What Happens When The UK’s Strongest Man Rides A Bike?

What happens when you pit one of the world’s most powerful men against a seasoned cyclist? We decided to find out by challenging the UK’s Strongest Man, Andrew Flynn, to a series of cycling tests.
But how does that pure strength translate to power on a bike? We put him through his paces in the GCN pain cave for a max power test before taking him out to tackle a tough local hill climb.

Who will survive? Can pure power conquer a climb, and can a cyclist lift anything heavier than a water bottle?

Chapters ⏱️:
00:00 – Intro: Meet the UK’s Strongest Man!
01:52 – When a cyclist tries to be a Strong Man…
04:26 – The indoor max power test
07:46 – The outdoor challenge
08:37 – Si sets the benchmark time
09:40 – Andrew takes on the hill climb
13:09 – The surprising results are in!
15:24 – Final thoughts & outro

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We’re putting the UK’s strongest man on a bike. We want to know whether 140 kilos of pure strength can generate record-breaking cycling power. Yes, Andrew. I’m actually smelling I’m smelling burned rubber. Or whether a top cyclist the size of a matchick can beat our Goliath. Let me help you put it down. Yep. Got it. Yeah. This is Andrew Flynn. 140 kg of pure strength. He can deadlift 400 kilos, that’s 881 lb, squat a 320 kilo car, and lift five Atlas stones ranging from 120 to 200 kg in just 24 seconds. Andrew’s full-time job is a materials manager on the railway and in his spare time he is a strong man and has progressed all the way to the top. Recently qualifying for World’s Strongest Man in California and was just crowned the UK’s strongest man. [Music] Hey Andrew 91. Oh, Andrew, thanks so much for having us today. Absolute honor. Um, I’ve seen like your incredible feats of strength. You also just won Britain’s Strongest Man. UK’s Strongest Man. UK’s strongest man. Third in Britain. Still and I’m just really curious to see how your strength translates to the bike and what sort of power you can put down through the pedals. Yeah, I’m actually quite interested as well. Um, big old chunky legs on me. But first, what happens when a matchick, I mean ex-professional cyclist, tries out as a strong man. [Music] Right, Andrew? We’ve got Sai. Here he is. Get him another man. Thank you. Yeah. Well, your biceps are almost as big as his I think they’re big. Talk us through what we’re about to do now. I mean, in the simple terms, you’re going to pick it up off the floor and press it above your head. So, how how how like heavy would you be looking to do this in a competition? Usually at the moment, you’re looking for about 90 kg for reps and in a minute. And we’re probably looking at doing six or seven. Seven reps of 90 kilos, mate. This is just 30. That’s you. I know. Up and down for a minute. We’ll pick it up, bring it to our hips, and we’ll push our hips through up to our shoulder. This point, bring a hand away. And then we’ll dip. Press. Nice straight arm. Bring it down under control. All right, that’s one. Okay, let’s make Oh, here we go. Here we go. Rest it on your shoulder. So, a bit more. There we go. Yeah. Right. That’s all right. I’ll just I’ll just take this away. I know. kind of like squatting is a real staple of strong man. Like what are the sort of things you’re normally squatting? Uh well, we do squat cars, you know, just just for fun. Cars. Yeah. You know, cars. Okay. Yeah, we’re good. I’m just imagining what part of car this is. 50 kilos. Uh probably a bumper. Well, that’s a bit heavier, isn’t it? Good. Stop smuging. Oh, crap. Right. Body weight almost getting side out here. Sorry. Coming up. Well done. You just grab that sack for me. Yeah. Yeah. Is that a handle? I think so. Do you want to get the bottom and I’ll get the top? You just pick it up. Yeah. Can you help me? Should we Should we roll it? Do you need a hand or? Yes, please. Yeah. Okay. It is abundantly clear that the UK’s strongest man is utterly superhuman. And it made us more eager than ever to get him on a bike to see just what power he could put out. We have even managed to find him some Lyra. Right. So, this this is your bike. Um there’s a slight issue, right? Because you are so powerful and so built that you’re above the limit for