Can we get a Starky to English translation on this one???

Starky is under the impression that professional triathletes train more hours overall than professional world tour cyclists.

Good stuff, these are always interesting.

I think what Starky is saying is "yeah, he could get out there and ride with or outride all of us now but once he ramps his swim and run training his bike will deteriorate and he'll still be suffering in those two disciplines."

I say: we'll see.

Yeah I think that is what he was trying to say...you said it a bit more coherently though.

I think it’s pretty cool he’s coming at a younger age, then “retired turn tri career” when you come in at 33-34.

Only issue I see is he has a “run” background but I think saw he only ran 17:30 in HS and got stress injuries. 17:30 is meh for a HS runner, and if you got stress reaction injuries it means you were running somewhat large volume. It wasn’t just a “show up” and run 17:30, so he’s got a lot of ahead of him.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Steve Larsen came from less cycling pedigree than Talansky and far less swim/run background. He got the LP course record and faded to 9th in Hawaii. Not bad year one. And he crushed Stadler on the bike in Hawaii that year. I recall Stadler in the TV coverage said, "Larsen is a rocket.." in T2.

Personally I see Talansky doing far better than that. Understand, he won the Dauphine. That is a big ass win. 5th in Vuelta.

I get what Starky is saying but even at shitty hack AG level switching from months of run only over to biking I lost no bike power when I came back. Running helps cycling. one mans opinion.

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@rhyspencer

I agree, but his subsequent career surely built his engine...

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Just so you know the original article had a typo and said "Steve Bauer" instead of Steve Larson

I thought that was pretty funny.

Cheers,

Cyclists rarely turn out to be great triathlon runners. Winning Hawaii against the current crop requires a great run. I am sure he will do quite well, but it will take him 3-5 years to develop his run leg. The fact that he is a good swimmer will help his transition quite a bit.

I get what Starky is saying but even at shitty hack AG level switching from months of run only over to biking I lost no bike power when I came back. Running helps cycling. one mans opinion. //

I don't think you understand what is going on here. You are one thing, but a guy that has hit his absolute fastest and fittest in a sport at a world class level, has no where to go but down. Now things like having to spend as much time as you did in one sport doing two different ones, while still tying to hold onto what you had, well that is just going to drop all your old power and times. You on the other hand got no where close to your potential and may even get faster just doing jump rope for 3 hours a day. (-;


It is like Lucy Charles now just swimming 30k a week, she is not going to go 2 hours for a 10k anymore because she has to spend a lot of hours biking and running and not swimming. But she is likely to win the swim on Saturday, probably breaking the new course record set last year. Of course both these people are still going to be very fast in their respective sports, just not like they were. Guys like Starky and Leito know this dynamic and it is just a warning to all of us not to be looking for any 4;10 Kona split from him in the future..

Maybe one cannot take Starky literally, but what he said is that Talansky will not be able to handle the same overall volume as top pro triathletes - not just that his bike volume and performance will suffer. He seems to inddicate that throwing running into the mix has allowed long time triathletes to get in even more volume than pro tour cyclists when cycling is actually much less punishing and most could put in a lot more volume cycling than running.

I find that to be a startling comment, but he likes to throw bombs and get people talking.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

So just snother day at the ST editorial room then?!?

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@rhyspencer

Winning Kona??? Starky seems to suggest he won’t even be able to compete at the pro level.

No offense to Starky, I'm a fan of his, but that's pretty rich coming from a guy who regularly blew up on the run.

that read was a waste of the digital space it took up

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

That's OK, Micron (NASDAQ: MU) is thanking everyone who wastes digital space.....their stock up 100% or so this year thanks to surging memory business and their position in that market globally.....keep wasting digital space guys!!! The more the better!

yeah, that was my reading of it.
while i agree with your comment, i also see starky's point. having come to tri from being a pure cyclist, i can do more total volume as i can swim or run when my cycling legs are trashed.

