TDF rider posts horror pic of legs

Cape Town - The physical toll of the Tour de France has been exposed in a shocking photo posted by one of the cyclists competing in this year's race.

Poland's Pawel Poljanski shared a snap of his legs on Instagram on Tuesday with the caption "After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired".

The 27-year-old who rides for the Bora-Hansgrohe team had just completed the 16th stage, a 165km ride from Le Puy-en-Velay to Romans-sur-Isere, of the 21-stage event when he posted the photo.

Poljanski lies in 75th position overall after 70 hours, 13 minutes and 50 seconds on the bike, a full one hour, 55 minutes and 14 seconds behind current yellow jersey wearer, Chris Froome.

The image went viral on social media, with many expressing concern for Poljanski's health.

Similar photos have been posted over the years, including in 2012 by American George Hincapie and Poljanski's compatriot Bartosz Huzarski at the 2014 edition of the tour, while Froome's Sky team took to Twitter to during that same 2014 race to show how "ripped" their team leader looked.

After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired ?? #tourdefrance

A post shared by Pawel Poljanski (@p.poljanski) on Jul 18, 2017 at 10:04am PDT

Bartosz Huzarski(Facebook)

George Hincapie (Reuters)

Our man @chrisfroome is looking absolutely ripped ahead of #LBL on Sunday! (Photo: @michellecound) #VaVaFroome pic.twitter.com/UGePCkvwKU

— Team Sky ?? (@TeamSky) April 23, 2014