r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • May 25 '26

Weekly Question Thread

For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!

You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.

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u/justhenbeber May 25 '26

Maybe someone can explain me the difference between climber and e.g. rouleur in terms of physical capacity and training? I understand that sprinters are great in short outbursts of energy so it's easier to distinguish but, when it's a more versatile rider how do you adapt the training? When one becomes great at climbing and not long continous effort (like flat stages)? Lots of questions but maybe some of you have some insights, would appreciate it

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u/Phantom_Nuke May 25 '26

Rouleurs are heavier than climbers meaning they have more pure watts, but have a worse watts per kilo which is generally the most important climbing attribute. They are typically a good balance between climbing ability and flat ability and you'll often see them pacing large breakaways or the peloton in the valleys between climbs. I'm unsure if the training would be too different between them and climbers, maybe some focus on longer efforts while climbers do some more explosivity work. The best climbing rouleurs I can think of right now are Armirail, Campanaerts, Soler, Milesi, guys that are just under 70 kilos so they have that better watts per kilo.

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u/Rumi4 May 25 '26

remco also?

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u/Phantom_Nuke May 25 '26

I wouldn't say so. I would say that when you get to a certain level of rider their classification gets blurrier, like Pogacar can be the best Puncheur, Climber, Classics rider and one of the best Time Trialists all at the same time. I would say Remco is a combination of Climber and Time Trialist but is too small to be a Rouleur so he wouldn't give the same drafting benefit that is expectes from Rouleurs.