Pupils

antoineg said:

I was watching the post-race interview with LA today and was, well, surprised at how tiny his pupils were, even outside, with at least some sunlight.

Is this a general phenomenon among cyclists after finishing a hard race?

It is a phenomenon among human beings and other mammals to contract their pupils upon exposure to sunlight. In the dark, they dilate (get bigger). This will happen whether or not you ride a hard race.

gntlmn said:

It is a phenomenon among human beings and other mammals to contract their pupils upon exposure to sunlight. In the dark, they dilate (get bigger). This will happen whether or not you ride a hard race.

Bump

weird thread....

ed073 said:

Bump

weird thread....

Sorry -- I made a hash of my original post. Gntlmn, you are a pedantic bore.

What I MEANT to say was:

On a day that was not particularly sunny outside (at least on TV), Lance's pupils were still extremely tiny. I saw the post-abandonment interview with Hamilton, were he was getting into the van, and didn't see anything close to that.

I've seen lots of interviews with athletes outdoors, and was still stunned by how small his pupils were. It looked unreal.

Given this clarification, does anyone with any medical or training expertise care to enlighten me?

antoineg said:

Sorry -- I made a hash of my original post. Gntlmn, you are a pedantic bore.

What I MEANT to say was:

On a day that was not particularly sunny outside (at least on TV), Lance's pupils were still extremely tiny. I saw the post-abandonment interview with Hamilton, were he was getting into the van, and didn't see anything close to that.

I've seen lots of interviews with athletes outdoors, and was still stunned by how small his pupils were. It looked unreal.

Given this clarification, does anyone with any medical or training expertise care to enlighten me?

Sorry. I didn't mean to point out to you what may have been to you obvious. I don't know you. I have to respond to what you write, not what you meant.

I saw Lance being interviewed after the race, and he struck me as looking very relaxed and refreshed, not at all exhausted. He seemed like he had done no more than a training run, but then again, one day, while training for the Tour this year, he rode up l'Alpe d'Huez 4 times in one day. Maybe a 40 minute race was a bit of a break for him compared to what he's used to.