• Got a chuckle outta this:
• 
  
• "cjwurfGlad I'll get one kona in before you start dominating!! Good on ya dude, see you next week!! Hope your there to support me 😂"

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Is this legit or an April fools type joke?

Alright, who can figure out how to look up his swimming and running times from his youth? I'm intrigued.

He is 28, a world class TT'er, well capitalized, already lives like a pro. If the motiation is there, it will be interesting. Very hard to predict.

And - one should add - utlike many other world class TT-guys, he is actually built like A Runner!

I don't want to say who but I know somebody else in the same position as AT who toyed with that idea between world tour contracts.
Those guys risk life and limb for not much more than 150k-200k a year mostly. That's a lot more than most pro Triathletes, but a much harder/riskier and short term job.

Maybe him? https://tfrrs.org/...8.html?nomobile=true

Not terribly impressive, but I believe this was high school results, but he put his full focus on cycling in college.


For reference, Zirbel ran mid 25:xx in the 8k during college.

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Alex Arman

Strava

According to Instagram, it looks like he had a kid earlier this year. Having 2 kids under three, I can't think of a worse profession for having a family than being a Wold Tour cyclist.

Without knowing anything about his personal finances, being able to race 6-10 weekends/year seems like a much better option if you actually want to see your kid.

He can also live wherever he wants - looks like Tahoe based on his photos. Not the worst.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

This is super exciting and I can't wait to see what happens

the skeptic in me says he's a good dude who was tired of losing to dopers

The skeptic in me says he'll get a chance to beat some dopers!

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

A real skeptic would say he is a doper.

His nickname is the pit bull so I don’t think he’ll be lacking in the motivation department. He’s a pretty intense little dude.

His coach does Ironman distance racing if that matters-

This. If he swam competitively as a kid, he should ultimately be fine in that department. Unlike former teammate cam wurf, the guy was one of the tour's top time trialists. No idea about the run potential.

We need to know how competitively as a kid. Swimming as a kid is huge, but I have seen plenty of big engines that swam as a kids and they still don't swim that well. The influx of pro riders turning to triathlon is interesting, and while the idea of a less arduous racing seems appealing, the reality is the sport is very hard to make any money at. Meaningful sponsorship continues to dry up and you can't make a living on racing because you just can't race enough and it is too competitive.

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I hear you. One need only read Cody beal's year-end blog to see that reality. I'm guessing that he has some plans and/or hopes to monetize all the cycling contacts and goodwill.

Talansky is no Cam Wurf. Talansky is more like...Steve Larsen? That seems like a solid comparison. You can definitely make "good" money in pro triathlon, you just have to be a consistent top 5 or 10 at Kona threat to get there. Which, as we all know, is not easy.

Ironman...yawn..unles he’s trying to go pro

I doubt he'll need to worry about "going pro;" I'm sure USAT will grant him Elite Status whenever he requests it.

I predict his triathlon revenue will be in the hundreds of dollars. YUGE!

He's going to have sponsors before he's in the water because of who he is. People will pay attention to him for his first year no matter his finishing spot.

I'm hoping he does an Emma Pooley and goes to Zofingen. Swimming is silly.

From that Insta post, I think you're right, I think he had sponsors before he even announced becoming a triathlete, let alone hit the water.

New athlete riding a Canyon bike?

Naa they already have all the high profile athletes they need. I bet Potts is retiring soon and it's Cannondale

I am really interested to see what he can pull off. The guy has a runner body and can TT. Even if he was not a great swimmer growing up, I am going to assume no matter how crap his technique, with his engine he can go 60 min. For a second, I am going to assume he can ride 4:20 in Kona off his swim, putting him in the lead group at T2. Now can he run a 2:40 open marathon translating into a 3:00 in kona or is he a 2:30 guy translating into a 2:50 Kona split. I hope he cranks out some early season Half IM and Olympics to get the machine oiled. It's going to be a lift for him qualifying for Kona next year, assuming he only starts acquiring points in the new year. You're already in a big hole since the Top 20 spots are already pretty well gone to people racing Kona and fall IM's and who did well at 70.3 Worlds.

He's going to need to get lots of points at a few regional championship 70.3's (a good way to get decent points) and then bag good points at the likes of IM Texas/IM South Africa/IM Frankfurt/IM Brazil. Basically he has to bank on doing well at some of the high points races which are really in the first half of 2018. At least IM South Africa and IM Brazil are usually wetsuit salt water (let's assume his swim is not totally awesome....hopefully I am wrong).

