Who you gonna call?

Some of those beach volleyball players look pretty fit... 8)

Seriously though, some of those Ethiopian or Kenyan runners would surely make amazing climbers. There was a story in Cyclingnews a week or two ago about three Ethiopian cyclists who were brought to Europe to have a go at Alpe d'Huez. I think the time was 43 minutes or something like that, which is pretty great.

Edit: Oh yeah, I know your point was about British Cycling, but hey, if Qatar and Bahrain can just whip out the chequebook and scoop up a bunch of African athletes, why can't we?

No one to be honest unless they are already cycling fans, maybe the odd rower but thats about it. Certainly not Craig Pickering as he is worse than useless, well maybe a bit harsh but certainly overhyped and he's had a stinker all year.

LangerDan wrote:

ISuppose Brailsford announced in the next year or so that he planned to replace as many "traditional" cyclists as necessary in the 2012 track events by superior athletes drafted in from other disciplines - rowing, athletics, cross-country skiing etc. Would it be good for the development of the sport if, for example, someone like Wiggins were to be replaced by a rower who has been selected and "optimised" to win the pursuit in a couple of years.

As I am not affected by this, being too old, too slow and too Irish to be selected by BC, I have no particlar axe to grind over this, just interested the issues of medal winning vs. "grass roots" development of a sport.

I don't think it's a problem. There won't be many 2012 weak points from these 2008 results so imported athletes will be few. Weakest event is road and we've got Cavendish.

And it's uncertain and very difficult for the athlete to make a change in 4 years ...eg as I quoted above before Romero there was only an East German (swimming/handball) in 1968->1976. Romero is extraordinary. She already was cycling with rowing club. She is devoted to sport.

Anyway cycle racing now is very different from say 20 years ago. Schoolchildren are being tested at school by BritishCycling, selected and fast-tracked so their contact with cycling is training/racing not touring. This is being followed by other sports but other sports don't have the breadth of leisure of cycling (touring, utility riding).

If you want to pick the worst scenario just look at cricket or football where it's been common for many years to import from other countries (Australian and SA cricket professionals) which has resulted in local talent withering in club cricket and premier football division. This is unlikely for cycling - there isn't the rewards in cycling other than Olympic golds - and there isn't the money.

I support bringing in proven athletes into cycling. We were too backwater 20 years ago. The Europeans also were too backwater and deserved the kick in the butt that USA and Columbians brought. And I also support the idea of Kenyan climbers against the Europeans.

afx237vi wrote:

Michuel wrote:

Evening Standard etc are reporting Kelly Sotherton (31yrs) 4th in heptathlon has been approached by BritishCycling to switch "thos guys they are fantastic...the minimum is gold basically, they don't expect anything else" but "maybe after 2012".

Roswitha Krause (EG) switched between swimming (1968) and handball (1976) at silver medal level.

And Shanaze Read will probably switch BMX to Sprint by 2012.

I daresay Sotherton wouldn't fit in very well to the British Cycling setup. She's a typical British track and field "star" - always underperforms on the big occasion and always well-prepared with a ready-made excuse.

Did anyone see the interview with the British 4x100 women's relay team today and how they dumped the blame on that one runner? Great team spirit... not.

Strange that - especially after in the men's event Devonish said it was a team error when Pickering just ran off far too early.

Womder what event they would line Sotherton up for? 3km? She was actually in the 4*400 team in the heats - must stand a decent chance of taking part in the final as McDonnell(sp.?) is out.

Personally I think it would be very difficult to do the same with a male athlete as they did with Romero. There are far fewer competitiors in womens pursuit than men, and even less who are world class.
There are already many very good juniors posting good times and will be ready for 2012 so why look for male athletes from outside when there is no need.
There is Olympic development and talent teams with enough talent to produce gold already.
Maybe track and fiel may be looking who they can take from cycling to become athetes?

Personally I can't see why exactly we should nab athletes, so long as we keep strong juniors coming through (and all the evidence suggests we have, in track at least) there are other sports where Team GB needs to learn how to win!!