Jim,

I don't know what your background is, but it clearly isn't in exercise physiology. By definition, how much someone can squat just one time (i.e., their 1 RM) IS a measure of their strength, and in a movement reasonably comparable to the cycling motion. That is why, e.g., there is a signifcant correlation between 1 RM during a squat and the time required to cover the 1st 25 m of a standing start on the track. OTOH, strength does NOT play a role in determining endurance cycling performance - thus, you are simply contradicting yourself when you claim that it does, yet say that you "don't care squat about (what I can) squat".

As for Gebrselassie, again you are displaying your lack of understanding in this area. The reason that someone such as he would not make a very good cyclist (at least w/o training on the bike) isn't because of a lack of strength, but because he lacks the specific muscular metabolic and vascular adaptations in the muscles he would use when cycling to achieve a high level of performance. Indeed, because of this it is highly unlikely he could even achieve VO2max when pedaling an ergometer (although his VO2peak would probably be rather high...just not as high as his true VO2max).