A grand tour is like doing a 70.3 everyday for 3 weeks straight and when it is hard, it is really hard. There is so much more Vo2 max/ neuromuscular toll everyday, so I think he has the engine to be good and the volume criticism is a load of crap.

Now whether he has the natural running ability is another matter. Running marathon distances from nothing may take some serious time and I don't know what type of sponsor is going to want to make that bet. He isn't going to get good working a full time job.

I believe Canyon is already on board as a sponsor of his. And personally I think that makes sense. If what is being said is true that he can swim he can certainly drop a bomb on the bike and win it into T2 and probably set new course records on the bike....something a bike sponsor could make an advertising campaign with.

I was wondering if the Canyon thing was Canyon bringing on a high profile US athlete at the same time they're trying to startup selling bikes to folks in the US.

Surely he has tested the waters in some manner before going public like this. I bet he has been working on his run and swim privately in order to get the confidence that its possible.

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Use this link to save $5 off your USAT membership renewal:
https://membership.usatriathlon.org/...A2-BAD7-6137B629D9B7

Agreed. We also don't know how much he has or hasn't been running while being a pro cyclist as well. It's possible he's been running a bit the entire time for cross training since he did it as a youth. Who knows.

Eh to me the sport is still too shallow and weak to the point he can likely podium at some event and still not be truly world class at Kona level. As I said earlier, if it’s true his run PR is 17:30 and included enough training he got stress reaction injuries that’s weak to be considered a “runner”.

He’s a world class cyclist no doubt, but as I said a week ago, it wouldn’t shock me if you see his results and he suddenly looks mortal on the bike because of the necessary swim/run training.

But the guy is 28 and to make that move now leads me to believe he has something worthwhile. 28 is still good enough to produce good $$ in cycling, and so he has to think/weigh that against a new career move.

I think he can do well in IM and be a Kona “bust” all in the same breath simple because of the dynamics of so many events, etc.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I try not to listen to what Starky says about other athletes. And I guess he does not need to listen what I say about him. :-)

Drugged up or not, LA seemed to do OK in tri after retiring from biking, albeit he did have some background in tri before going full-time on the bike.

Cheers, Rich

So, he is an expert... Lets wait and see if Talansky can even qualify for Kona before we start discussing him winning it. There are a couple of good stories on Talansky and lack of maturity. His mental toughness seems pretty hit or miss and Vaughters is not especially glowing in his review.

Right, because that's what we saw when Lance returned to triathlon.

From the same article, to balance out the "it'll work because Lance did it".

Chann McRae came in and everyone thought this Postal guy is going to kill it, and it didn’t happen. He was a lightweight climber and the Ironman effort was different. The road guys are accustomed to riding hard for four or five hours. There’s a lot of cruising. When you’re done, you’re done.
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/...#JUSCYKMagxMsM6US.99

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Yeah, i bought MU in 1999. Rode it to the bottom and sold it off at about $25 a few years ago, thinking it would never come back. Dumb ass!

Probably

Might mean they actually ship some product to the US.

You guys must be bored hearing about it, what is it a year since they announced ?

I think the only safe statement that can be made about Talansky and triathlon is that cycling will NOT be a weakness for him. Beyond that...well...let's just watch and see what happens. There is a lot of latitude in what might happen. The sport is certainly mature enough at this point that NOBODY is going to crack the top 10 elite men or women without putting in some serious multisport time and suffering.

hoorah! i have micron stock, so please please please, use more digital space!

I want to like Starky, I really do. He just makes it so hard when he opens up his mouth. The guy is such an insufferable gas bag.

Agreed. I watch him ride a bike and I admire it. I hear his story and it gives me the feels. Then I hear him talk about this stuff and think he is a classless moron. Let Talansky do some racing and leave the opinions to yourself.

I wonder if Starky has ever seen the CTL of a pro tour rider before making his comment about not being able to handle the volume of a pro triathlete.