normal bars. I mean most things are from above the limit. Yeah. Right. So we’ve we’ve brought what’s called a Zift ride which is bombproof on this. You’ll be able to unleash the fury. Okay. So we want to see your max power. Okay. Okay. Obviously a lot of it is technique. So if I show you how it’s done. Yeah. And then uh I’ll take some tips. That’s it. Yeah. All right. Um, so yeah, you want to do a little bit of a warm up, right? Ready? Three, two, one. [Music] Go on, S. Go on. We got 866. Good. There you go. Good effort. But you see, it’s like that real explosive power. You need for like 5 seconds is all it really is. And you peak cuz you’re not going to get any more after. Yeah. So, ballpark tour to France sprinter Mark Caves about 1,400 W. Yeah. But he’s probably about well definitely half your height. So Chris Hoy 2,600 W. So that’s literally the gold standard. Oh, okay. Something’s import,00. Yeah. We’re just working out how to kind of make sure that the the Zift ride doesn’t take off for Andrew’s gym. So we’re uh I think we might nick some of your weights. Actually, when you go down, so you go down this bit and then up. That’s all up. So, give it a little sprint up there. So, I’ll tell you when. So, if you get yourself ready, harder gear, go for it. And then give it some well. Smashing it. 955,000 9,030, 120,000, 120,000 Wait, where you are? Right. He’s going for it. Here he goes. Come on, Andrew. Go on. [Music] Hardly any resistance there. And actually was I need more at the top. Yeah, I was like then I was just going free spin. It was like nothing for me to push against. I’m actually smelling I’m smelling burned rubber. Oh yeah, smelling burned rubber. What’s that? Now, at this point, we spotted a clear flaw in our plan. Indoor trainers are rated up to a certain power output. Now, if we’re honest, we never pay attention because we have never known of anyone to come close to maxing one out. However, Andrew was so strong, the resistance unit on the trainer could no longer keep up with him. 1650. There’s no like easy feat. You just made that look easy. Fair play to Andrew. I think next though we’re going to get out on the roads and uh take on some hill climbs. There we go. All right. I feel the resistance in some back. Very far from my comfort zone, I have to say. As you can see, very far. I think you’re you’re carrying it really well. I think it’s Yeah. Looking arrow. Might wear this in this competition. I think go down well. How do you feel about about taking it on now? Nervous. I’m not going to lie. That makes me uh yeah, very nervous. We’re gonna set Sai off though, see what time he can manage and then uh let’s get to it. Okay. All right. Here we go. Let’s do it, mate. The climb that Connor has chosen is called Bourl Hill. And personally, I think he’s been a bit cruel. At 1.4 km, it is not overly long. And while the average gradient is 8%, the key is that two sections of it are brutally steep and will punish Andrew’s bigger frame. Beep beep beep beep. Now, I don’t want to get my excuses in, but I’m going to get my excuses in. I am really really sore after my after my attempts at squatting and lifting really heavy bean bags. So the K is most definitely safe. [Music] That’s a hard little climb. Really short, really steep in places. And that is going to be a tough test for him. There’s no way spinning up that. Right. You ready, mate? Ready. This is it. Moment of truth. One or nothing. Bottom to top. I I’ll stick with you. Yeah. Just pace it. I think you’ll be Yeah, I’ll pace it. Here we go. Right. Beep beep beep beep. Go on, Andrew. Two up, one down. The two biggest giants to ever grace this climb. What average wattage was he doing, you think? Sigh. Probably probably around 400. All right. What are you doing now? 500. 500. All about breathing. Keep riding, Andrew. You just think your own pace. You’re flying, mate. Just controlling my breathing. 430 there. Good job, mate. Keep it going. So, up here, it’s going to ease off a little bit. Let’s just try and catch your rhythm again. You catch your breath. [Music] Oh, thank God. How you feeling? Fine. I’m struggling to feel my legs. Really, mate? You went off so hard. You absolutely smashed it. That’s it. Keep it going. Nice bit of recovery here. My legs going to jelly. I was struggling to keep up with you. It’s like pure power off the gun. This is experience and it pays off when you know what you’re doing. Look at that. Use that weight. Use that weight. 