CanadianBiker32

Just curious as to someone who wants to get onto some Elite teams in cycling world.
Such as a UCI pursuit team etc.
What type of races does one need to enter and do in order to move up the ranks to try to get on a special team etc?
thanks

Doge

Totally country independent.

I expect it is always a very large percent political based on assumptions they have about a rider and the rider commitment.

I have noticed, with some frustration that they typically don't pick the riders able to the best for a certain course, rather the riders that have done the best in the past.

FWIW Canada has camped out at the LA Velodrome the last half decade. So if you are from Canada - think about moving to LA.

mkadam68

Yeah, Doge kinda nails it ("political"). Not only is it how well you ride in races, and which races, but it's also alot about who you know. Not necessarily you directly, but for instance, your coach. Maybe he has a good reputation in the community, and does he know the right people. He can then recommend you to them, they take a look, and like what they see, and give you a call, maybe an invitation to a team ride or camp or something, where you then prove that you have the goods and attitude to belong. And attitude is very big at the youth level (U23). Sure, maybe you have the talent and maybe even potential, but if you know everything, no one else will want to waste their energy trying to teach you.

Now, it's also possible to do this without knowing people/having a network of contacts. To do that, you just need to show up to the races that prospective "special teams" show up at, and then you spank them. Their coach/director will then take notice of you. But unless you have natural talent to beat them at their game AND a hard work ethos to develop it, this is much, much harder.

gl98115

False. Cycling Canada is based out of the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario. Their indoor velodrome is much nicer than LA.

Here are the selection policies for track in Canada.

Program / Policies - National Team - Track - Cycling Canada Cyclisme

Doge

My son was working with Tanya a Canadian NT coach who told us that a few years back. Last year the there were some maple leafs around still practicing. I assumed still in the same program.

As far as how nice it is, I would recommend a choice based on the coaches, competition and contacts.

topflightpro

To be fair, the Mattamy Center cost two and a half times as much as the LA Velodrome.

mattm

I think it depends on what country you're in - @scheibo tells a tale of people going from Cat 5 directly to UCI pro in your homeland.

In the US, I don't think that's even possible.

scheibo

I especially like a quote from an article where one of the riders talks about about the cycling they did before joining a trade team: "Cycling is cross-training for running. We did two races, but we did them for fun. We didn’t really consider ourselves cyclists, it was just a thing to do". And now they're on ProCyclingStats! I should have stayed in Canada...