for a lard ass, there are sure a LOT of skinny dudes behind him

second photo is known to be shooped.

That is just a completely ridiculous post!

If they all worked equally as hard, we would never have a winner. Obviously someone ALWAYS works just a little bit harder. That person is the overall winner. That is in any sport whether it be an individual or a team. That extra work put it in is what determines the Champion/Champions.

Well I will disagree with you here on several points.

1) Genetics comes into play
2) Talent comes into play
3) Sometimes luck comes into play.

The hardest worker does not always win. The hardest worker may overcome the most limitations. They may achieve the most relative to their ability, but just because someone works the "hardest" at something does not necessarily make them the most successful or determine the winner.

So all I have to do to be Ironman world champion is just work harder than any of them?

Cool. Gonna turn pro. brb

(with apologies to Jackmott, who I stole that last line from....)

It won't happen over nite, but yes, if you work harder and smarter, you could be an IM champ. If it wasn't possible, we would never have a Champion.

So while I know you were being sarcastic, I also know that is the reason why you never will be an IM champ. Some people just don't have the faith, drive, or mentality. It comes down to how much you believe in yourself and how hard you can push yourself. When I get tired in training, I speed up. Even if it is only for 30 seconds. When I get back to the pace in which I thought I was tired, it doesn't seem so bad.

Whatever your ability is, good luck to you this year. ;-)

Actually, yours is the completely ridiculous post. Believing that working hard is the only thing that matters, or even the limiting factor is, well, ridiculous. As pointed out, there are a bunch of other equally and possibly more important variables, not the least of which is being a smart athlete, both in training and racing. Very often, the hardest worker never makes it to the starting line.

Again, I don't see the correlation between basketball and baseball. Yes, they're both played with a ball. So is soccer, tennis, golf, and others. Cycling is one of the three components of triathlon. That's why I don't think the MJ and Lance comparison is valid. And again, tri is not a new sport for Lance. It's a sport he hasn't done in a long time, but it's still a sport that he was once very proficient at. i.e., he has proven that his NM system can adapt very well to swim,bike,run.

At any rate, it's all speculation at this point. You are right, time will tell.

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"Honestly, triathlon is a pussified version of duathlon on that final run."- Desert Dude

Was there anybody else who lolled when they read this? Or was it just me?

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

SpeedRacer1 wrote:

... When I get tired in training, I speed up. Even if it is only for 30 seconds. When I get back to the pace in which I thought I was tired, it doesn't seem so bad.

This is very telling of your capacity to:
1. Feel your body's responses to work load
2. Deal with it

So that's what's kept me from Olympic gold all these years. My attitude! Ah well. I look forward to your win at Kona this year. Or rather, your second place behind Lance.

Just out of curiousity, Stefan, how old are you?

Is that a short cage derailleur or a flipping 70T crank!!? Either way Ullrich turns pedals just fine when it counts and did win the TDF in 96...Not to mention his 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishes. Armstrong was just that much better those years.

Coupla points:

• Where did I say that other cyclists weren't motivated, or didn't work hard. What I said was that Lance had more drive, determination and focus. Lance may have worked hardER, but that doesn't mean others did not work hard as well.
• "Highly motivated" cyclists don't allow themselves to look like Ullrich did in the winter. Further, "highly motivated" cyclists don't take a hands-off approach to their equipment and attention to details re: aerodynamics.
• Being "heavy" did NOT work for Ullrich. Every year was a rush to lose weight for the Tour, leaving him unprepared for a 3 week race. Yeah, he had good fitness, but lacked the proper foundation for a GT. net result was ALWAYS a "jour sans" at some point in the race, usually the first day in the mountains. Boom....race over.

Like I said, I'm far from a Lance apologist. But I can also give credit where credit is due. Lance's drive and single-minded focus changed the sport (for better or worse is up to your interpretation). I compare him, both favorably and negatively, to Tiger Woods, another athlete with single-minded focus and determination. Admirable in some ways, destructive in many others.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Fiction. A pro athlete starts with the right genetics, and adds the work. Some pros don't work very hard at all, they still kick the crap out of me even though I work harder than they do. Hard work plus the right genetics and you get champions. You work hard, and even if you work harder you aren't likely to be a champion, and honestly compared to the pros you aren't even in their zip code. And you seriously believe it's because you don't work hard enough? Yes, if you work harder you might improve, but if you don't have the genetics you aren't going to win no matter how hard you work. The cool thing is that you will never know you have the right genetics until you work hard. I know Dick Beardsley. He was a crappy high school distance runner running 50 miles a week. He didn't improve until he ran consistently in the 120 a week range, then he became world class. I know dozens of runners who do that mileage and can't even get an Olympic qualifying time. Boiling it down to being as simple as "who works the hardest" is just plain silly talk.

First I have heard of that, but really doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that Jan showed up for every season overweight.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

whoa
i thought all this time that genetics, and also luck played SOME role

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

excellent usage

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

To add to that note, look at LA's twitter account for Juan Pelota.

He had Macca out to swim with him in Austin back in Feb. or Jan., I would guess Lance is sizing up his competition.

I am sure the strategy has already been deployed and in full effect.

Maybe my real question is what's the status of Lance's knee? Is it really an issue or something he uses to keep out of the tri he was going to do in New Zealand after the Tour Down Under, because there was all the news about opening a doping investigation on him and Lawyers told him to stay out of the spot light?

To agree with your seond point.Which year was it that he had his (xentis?) front wheel on backwaeds for the TT?

So you're saying that everybody has the exact same potential, and if everybody put in exactly the same work there would never be a winner because...what, they'd all finish at the exact same time?

This has to be a joke. Someone please tell me that SpeedRacer is a known troll...

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-Andrew

I suspect he's just young.

With your last couple of posts, I think you need to talk to your older brother, Racer X.........................................If you do not know about that.....Well your way young

I don't want to come across as a fanboy, but I can't understand how people can consider this even remotely reasonable. It seems pretty clear that he should come out of the water in the mid-50's, at worst. Less than a year ago, he finished in the top 25 in the Tour de France. His fitness on the bike is simply not matched by any pro triathlete. Lance taking it easy will still blow away the rest of the field. His 70% of FTP is going to be equal to or higher than everyone else's 80%. He could ride conservative (for him) and still post a 4:20-4:25 split.

So without risking blowing up, he's off the bike in under 5:20. Even by your own estimates, he's off the bike in under 5:35 (unless "decent" swim means worse than 55 minutes). You really don't think that after going moderate on the swim and very easy on the bike, he's not going to be able to turn in a 3:20 run split?

Whether he actually does Kona or not? Who knows. Will he win? I kind of doubt it, but I do think it's possible. But getting chicked, twice? No way, not without mishap or injury.

One thing seems clear, though: the dude is training to compete in triathlons, not just keeping himself busy.

I think he's right around 9 hours - my 3:15 is optimistic in that heat. That gives a shot for 2 women to beat him (and all of this is based of course on average conditions). And that would be an amazing accomplishment coming from such a specialized background (granted, of which one part is represented in the race). Some of you think I'm knocking him. I'm not. I was enormously impressed that he could run sub-3 his first time out after so long as a cyclist, and his 2:46 was outstanding. 9 hours would be an even greater accomplishment in my mind, but I doubt he can run well enough to go any faster. He is not efficient on the run, and that course is going to beat him to pieces in that heat. Personally I will be astounded if he isn't reduced to walking. Happens even to many of the best pros. Yeah, 9-9:10 if he competes, which he won't.