Meyer rides Giro

inseine

After completely dominating the points race at the worlds his first road ride afterwards will be the Giro, his first garnd tour.
Interesting to see if he does anything because he really made that look easy the other night, still stretching everyone out at the end even though he had double anyone elses points.

Kléber

He did a good ride but against who? I recognise Riblon and Kluge but these guys are fairly average on the road, the others are unknown. Meyer seems to be a big talent but the track offers relatively easy pickings.

inseine

Well Kluge was the best young rider at Qatar, but it was a track event and he was up against track riders and he lapped the field twice. I guess we'll see at the Giro.

wicked

Kléber wrote:

He did a good ride but against who? I recognise Riblon and Kluge but these guys are fairly average on the road, the others are unknown. Meyer seems to be a big talent but the track offers relatively easy pickings.

You not rate the track then?

Very impressive ride from Meyer

andyp

I rate track riders as I know how hard it is to race on the track, but I still think Meyer will be anonymous at a race like the Giro as the type of training you need to do for the track is very different for what you need to do for a grand tour.

Monty Dog

He might be good at riding around a track for an hour, but that doesn't really compare to a 3-week stage race. He might score a good place in the prologue, but expect we'll see him steadily slide down the placings thereafter.

inseine

He might be good at riding around a track for an hour, but that doesn't really compare to a 3-week stage race

True, but plenty of top pursuit riders have done well and they only ride round for 4 and a bit minutes! we'll see how Phinney does in that respect.
I just that that Meyer not only won but destroyed the field and looked esy doing it.

Pross

Kléber wrote:

He did a good ride but against who? I recognise Riblon and Kluge but these guys are fairly average on the road, the others are unknown. Meyer seems to be a big talent but the track offers relatively easy pickings.

That's not really true. They may not all be top road racers but they are still the best in the world at what they do and Meyer made them look ordinary. Are you suggesting that any top road rider could dominate the points race? I'm not sure that is the case, it's just a different discipline requiring differenr abilities. Meyer may or may not make a top class road rider but that doesn't mean that pro tour riders would be better on the track.

takethehighroad

Seems your comments haven't gone unnoticed

http://twitter.com/mickrogers

edhornby

yeah look at that british pursuit rider who won 2 golds at the olympics and what did he do on the pro tour ???

oh yeah, came 4th in the tour de france!

very impressive ride from Meyer, no 2 ways about it and I'd bet we'll see more of him if/whn he starts to ride for a decent pro team

inseine

yeah look at that british pursuit rider who won 2 golds at the olympics and what did he do on the pro tour ???

oh yeah, came 4th in the tour de france!

very impressive ride from Meyer, no 2 ways about it and I'd bet we'll see more of him if/whn he starts to ride for a decent pro team

Eh? The team didn't hold Wiggins back.

redddraggon

Doesn't Meyer already ride for a "decent pro team"?

iainf72

Mr Birnie has pointed out he did the Giro last year.

I think track and road cycling may as well be different sports entirely. Good performance on the track isn't always going to be a good indicator of road prowess. Might do, but will it always, no.

iainf72

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/ri ... &current=0

Kléber

He's good but not that good. One blog I read today says track cycling is split between the short distance sprint events, where the competition is amongst the best of the best but the other side is the endurance disciplines like the pusuit and points where, yes, the world's best riders are on the road and so these events are "feeder" races for younger riders to prove themselves and their abilities before hitting the road. Just imagine what Cancellara, Pozzato, Cavendish*, Boonen or Bennati could do.

* yes, 2008, I know

greasedscotsman

Kléber wrote:

Just imagine what Cancellara, Pozzato, Cavendish*, Boonen or Bennati could do.

* yes, 2008, I know

I think we've already seen what Cavendish can do on the track, he is a double World Madison Champion after all...

Pross

I'd still disagree that it follows that a top road rider could switch to a track "endurance" event and dominate it. The term endurance is relative and the only road equivalent would be some short kermesse type racing in comparison to the longest track event. The track racing is far more intensive, for example the points race requires a rider to put in several all-out efforts in a period of less than an hour. Not many of the pro tour riders are trained for that sort of effort - it requires specific training and that's the rub here, I think you are being unfair when you say above that the track offers relatively easy pickings as you are still racing against the best in the world in the same field. If the track cyclists were concentrating purely on the road instead then who knows what they would do. I don't think it is necessarily that the track is a proving ground as you put it but more that the riders get talent spotted and have the opportunity to make more of a living as a road rider. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive though as we have seen with Geraint Thomas and Wiggo has shown that when you move your training to a different specialism you can do well there too. My betting is that Meyer will become a top level road rider within 5 years. Possibly not a GT contender as only a few ever make that but he will win some big races.

micron

I really want to see him lap everyone twice in the Giro

SpaceJunk

You know, although I can kind of see where Mick Rogers is coming from with his twitter comment of:

mickrogers

To all the internet cycling forum experts commenting on Cameron Meyer's future GT possibilities. Leave the kid alone, he's only 22 years old

I think Mick needs to remember that it works both ways. Cameron IS ONLY 22, and although he shows great potential (that dirty word) and looks to have an exciting future ahead of himself, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves.

Check out Brad Wiggins comments:

bradwiggins

Big congratulations to Cam Meyer, very classy. This guy will be Australia's TDF winner some day!

