Could i become a pro?

climberboy

Hello i am a 17 year old male. I have been riding road bikes for about 1 1/2 year but only training for 1 year.Before cycling i haven't done that much sport. I have recently been borrowing a power meter and i have an ftp of 280 watts and weigh 57kg (p/w 4.9).
Could i potentially become a professional cyclist or is that a too ambitious target?
Also how would i go about becoming a pro?
Thanks

imposter2.0

Have you won many races as a junior or as a youth rider?

slowbike

climberboy wrote:

Could i potentially become a professional cyclist or is that a too ambitious target?
Also how would i go about becoming a pro?
Thanks

You have time on your side - start working on the training! - find a club that are into racing or a team that you could ride/train with and see how you fair ...

where are you based?

imposter2.0

slowbike wrote:

climberboy wrote:

Could i potentially become a professional cyclist or is that a too ambitious target?
Also how would i go about becoming a pro?
Thanks

You have time on your side - start working on the training! - find a club that are into racing or a team that you could ride/train with and see how you fair ...

where are you based?

TBH, he doesn't have too much time on his side - not these days. Most of the young riders of that age with potential are either already signed up with pro teams, pro-am teams or national/regional develoment programmes.

Nothing's impossible, obviously...

climberboy

i'm based in south east england because i only recently started riding i've done 2 crits with 50ish starters and i came 4th and 9th (cat 3/4s)

TakeTurns

There's no reason why not.
Whether it be at continental level or pro tour level.
If the commitment and hard work is put in, you can achieve great things. As with anything in life. That doesn't mean you should drop everything else and just commit to cycling. You have to be sensible about it.

imposter2.0

climberboy wrote:

i'm based in south east england because i only recently started riding i've done 2 crits with 50ish starters and i came 4th and 9th (cat 3/4s)

Keep riding, keep racing, and then re-evaluate once you've got your 1st cat licence...

ju5t1n

It’s perfectly possible, and by no means too late.

Check out the palmares of Ludo Dierckxsens. He was a Tour de France stage winner and Belgian National champion.

He turned pro at 29 years old and had a 14 year long career…

http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurf ... eurid=8233

mamba80

at this time of yr, your BC region - if your in England?) should be selecting junior riders for nation junior series races.

you need to contact BC and find out who in your region is running this, get on the team and do well in the series.

Pross

If you aren't already in a club join one which has BC coaches and which has regular coaching sessions. Normally in that kind of set up younger riders will get nominated for places at the regional school of racing events and possibly the BC talent team. However, as a junior you are past that stage so from the BC development side of things the best hope is to start getting race results and get noticed by divisional coaches. If you are good enough to catch the eye you might get a place on the British Cycling ODP. There are other ways to make it as a pro (the traditional route was to race in France or Belgium in a top amateur club) but most of the top UK riders in recent years have come through the BC system.

I certainly wouldn't say you are too old. I had a club mate who was a decent MTB / cross rider as a junior but never really took the road seriously until he was a senior and won his first race when he was about 19 or 20. He went on to be a national champion, ride the Giro and Olympics, be KoM in the Tour of Britain etc. He had natural talent to some degree but it really took off when he took the risk of giving up his job and training full time. It takes a huge commitment to get to that level but with the right work ethic and a reasonable level of ability you can get there. I would suggest the route would be to work up to at least 2nd cat in local races then ride events on the national junior series. as a senior you are going to want to get to 1st cat and then do the big national races. Decent showings there might get you a ride on a small sponsored team and then build from there.

Even if you make it you may well find it isn't what you hoped though. Outside the top tier salaries aren't great and you are constantly under pressure to get results to get a new contract. On the UK scene salaries are unlikely to support a decent lifestyle and in some cases being a pro means getting the loan of some kit for the season and having your entry fees paid.

slowbike

Pross wrote:

Even if you make it you may well find it isn't what you hoped though. Outside the top tier salaries aren't great and you are constantly under pressure to get results to get a new contract. On the UK scene salaries are unlikely to support a decent lifestyle and in some cases being a pro means getting the loan of some kit for the season and having your entry fees paid.

So basically - if you want to earn a decent wedge then you either need to be super fast or get a different career!

Pross

slowbike wrote:

Pross wrote:

Even if you make it you may well find it isn't what you hoped though. Outside the top tier salaries aren't great and you are constantly under pressure to get results to get a new contract. On the UK scene salaries are unlikely to support a decent lifestyle and in some cases being a pro means getting the loan of some kit for the season and having your entry fees paid.

So basically - if you want to earn a decent wedge then you either need to be super fast or get a different career!

Yep. Or accept that like other 'lifestyle' jobs you are doing it for love not money (although dragging yourself out training in all weathers and trudging around hotel rooms 9 months of the year isn't necessarily a nice lifestyle!).

okgo

Numbers may not be everything but yours are not going to help you being based in the SE, where its mostly flat!

It will be obvious quite quickly if you have what it takes, do some proper races and training, and if you're one of the lucky ones your FTP will just keep going up...It will need to!

sub55

Pross wrote:

If you aren't already in a club join one which has BC coaches and which has regular coaching sessions. Normally in that kind of set up younger riders will get nominated for places at the regional school of racing events and possibly the BC talent team. However, as a junior you are past that stage so from the BC development side of things the best hope is to start getting race results and get noticed by divisional coaches. If you are good enough to catch the eye you might get a place on the British Cycling ODP. There are other ways to make it as a pro (the traditional route was to race in France or Belgium in a top amateur club) but most of the top UK riders in recent years have come through the BC system.

I certainly wouldn't say you are too old. I had a club mate who was a decent MTB / cross rider as a junior but never really took the road seriously until he was a senior and won his first race when he was about 19 or 20. He went on to be a national champion, ride the Giro and Olympics, be KoM in the Tour of Britain etc. He had natural talent to some degree but it really took off when he took the risk of giving up his job and training full time. It takes a huge commitment to get to that level but with the right work ethic and a reasonable level of ability you can get there. I would suggest the route would be to work up to at least 2nd cat in local races then ride events on the national junior series. as a senior you are going to want to get to 1st cat and then do the big national races. Decent showings there might get you a ride on a small sponsored team and then build from there.

Even if you make it you may well find it isn't what you hoped though. Outside the top tier salaries aren't great and you are constantly under pressure to get results to get a new contract. On the UK scene salaries are unlikely to support a decent lifestyle and in some cases being a pro means getting the loan of some kit for the season and having your entry fees paid.

that will be Julian Winn. the flip side is Geraint Thomas was a 1st cat at 16