You'd be surprised. Here's a pdf of the VO2max study(1) that established the relationship between efficiency and VO2max in elite cyclists is very similar to tha

You'd be surprised. Here's a pdf of the VO2max study(1) that established the relationship between efficiency and VO2max in elite cyclists is very similar to that shown in elite runners. Of the 11 world class cyclists tested, the best two riders were in the bottom 4 (<70 ml/kg/min) in pure VO2max. Interestingly, that means those two riders were closer to the amateur reporter in this story, even before the doping, than they were to the pros with the highest VO2max. (1) https://d3epuodzu3wuis.cloudfront.net/R063.pdf https://d3epuodzu3wuis.cloudfront.net/R063.pdf