SHOW OFF OR SHY AWAY?

Which type of person is better equipped to succeed in cycling, bashful introvert or lairy extrovert?

- Chris Marshall-Bell

It’s difficult to gauge the personality profile of the modern-day cycling prodigy. In one corner, you have the happy-go-lucky, chatty and cheery persona of Tadej Pogačar; in the other, you have the more withdrawn, shy and socially awkward Jonas Vingegaard. Never mind polarised training, character types at the top level seem to have become polarised too. It poses an interesting question: introvert or extrovert – who’s more likely to achieve success as a cyclist? Should we aspire to be japing and jovial like Pogi, or pensive and poker-faced like Jonas?

OK, so it’s the legs that do the talking when the going gets tough, but personality is a crucial factor in life, and particularly in career success, for all of us. Introversion and extroversion were concepts introduced by Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung in 1921. The basic difference, he explained, was that introverts get their energy and stimulation from within, while extroverts get theirs from the external world.

Introverts – the Vingegaards and Chris Froomes of the world – therefore tend to thrive on solitary activities such as long, solo training rides. They are less comfortable in social situations and reluctant to draw attention to themselves, and this discomfort can be misconceived as rudeness or coldness. However, there is evidence that introverts can process larger amounts of information, being more thoughtful and attentive. In a bike racing context, they’re more likely to make cooly calculated, rational decisions.