Brad, remember he is only 22

And personally, I reckon if I read a comment like Wiggins then I have a right to question whether I think he can win a Grand Tour or not. And if I don't think he can, so what?

BTW, imagine being Cam Meyer and having EVERYONE tell you that you're going to win the TdF one day. No pressure, hey?

afx237vi

iainf72 wrote:

Mr Birnie has pointed out he did the Giro last year.

I think track and road cycling may as well be different sports entirely. Good performance on the track isn't always going to be a good indicator of road prowess. Might do, but will it always, no.

Exactly. I'm not really sure what the discussion is about - being great on the track is no guarantee of even being half-decent on the road. If it was, why didn't Risi or Llaneras ever win anything?

That's not to say road races are better than track racers - it's comparing apples to oranges.

LangerDan

mickrogers

To all the internet cycling forum experts commenting on Cameron Meyer's future GT possibilities. Leave the kid alone, he's only 22 years old

"To all the pro cyclists commenting on the "internet forum cycling experts", shouldn't you be out training instead of lurking on the 'net. Lord knows, we wouldn't like you to contract a computer virus to go with your two doses of Epstein Barr"

inseine

Exactly. I'm not really sure what the discussion is about

Well in the OP I said 'interesting to see if he does anything' and I think it will be. that's all

Pross

afx237vi wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Mr Birnie has pointed out he did the Giro last year.

I think track and road cycling may as well be different sports entirely. Good performance on the track isn't always going to be a good indicator of road prowess. Might do, but will it always, no.

Exactly. I'm not really sure what the discussion is about - being great on the track is no guarantee of even being half-decent on the road. If it was, why didn't Risi or Llaneras ever win anything?

That's not to say road races are better than track racers - it's comparing apples to oranges.

I agree entirely but disagree with Kleber's comments that the track offers relatively easy pickings or that in endurance events is used as a feeder for young racers. It's like arguing that a cross country horse has it easy compared to a national hunt horse.

SpaceJunk

LangerDan wrote:

mickrogers

To all the internet cycling forum experts commenting on Cameron Meyer's future GT possibilities. Leave the kid alone, he's only 22 years old

"To all the pro cyclists commenting on the "internet forum cycling experts", shouldn't you be out training instead of lurking on the 'net. Lord knows, we wouldn't like you to contract a computer virus to go with your two doses of Epstein Barr"

Well said.

As an IT consultant, it is my profession to be on a computer Mick Rogers. And everyone knows that IT guys are paid to do nothing except surf the net all day.

Mick, I'm living up to my end of the bargain. May I suggest you go and earn your keep and do another recon of Stage 1 for the Criterium International?

I'm off to download some movies!

afx237vi

inseine wrote:

Exactly. I'm not really sure what the discussion is about

Well in the OP I said 'interesting to see if he does anything' and I think it will be. that's all

Well, sure, it'll be interesting to watch his progress, same as loads of other young riders, but I don't understand why people have made the leap of logic that says dominant track success = GT prospect. When has it ever worked like that? (Wiggins aside.)

SpaceJunk

afx237vi wrote:

inseine wrote:

Exactly. I'm not really sure what the discussion is about

Well in the OP I said 'interesting to see if he does anything' and I think it will be. that's all

Well, sure, it'll be interesting to watch his progress, same as loads of other young riders, but I don't understand why people have made the leap of logic that says dominant track success = GT prospect. When has it ever worked like that? (Wiggins aside.)

Agree afx237i. it's a very, very small minority that can make the junction. I reckon if Brad McGee didn't sustain his back injury from moving pot plants around the home, he may have, potentially been a top 5 GT rider. (He did finish top 10 Giro one year I think).

But apart from them, I struggle to think of anyone else.

Pross

Surely by definition on very few bike riders from any background become GT contenders?

inseine

Well, sure, it'll be interesting to watch his progress, same as loads of other young riders, but I don't understand why people have made the leap of logic that says dominant track success = GT prospect. When has it ever worked like that? (Wiggins aside.)

Thing is no one made that 'leap of logic' as far as i can see. You clearly have a bee in your bonnet about this.
I thought he did a super ride and will be worth watching to see if this translates to the road (never said it would). Loads of riders have had both road and track sucess and as was pointed out how many riders from any background have gone on to be GT winners.

stagehopper

Great performance but he was allowed to take the second lap as it was pointless anyone chasing.

afx237vi

inseine wrote:

Well, sure, it'll be interesting to watch his progress, same as loads of other young riders, but I don't understand why people have made the leap of logic that says dominant track success = GT prospect. When has it ever worked like that? (Wiggins aside.)

Thing is no one made that 'leap of logic' as far as i can see. You clearly have a bee in your bonnet about this.
I thought he did a super ride and will be worth watching to see if this translates to the road (never said it would). Loads of riders have had both road and track sucess and as was pointed out how many riders from any background have gone on to be GT winners.

A bee in my bonnet? Er... if you say so. The leap of logic is expecting track success to be some kind of form indicator for road success. It's not.

iainf72

There are loads of guys out there who are 22 and already performing brilliantly on the road without any track history.

I just don't believe the track stuff really tells us anything other than he did a cracking ride on the track. And that he might have a great engine.