Pro cyclist shared shocking photos of leg muscles to show brutal toll on his body

Warning: This article contains discussion of eating disorders which some readers may find distressing.

A professional cyclist shared a series of mind-blowing images, revealing the toll that training had on his body.

Tour de France athlete Janez Brajkovic, now 41, took photos of his legs just before the CRO, also known as the Tour of Croatia, back in 2019.

Posting the photos on social media, Brajkovic wrote: "It's only about not f**king it up now."

In one photo, Brajkovic shared a picture of his leg, specifically his calf muscle.

People were pretty taken aback by the photos, with one commenting: "This can’t be real."

While another said: "Looks like a cadaver."

And a third added: "When I originally saw this photo online, I thought it was a horse's leg until I saw your foot."

Meanwhile, a fourth asked: "Why does your leg look like that?"

In the image, Brajkovic's calf muscles are so defined, many questioned if the photo could be accurate.

However, speaking to reporters at the time, sports doctor Natasa Desnica said of the images: "In this sport, this is a normal occurrence and on several occasions.

"I have seen cyclists shortly after three weeks of cycling races in France, Italy and Spain, who looked like him.

"Their legs were incredibly tiny, with no subcutaneous fat, and they were even dehydrated, so every bone could be seen as well as veins on the face and body, and you could see every single muscle like on an anatomical atlas.

"Fortunately, the cyclist recovers from this condition relatively quickly, his appearance normalises, it is only a matter of how such cycles have a lasting effect on health."

Brajkovic was suspended back in July 2018 for a period of 10 months after he tested positive for methylhexaneamine in a 'contaminated' food supplement.

He later revealed he had been suffering from the eating disorder bulimia, explaining that the supplement was the only food he could 'keep inside'.

"I took a meal replacement, it was contaminated, but that was the only thing I could keep inside," the cyclist said.

"It happened to me that there were no days I would not cry before embarking on a ride. I was desperate and depressed.

“It’s about poor relationships with food, disordered eating which became an eating disorder, bulimia. It happened quickly and before I knew it, I realised I was not in control anymore. It had me under control, no matter what.

"Being such a taboo topic, I couldn’t just tell someone and ask for help. I learned to live with it, hoping I was going to be okay."

Brajkovic was crowned the World Under-23 Time Trial champion back in 2004.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article and would like to speak with someone in confidence, call the BEAT Eating Disorders helpline on 0808 801 0677. Helplines are open 3pm-8pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can try the one-to-one webchat.