You guys really have your priorities upside down. No one ever remembers in a few years which winners rode which bikes in triathlon. They just care about the athletic exploits.

no matter how crap his technique, with his engine he can go 60 min. For a second, I am going to assume he can ride 4:20 in Kona off his swim, putting him in the lead group at T2. Now can he run a 2:40 open marathon translating into a 3:00 in kona or is he a 2:30 guy translating into a 2:50 Kona split.


60min non wetsuit IM swim regardless of technique + 2h30-2h40 open marathon? That's expecting a lot of him, even with his big engine...

And IM Brazil won't be a regional championship next year, so that's one less salt water wetsuit IM with a lot of points for Andrew to rely on.

"A few years" doesn't really matter, Canyon is selling bikes to triathletes NOW because of what Frodeno is doing NOW.

Canyon sells bike because they have really nice looking bikes at a good price point. Frodeno could be riding a Louis Garneau, I would still be wanting a canyon.

Being paid 150k-200k a year to ride a bike sounds pretty amazing.

There's no way he does anything special for a few years at least unless this has been in the works for a while and the guys at Cannondale have been letting him cross train, which I doubt. He needs a lot of time in the water, and a long slow progression to build up the running miles so he doesn't break himself.

Why does the guy need to worry about points at all? You don't think WTC lets him in on an exemption?

Many cyclists will cross train in the winter, including running and swimming. You'll see some big name cyclists show up at local 5k or 10k races and do very well.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. I know both my triathlon and cycling friends are very interested in seeing how he does. Almost certainly will bring a little more attention to triathlon either way.

why would he get an exemption? He brings what to WTC to give him that status?

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

uhh, a huge fan base outside of their native one.

Interesting in that I've never heard that about him. Or atleast to the point that it moves the needle for WTC to warrant free entry into the PRO race.

Where is the fan base at? Social media numbers don't warrant much imo.



twitter- 49k followers
IG- 14k followers

ETA: When you talk about getting free entry because you move the needle, you better move the needle. Again, that's not a knock on him, more questioning why that avenue would even be suggested.

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

you've honestly never heard of andrew talansky? i'm very surprised.

also, you're looking at those statistics wrong. there's ~50k people who probably aren't "triathlon" fans who will now be more invested in triathlon, at least partially, because he will likely be posting about it. so, that's 50k "new" "triathlon fans."

No I have heard of him. But 98% of Americans haven't. So when someone brings up WTC putting him in the race because he moves the needle, I want to be shown how HE moves the needle. How this guy moves the needle to warrant THAT move by WTC.

eta: Which is a move that has never been executed by WTC correct? I was just shocked I would read he should be put in the pro race without actually qualifying.

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

It'd be interesting to hear more about his background. I remember reading about him on the Letsrun message board as a former runner that made the switch to pro cycling.

A simple google search doesn't give you much more detail. An old article mentions him trying swimming and cross country in high school, and that he started biking to cross train after a stress fracture in his shin.

A few cross country results are out there from his junior year. Nothing from swimming. I'd guess that his swimming is quite limited to maybe a season or two in high school, since it's mentioned so casually in the article. On the surface his running results are not very impressive given his cycling prowess, but it could be his junior year cross country was his only and first season of running. Also, there are no track results either. So 17:30 is pretty good if he just started running that season. The stress fracture would indicate that he was actually putting in some miles.

http://archive.dyestat.com/.../oct1-FLflrunner.htm

http://fl.milesplit.com/...0/stats#.WdelPk2ouUk

I remember reading an interview of his (after his one really solid season where he won the Dauphine because Contador and Froome were daring each other to chase) and he seemed to imply that he could expect to compete with the best in the world. His talent never seemed to quite justify his confidence in himself.

I'm betting he becomes a solid triathlete, and, over the long-term, an exceptional cautionary tale.

Wait, I'm confused (again). Which race would he be "put into?" I think USAT will give him his elite card, no questions asked. I don't think he'll get into Kona "on the house." Has anyone suggested that? I agree that would be dumb and unfounded, at least in the near term.

Yes it was suggested he wouldn’t need points to qualify,!see my original reply.
ETA: or atleast how I read it?!?

