People across the world marvel at athletes' physiques and rightfully so. They train months, even years, to get in great shape.

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However, what people don't always see is the grueling effect it has on the body. Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski changed that this week when he shared a picture of his veiny, muscular legs on Instagram.

Poljanski, who is competing in the Tour de France, captioned his photo: “After sixteen stages I think my legs look (a) little tired.”

In just 21 hours, the photo garnered more than 22,000 likes on Instagram and hundreds of comments.

The image was also shared on Twitter, where users expressed awe and disgust.