercise is not. The specific amount of physical activity necessary for good health remains unclear. To date, longevity studies of elite athletes have been relatively sparse and the results are somewhat conflicting. The Tour de France is among the most gruelling sport events in the world, during which highly trained professional cyclists undertake high intensity exercise for a full 3 weeks. Consequently we set out to determine the longevity of the participants in the Tour de France, compared with that of the general population. We studied the longevity of 834 cyclists from France (n=465), Italy (n=196) and Belgium (n=173) who rode the Tour de France between the years 1930 and 1964. Dates of birth and death of the cyclists were obtained on December 31^st 2007. We calculated the percentage of survivors for each age and compared them with the values for the pooled general population of France, Italy and Belgium for the appropriate age cohorts. We found a very significant increase in average longevity (17%) of the cyclists when compared with the general population. The age at which 50% of the general population died was 73.5 vs. 81.5 years in Tour de France participants. Our major finding is that repeated very intense exercise prolongs life span in well trained practitioners. Our findings underpin the importance of exercising without the fear that becoming exhausted might be bad for one's health.

Key words

life expectancy - mortality - physical activity - endurance - lifestyle

References

• 1 Blair SN, LaMonte MJ, Nichaman MZ. The evolution of physical activity recommendations: how much is enough?.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;  79 913S-920S
• 2 Chakravarty EF, Hubert HB, Lingala VB, Fries JF. Reduced disability and mortality among aging runners: a 21-year longitudinal study.  Arch Intern Med. 2008;  168 1638-1646
• 3 Church TS, Earnest CP, Skinner JS, Blair SN. Effects of different doses of physical activity on cardiorespiratory fitness among sedentary, overweight or obese postmenopausal women with elevated blood pressure: a randomized controlled trial.  JAMA. 2007;  297 2081-2091
• 4 Fogelholm M, Kaprio J, Sarna S. Healthy lifestyles of former Finnish world class athletes.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994;  26 224-229
• 5 Gomez-Cabrera MC, Pallardo FV, Sastre J, Vina J, Garcia-del-Moral L. Allopurinol and markers of muscle damage among participants in the Tour de France.  JAMA. 2003;  289 2503-2504
• 6 Harris KM, Henry JT, Rohman E, Haas TS, Maron BJ. Sudden death during the triathlon.  JAMA. 2010;  303 1255-1257
• 7 Harriss DJ, Atkinson G. International Journal of Sports Medicine – Ethical Standards in Sport and Exercise Science Research.  Int J Sports Med. 2009;  30 701-702
• 8 Kesaniemi YK, Danforth Jr E, Jensen MD, Kopelman PG, Lefebvre P, Reeder BA. Dose-response issues concerning physical activity and health: an evidence-based symposium.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001;  33 S351-S358
• 9 Knez WL, Coombes JS, Jenkins DG. Ultra-endurance exercise and oxidative damage: implications for cardiovascular health.  Sports Med. 2006;  36 429-441
• 10 Kujala UM. Essay: Does training adversely affect long-term health?.  Lancet. 2005;  366 (S 01) S55-S56
• 11 Kujala UM, Tikkanen HO, Sarna S, Pukkala E, Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M. Disease-specific mortality among elite athletes.  JAMA. 2001;  285 44-45
• 12 Lee DC, Artero EG, Sui X, Blair SN. Mortality trends in the general population: the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness.  J Psychopharmacol. 2010;  24 27-35
• 13 Lee IM. Dose-response relation between physical activity and fitness: even a little is good; more is better.  JAMA. 2007;  297 2137-2139
• 14 Lucia A, Hoyos J, Chicharro JL. Physiology of professional road cycling.  Sports Med. 2001;  31 325-337
• 15 Myers J, Prakash M, Froelicher V, Do D, Partington S, Atwood JE. Exercise capacity and mortality among men referred for exercise testing.  N Engl J Med. 2002;  346 793-801
• 16 Paffenbarger Jr RS, Hyde RT, Wing AL, Hsieh CC. Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni.  N Engl J Med. 1986;  314 605-613
• 17 Ruiz JR, Moran M, Arenas J, Lucia A. Strenuous endurance exercise improves life expectancy: itâs in our genes.  Br J Sports Med. 2010;  DOI: doi:10.1136/bjsm.2010.075085
• 18 Sarna S, Sahi T, Koskenvuo M, Kaprio J. Increased life expectancy of world class male athletes.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1993;  25 237-244
• 19 Schnohr P. Athletic activity and longevity.  Lancet. 1972;  2 605
• 20 Schnohr P. Longevity and causes of death in male athletic champions.  Lancet. 1971;  2 1364-1366
• 21 Sun Q, Townsend MK, Okereke OI, Franco OH, Hu FB, Grodstein F. Physical activity at midlife in relation to successful survival in women at age 70 years or older.  Arch Intern Med. 2010;  170 194-201
• 22 Teramoto M, Bungum TJ. Mortality and longevity of elite athletes.  J Sci Med Sport. 2010;  13 410-416
• 23 Woodcock J, Franco OH, Orsini N, Roberts I. Non-vigorous physical activity and all-cause mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.  Int J Epidemiol. 2010;  DOI: doi: 10.1093/ije/dyq104

Correspondence