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

I dunno, if that number is actually representative, I think that is pretty bad. A lot of high school kids pick up XC and run faster than that their freshman year.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

eta: Which is a move that has never been executed by WTC correct? I was just shocked I would read he should be put in the pro race without actually qualifying. //

Agreed, if Lance had to qualify, how is it someone with 1/10 his cache is going to get a free pass? Of course there are new owners now, but it is the same management mostly, so would expect more of the same.


I haven't yet seen what his old swim chops used to be, was there anything besides just swimming in his youth? 99% he is going to go the way of all the other pro bike racers(except Lance of course) and struggle to even have the fastest bike splits, let alone winning big races. And very few of that group even got to race pro, usually they just beat up on the AG'ers in their divisions. Even with great engines it takes a long time to become a great triathlete, only reason Lance could do it because he was a great triathlete already and just had to reawaken some old muscle memory, which is also not that easy, aka Alan Webb..

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At that point it was an accurate statement. 24-25 years old and beating Contador and Froome? Sure, why not believe you can compete with the best? If you don't at that point, you'll never make it.

And the bit about Contador and Froom just watching each other - that's what I call "bike racing." Just about every successful solo breakaway in the history of bike racing was won because dudes were looking at each other.

We can quibble about all sorts of things (solo breakaway!?!), but... Honest question: Did you watch that stage and think that he had any chance of competing for a podium with the top cyclists in the world tour?

If so, I'd encourage you to watch it again.

I don't disagree, but it really depends on the individual and their background. A lot of those fast freshman have been training pretty hard for a few years. And there are freshman each year that come out with no running background and run as fast if not faster. If he ran and swam freshman and sophomore year, then it's really average. This guy seems pretty intense and likely to have been putting in decent training, and maybe the reason he got a stress fracture.

I guess it's proof that a top cyclist will not always be a top runner, and vice versa. Not sure why people would expect him to all of a sudden be able to swim, bike, and run fast against top pros. The evidence only suggests he would do really well on the bike.

He's been competing for podiums with the top cyclists in the world for a few years now. I don't need to watch some stage to know that. Just look at the results. He has GC podiums in 1.HC and 2.HC events (including the freaking Criterium du Dauphine!). He's in the tier of GC guys kind of alongside the likes of Majka and Yates, but he's absolutely a ProTour grade GC rider. But I thought we were talking about "competing." Not about "beating the very best consistently"

I thought that he said that he ran competitively....

I've always thought with these "single sport" athletes who come to triathlon, they have this idea that they can simply out gun everyone with their particular expertise in said single sport. But to me it seems *most* of the time, these guys come to triathlon on the "back half" of their athletic career. So suddenly that superb cycling skill or run skill isn't even top level for them + the demands of multisports in the race seem to knock off the shine.

I always laughed when people would say "all Webb has to do is make the pack and it's over, he'll run away"......like A) just making the pack with a swim/bike is hard enough B)that world class speed usually is knocked down by the total fatigue from multipart racing.

So I'm not saying a pro cyclist won't come in and take advantage of a strong cycling leg to catch back up (and have the best bike split), but I think sometimes we expect/think they'll do better when in reality demands of competition knock off that top end ability in the single sport. Almost as if we look at these splits and think it was a "let down" that they don't come in and blow competition away, when in reality it's very difficult when the athletes themselves are on the back end of their top sport anyways.

Maybe someone can remind me of Steve Larson, but is there anyone from a single sport that actually leaves said sport to become a triathlete before their peak in said sport....honestly Lukas Verbivzas is the only one that I can think of right now. Maybe some euro guy I don't know. So rarely does these single sport guys come into triathlon at their peak anyways. It's more or less they come to tri either bored/tired of demands of single sport and want to give triathlon a chance and maybe do well, maybe walk away after initial trial period.

eta: Talansky is 28 so what 29 racing next year. I'd say he's likely not completely peaked out cycling wise. Atleast not in terms of being the normal cyclist that leaves after a usual 10+ year career at age 33+.

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

Why has he retired from Pro cycling ?

Talansky: I am a world class time trialist
Skeptics: How fast would you be, if you had to cut your cycling volume in half and focus on swimming and running as well?

Talansky: I did a little running in Highschool and swam on a summer swim team.
Skeptic: Yes, and so did half of the age group field.

