Originally Posted by
rubiksoval
Like I said, you have an extremely small sphere. It's not representative of amateur or junior cycling in any way, shape, or form.
Your last paragraph is so wildly irrelevant I don't even know if it's worth responding to. Comparing 60-90 minute crits with 150+ mile WT races or Grand Tours is beyond pointless. No kidding that you can go faster when the distance is significantly shorter. Why even bring it up?
I bring it up as I do not think that the WT races can go faster than many of the short distance racers on a short course. Could a HS track miler beat an Olympic marathoner in a marathon - no. Could the world class Olympic marathoner beat the "top" (say state champ) HS milers - no.
So if you thought I was suggesting a junior could win any WT race of any length, I was not. WT riders are faster at WT races. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was suggesting otherwise.
But I do not think all WT pro can beat these "top" kids up the little fun rides/or races they do. Alberto and Andy did a video stating their max power was 900W. It was a max. Not what they did for a race. If you cannot hold 500W for 5 min, 1200W for 20sec you cannot keep up with some of the U23s now. Local 20 year olds post they hit 2,000W now.
Being a WT pro is about making money. It may be helping your teammate, saving for the next day, doing wheelies. I see no reason to believe they are faster than 17-22 year old males. It does not hold in swimming, running or any speed sport. So saying "top juniors" are faster is normal.
On your experience, adult Cat 1s are typically not feeders to pros. So what you saw and report aligns with that. Juniors and U23 are where pros come from, regardless of category. If you are a Cat I with hope of going pro - you are not racing Cat I at USA Nationals. You are in Europe, in Juniors, in U23. And if you are on an elite team and you can be pro.
I had a post I delete naming names. The team names change but if you are on LUX, Hot Tubes or prior Specialized there was likely a pro deal available for you. About half did at at least the USA pro license level. USA kids won the Peace Race and several other major Euro races in the last 5 years chose not to go pro.