tour de france riders

Team Banana Spokesman

how long did it take them to get to that level on average?

some are only like 21!

bit of an open question...

Anonymous

To even things out, I'm still not there yet.

softlad

I believe a lot of them have somethinig called 'natural talent', which helps a bit....

Bronzie

At my current rate of progress, I will turn pro at 394

coxy84

i ve often thought if i gave up my job tomorrow and cycled everyday with the support of a team of people how good would i get ?

.....then i remember ive gotta get this patio laid before it rains again or snows :roll:

Team Banana Spokesman

get a job near some of the roads you ride on so you can ride a nice commute and get 2 hours a day. good compromise... know a few people who have done this and I am looking at jobs 1 hour away myself.

cougie

You need talent, loads of determination and a bit of luck I reckon.

I know one of the pros in the peleton now - I couldnt get near him when he was a junior - as fast as anything and dedicated with it. At club nights he'd be off early to be in bed by half 10. Not many teenagers have the willpower to manage that !

softlad

cougie wrote:

I know one of the pros in the peloton now - I couldnt get near him when he was a junior - as fast as anything and dedicated with it.

I remember David Millar when he rode as a junior in the west London division for the Ross Wheelers. Even then you could tell he was on another level.....I remember him once riding off the front of the bunch halfway up a climb, one of his team mates turned to me and said "you won't see him again" - and he was right..

Pross

Jeremy Hunt used to race a lot in my area, he was good but no better than some of the other international standard juniors in the area so natural talent helps but as others have said you need determination and a large slice of luck to make it to the very top. Most of his peers took the girls and alcohol route in their late teens / early 20's instead or had been pushed by parents until they became seniors and got fed up. Quite a few of these appear to be making comebacks now.

shockedsoshocked

Just get some drugs in ya. You'll be fine.

On another note, Sid Barras is in our team, and we also have a former Masters World Pursuit Champ. Sid's about 60, the other about 55, and you can still tell they are world class. In their prime they must have been insanely powerful, and even then they were by no means the best. Incredible. Both of them regularly put good standard riders away who are half their age.

mrushton

I know someone who was in Rapha Condor and he was just fast and strong. He just had whatever it takes and he wasn't the main rider. I saw Warrick Spence who is an elite rider do a sportive in France a couple of years back and he finished in the first 20.It's talent,dedication,talent and luck.

chrisw12

I love riding my bike and like most people I used to dream of being a professional sportsman but a pro cyclist is the one pro sport I can think of that I wouldn't swap my current job for.

So to those people who do get to ride the tour good luck to them, they are all heroes.

seanoconn

A friend of mine, in his thirties at the time, was asked to do the lead out for 15year old Bradley Wiggins, he went as hard as he could expecting Bradley to come past him, which didn't happen. He wasn't asked again! Recieved an ear bashing from i think Wiggins senior. My mate said he was dedicated, determined and obviously a bit special.

DomPro