OK catching up with the thread. Really I don't see why he can't swim 60 min in Kona even if he was a crappy high school swimmer. Crappy age group swimmers with 4W per kilo engines end up at the 65-67 min range in Kona. Put a 5+W per kilo engine in the same crappy technique, and you're automatically swimming 60. OK, only the bike, after he is "fried" from a 60 min swim, can he ride as fast as Kienle or a touch faster? I don't see why not. Next is the run. With the engine he has from biking and highschool running background I can't NOT see him running at least a 2:40 open marathon. 2:40 is not "that fast". If you just have reasonable running form, good body composition and a high watts per kilo engine (the one that comes with being a pro rider), then you're there....RChung had done some estimations that threshold watts per kilo and threshold running m/s speed almost align.....4W per kilo rider ~ 4 m/s runner, 5W per kilo threshold rider ~ 5 m/s. What's 5 m/s = 18 kph ~ 3:20 min/K which is just over 33 min 10K pace but carrying it for 60 min. I am just pulling 5W per kilo out of the air to give a relative scale, but 2:40 open marathon feels like it is easily doable for such a high level athlete with the right body composition. That equates to a ~3 hrs IM run split assuming he has the durability after 5+ hours of swim+bike and can manage nutrition. Pro bike racers only have ~6 hrs races for long queen stages, but most of their racing is 4 hours. That's a totally different world from managing nutrition for 8+ hrs when the first 1 hour is much more energy depleting swimming. But I am sticking with him having the raw tools to swim 60, bike 4:20 and run 3 hrs in Kona provided he can manage the training AND pace his energy and manage nutrition. Will be great to see.

Om his run: remember Ben King who just ran a marathon alone to «see if he could». He ran about 3hrs. http://www.strava.com/activities/210077806

Now I have no idea if this was a 90, 100 or 110 % effort on the day, but if he can run 3 hrs on cycling-training alone I say 2:40 is easily attainable with 12 months of running volume.

I’d guess talanansky is in the same region.

Its not the engine that limits these guys, its form and muscle specific fitness.

I agree, there are a ton of age grouper guys around this forum with much smaller engines (like ~4.2-4.5W per kilo guys) who have been able to run low 2:40's. But to some degree it really does not matter if he can take the pounding of a 2:40 pace and not slow down. He just has to take the pounding of a 3 hour pace off the bike and can be in the overall zip code of the top guys in the sport. I realize this is all theoretical, and that is why it will be fun to see if he can prove what should be a theoretical slam dunk. I'd say he needs 2 years to put it together. I'd put him in a slightly higher caliber to ex pro cyclist Chan McCrae who did not do much when he did youth triathlon to pro cycling back to triathlon

Any combo of
1. his team folded
2. never recovered fully from his many crashes
3. was not that great. he showed promise at dauphine but never real did much beyond that.
4. it's tough to serve as domestique when you think that you deserve to be team leader.

You can quote me on this.. Talansky will be racing on a canyon next year. Insider source leaked the info to me at a recent bike festival.

Guess this is canyon trying even harder to get me to buy a speedmax.

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Train hard to Race harder

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift" - Pre

Confirmed

Bob got him on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2-3YNZbMNI

I don't now about "never did that much"

He was 3rd at Tour of California just this year and I would think in the sporting world this is regarded as a superior achievement to say 3rd at Kona.

http://amgentourofcalifornia.com/...on/standings-results

And he was team leader for this event too. You can't be team leader at every event, if you're not the best the team has for that event. I would say he will be hard pressed to have better results in triathlon to what he did at ToC or Dauphine or other races.

Watched the interview... He says he's going straight to Ironman no Olympic distance no 70.3. What a terrible way to get into the sport. And he somehow thinks he's going to competing in Kona next year... he's going to have a pretty rude awakening.

I think what he said is he will do a few shorter races for experience etc to build up to Ironman, but Ironman is his goal so he's not interested in focusing on the ITU / 70.3 (competitively) before moving up to Ironman.

Start playing with the numbers a bit. What do you think he could ride the Kona course in? 4:20 doesn’t seem out of the question.

Seems like he’d put time into just about everyone. If he can swim 55, he can likely influence the race.

