That’s how it is in everything…the people at the top aren’t “even doing the same sport”, great way to phrase it.
Joe
I read the article but didn’t find it hugely enlightening.
It just seemed to point out that if you keep training /being physically active with a positive mindset, and don’t become lazy and overweight, you will continue to be competitive well into old age.
I plan to, and have never stopped training all my life. I didn’t start running or bike racing as a child. I don;t think that is necessary except for highly skilled sports like tennis, motor racing, swimming gymnastics etc.
As one person on here said ,its more about dedication and consistent training.
If your not prepared to commit , don,t blame the genes. Get out there and do the work!
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Sounds like you were snapping in two when 26 not the “older” guys 
The study doesn’t say anything about their life long exercise habits only what they were doing at the time of the study. We don’t know what they’ve done through each decade of their life. Have they always been highly active, and in what sports, or just something more recent?
The exercise is also based on a questionnaire and then some assumptions based on those answers. The paper states things such as vigorous meaning cycling when cycling may or may not be vigorous.
It’s also has a bias selection in terms of recruiting age group world record holders. Who is to say individuals of the same age who are equally active do or don’t also have the same gene expression going on? What does gene expression look like for those moderately active?
I like this chart, which shows functional capacity as you age, orange for sedentary and blue if you stay active. The aim to stay above the disability threshold your entire life. Extend your healthy years as well as your life span through life long exercise.
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That is defintively a large part of it - the absolute passion for a sport from an early age. Those kids spend every free minute on their bikes (skis, running, etc) and wouldn’t think of it as training or hard work. If you read interviews with them, there are always stories of how they did more than their coaches wanted etc - remember reading one with Pidcock where he said he spent his rest days at the dirt jumps. Someone above mentioned Mark Cavendish, he has a couple of kids, but the youngest one is mad about bikes - wonder if thats the one that’ll turn out to have “the right genes”?
The question then for me is, can they train that much because they have the right physiology from the off, or do they develop that physiology, because they train so much? Do they make lots of mitochondria because they train/play so much as kids, or have they had that many from birth?
An while no amount of wishing to be 6’5" and a NBA star will make you grow without the right genes and food, I’m less sure about the opposite: can years of long endurance rides/runs at young age affect growth and body weight, giving you a better W/kg ratio as an adult? Can training from a young age mold the body to a better shape?
(This isn’t meant as a recommendation btw, you shouldn’t malnourish your kids in the hope they will become pro cyclists, but something that might be happening as a side effect.)
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I broke my pinky toe one time on a counter to Osoto Gari and the toe was sideways. I clutched at it pretty hard to put in back in place and that was the worst pain I had of any broken bones I’ve ever suffered from.
It took my breath away, plus it was bleeding as well.
Judo is sort of like cycling in that its impossible to win all the times and for the most part you rarely “win”. If you don’t get slammed into the mat so hard your teeth itch or you haven’t been choked out with your own Gi in a while…you don’t know what you’re missing.
Now back to our elitist “suffering” riding $10K bikes.
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That was the chicken/egg question i posed earlier. Agreed with your assessment and questions!
Several years ago I listened to a podcast on NPR in which a research scientist said you could significantly increase the number of mitochondria in your cells by taking steroids when your testosterone levels are highest (in your late teens 16 - 19) and exercising and lifting weights. This elevated mitochondria count will last for decades and improve athletic performance.
I dont know that you will ever forget it. I am 62…despite knowing my limits it is so easy to think sure I can do that…and then realize…no…that wasnt a good idea.
I dont know if it is age or just how some of us are mentally programmed but I have no trouble pushing through discomfort. I have learned though not to push through pain…as too often it comes back to haunt me. Mind is able…but body is weak.
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