Inside the Tour de France: Why the world's best cyclists keep pedaling after a hard day of racing, according to a sports scientist

Daniel McMahon/Business Insider

Rigoberto Urán of the Cannondale-Drapac team cooling down after a mountain stage in the 2017 Tour de France.

FRANCE - Walk around the team buses here at the Tour de France after most any stage and you'll see the world's best cyclists still turning the pedals even though they've just finished racing a hundred miles or more, often in extreme heat and over massive mountains.

Over the past few years, teams have incorporated more specific "active recovery" into their riders' performance plans. Chris Froome's Team Sky was one of the first big Tour teams to have its riders cool down on stationary trainers after each stage, and other teams have followed suit.

Riders get several benefits from pedaling after a hard day's racing, according to Keith Flory, the director of performance for the Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team.

Business Insider caught up with Flory to get the inside take on postrace pedaling at the Tour. Here's what he had to say.