140 kilo of speed. Keep on going. This is This is the last tilt now. Basically, the top’s up here. So, this is where it kind of kicks in again, good and proper. It’s absolutely disgusting. [Music] Oh, nearly, mate. Take it easy. Take it easy. Oh my god. Going to push him. I think I’m going to push you. [Music] Oh my god. Go on, mate. Right. S’s got you on the right. I’ve got you on the left. Come on. You got it. It’s all little biceps at this stage. Come on. Yes, mate. He’s going to be close. [Music] What a legend. That’s it, mate. Fair play. Take a take a breath. Andrew’s herculean effort was testament to just how hard this strong man can push himself out of his comfort zone. His time up Borsal Hill was 12 minutes 32 seconds, just over double my time, which is pretty impressive seeing as I couldn’t lift even 20% of what he was able to. His power at the start was 500 W for a minute, then 450 W for two. But by the end, his average power was just 200 watts, not including the walking. I think he just about beat me. Just about on that one. Yeah. I mean, I’m not too sure, but I think I just about picked him. Yeah. I didn’t How do your legs feel? Honestly, I got nothing left. So, is it a bit like me, you know, with that 30 kilo dumbbell and I literally just didn’t I couldn’t Yeah, couldn’t do it. No, it’s can, but it’s like I don’t feel anything. But that was I didn’t expect that. But even just moving my legs, even just walking it just so heavy. I’m literally probably what they’re four five stone each leg. Is that over exaggeration? No, probably. Yeah. Each step is like lugging up. Yeah. But yeah, that was um open my eyes. The the power numbers I saw on your head unit at the end were absolutely losing. That’s me. I got strong man’s all about that. It’s about as much power in a minute and then after that it kind of just goes. But your your minute power at the start was incredible. I was doing like 450. If you had a minute dash might be okay. I think you’d have got me for the minute. Honestly, you took off like an absolute rocket. Yeah. Um, experience pays off, didn’t it, I suppose. Well, yeah. I guess this is version of technique, right? Yeah. Literally, because I I went up that first incline. I was like, “Okay, it’s going to flatten out a bit.” And then it was just hell from then on. And literally, it didn’t stop. I was like, “Oh, okay.” It was like I was pushing, but like it didn’t feel my legs at all. I’ve been doing it over 30 years and I still make that mistake. Can I just say that like we were talking earlier off camera about like how incredible it is that human bodies can do such vastly different things like you can lift stuff and do stuff that I even though I’ve seen you do it I literally can’t comprehend it. The same for me if you were doing this though it was exactly the same. It’s it’s a specificity in what you train. Give me a month and I’d knock, you know, each month I’d do it get better and then I get to the point where I wouldn’t fall off it. But like I just think he’s a pro, isn’t it? And fair play and competing over the weekend, you know, one one strongest man, one UK’s strongest man and then Tuesday coming out here and riding some bikes. You know, well the view though, look at that. Great. Yeah. And thanks for being such a good sport. I mean, it was incredible to see what you what you do on a daily basis training and a bike. Fair play getting on a bike and giving that a go like how soft. I had to finish it. Yeah. It’s been a privilege hanging out. It really has. That’s right. Yeah. I don’t die now. Yeah, please give the video a big thumbs up. Uh cuz that I don’t think you’ll see a bigger effort today. That’s for sure. And Andrew did really well as well some might. Yeah. We got that. Yeah. Oh, thank you so much for watching. Right now, I think uh we just need to get you off the off the hill. You going to rub my legs, aren’t you? Oh, I I did say one each. Really? Give me a little rub down. If that was the deal, would it? No. All right. I think mine’s strong enough. Andrew, don’t worry. It’ll be fine.