Originally Posted by
Baby Puke
Sorry, didn't mean to put words in your mouth...
No big deal. I do talk about sprinters most of the time.
Originally Posted by
Baby Puke
To me it looks like the enduro side is doing pretty damn well at the moment.
Yes, but I feel like this is an exception right now for the men...until it becomes a "dynasty" like the women's team.
Originally Posted by
Baby Puke
Agreee that culturally the US is not and probably never will be a "cycling nation" where the best go there before ball sports. UK is an anomaly in the last 10-20 years, but essentially there are a handful of countries in the world where cycling is seen as a viable option for young athletes. Heck, even in Japan with pro keirin and the junior cycling infrastructure I've seen, the big sports are still baseball and football/soccer. Cycling is way down the list.
But, even for those who choose cycling, the best cyclists aren't racing track.
I can say, without a doubt, that of all of the active cyclists within 1hr of every velodrome in the USA, those with the very best legs and lungs for mass start and endurance racing are not racing track. They are all pro roadies.
I bet if you asked every velodrome director to pick 5 candidates to train and possibly represent the US for mass start/endurance racing in international competition from a 1 hr radius (trackies, roadies, MTB, CX...), all but maybe a couple would be pro roadies.
This may even hold up for other countries as well.
*(The caveat is that they would have to train and become familiar with rules, etiquette, races, equipment, and gain requisite experience over months/years. My point is that they would likely have the best legs and lungs but not necessarily experience)
Those that do start as trackies and prove that they have the genetics to be tops in the world (track or road) invariably choose road...like Phinney, Cav, etc... Even those that
think they can graduate to the Road (but can't top that game) at least try, like Bos, Nothstien, etc...