Professional cyclists competing in the grueling early days of the Tour de France would routinely chain-smoke cigarettes and drink copious amounts of wine while actively pedaling up treacherous alpine mountain passes.

A closer look

Professional cyclists competing in the grueling early days of the Tour de France would routinely chain-smoke cigarettes and drink copious amounts of wine while actively pedaling up treacherous alpine mountain passes. Before the advent of modern sports science and strict anti-doping agency regulations, riders genuinely believed that inhaling thick plumes of toxic tobacco smoke would physically open up their lungs and increase oxygen flow to their exhausted muscles. Furthermore, the immense physical agony of riding heavy, gearless steel bicycles for hundreds of miles prompted competitors to numb their pain with heavy liquor, champagne, and sometimes even cocaine. Modern elite athletes obsess over marginal gains, electrolyte balances, and aerodynamic spandex, while the original pioneers of cycling just got absolutely trashed and puffed on cigars to survive the world's most miserable continental road trip!