Well if he swims a 55 and bikes 4:20 he will enter t2 at almost the exact same time as Frodeno, so don’t really think he will influence the race in a big way unless he can run a 2:40 which is unlikely seeing as he said he wasn’t such a talented runner in high school.
I just don’t see how anyone can be a threat now if they aren’t a complete athlete which means at least 50 swim and sub 2:50

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Why? He has a larger engine than 99% of pro triathletes currently and has an incredibly diverse skill set. I think many people fail to realize the incredible aerobic engines of grand tour cyclists. He knows that olympic/half racing will not be his forte. He has spent most of his career racing 4-7 hour races, day after day, week after week. Ironman is a closer approximation to his current skill set then a 3:45 or 1:45 race. Clearly he will have to spend a lot of time back in the pool but that will likely come back quickly. The biggest unknown will be the run, but i suspect that will not take very long. The biggest advantage is that he has a swim background and can easily bike with the front pack. His run ability will be the big unknown.

Agreed. Dude has a huge engine - I think his biggest challenge will building up run mileage AND staying injury free. He's going to need to be careful here - he needs to follow the BarryP plan!

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_______________________________________________

 He's in the tier of GC guys kind of alongside the likes of Majka and Yates,

He is nowhere near in the tier of Majka, come on Majka has won multiple stages at the Tour over the last 3 years or so, and on his day can climb with Froome Contodor etc.. Talnaksy has NEVER done anything like that, sorry not even remotely close.

He won the 2014 Dauphine, beating out both Contador and Froome. He also beat Majka at the ToC literally five months ago. I agree Majka's palmarés are more impressive overall, but they are not leagues apart.

Majka has zero World Tour event wins.

Talansky has one.

They both have a scattering of podium GC finishes at other events. Majka 3rd at the Vuelta and Talansky 5th at the Vuelta.

I don't know what you mean by "on his day can climb with Froome, Contador." Talansky did that for like 8 days at the Criterium. Froome, Contador, Yates, Bardet, Nibali, Fuglsang (and Tejay!) and others.

Can he do that consistently? No. But neither can Majka.

But at the end of the day Talansky, at least, has a signature GC trophy win to put on his mantle. And Majka, at about the same age, has no signature win.

I'd pick Majka as the better one-day racer, e.g. Olympic bronze. I'd also pick Majka as a better team workhorse. Majka can go through a full World Tour schedule. Talansky seems a bit more finicky, and seemed to skip a lot of races.

Emma Pooley went into HM.

Can't see how he could really expect to go at shorter distance of HM as there is barely any non draft Olympic races left now.

some thoughts here http://www.velonews.com/...pros-weigh-in_450145

notable comment to close:
"Starykowicz: I’m honestly worried about the guy’s health. The marathon is hard, and he’s going to have to train for it slowly. If he doesn’t have a ton of running under his belt, he could get injured in a bad way. He will be able to train at a high level, but it’s all about whether his body can take it. We’ve seen talented people get taken down by injuries and not be able to show their potential. There’s a high probability of overdoing it, especially if he is super motivated right away.
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/...#Yy2fs4Sbi3mYbtfZ.99"

i think this is the issue with going straight into targeting full distance - having to get his legs up to doing a fatigued marathon off presumably minimal running for many years. the half run you can fake off a big engine and some memory of how to run. a competitive full distance run requires some big mileage and he's going to need to build up to that gradually or be at high risk of injury. doing half distance in the meantime would help him develop his triathlon race craft

One thing that no one has brought up yet, or maybe I overlooked it. When he "retired" from cycling, I wonder if he notified USADA, NGB, and IF? Or if he did not, then he should be fine. However, if he actually notified them of retirement he cannot return to racing until 6 months after his notification of returning to sport.

"In accordance with Article 5.7 of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, athletes wanting to come out of retirement and return to eligible status must enroll in the USADA RTP, fulfilling all whereabouts requirements, and make themselves available for testing for a period of at least six (6) months in advance of participating in International or National level events as defined in the Code."


However, maybe he did not inform them since he already knew he was coming over to triathlon and "For USADA and anti-doping purposes, athletes who retire from competitive sport.......",And he actually didn't "retire" from competitive sport.


https://www.usada.org/athletes/retire/


Phil Gaimon had to go through this when he decided to "come back" from retirement and do an actual "race", believe it was the National Hill Climb Champs.


Lastly, think it is great he is coming over to triathlon and hopefully it brings more interest to the sport. Interesting to see him targeting Kona for 2018, that's pretty ambitious in my opinion. Pretty sure it would take a WIN at Regional Champ to only have to do 1 IM, otherwise he would have to have some solid 70.3 results combined with a solid regional champ race, or 2-3 IM's. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

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-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
Partnered with: Zoot Sports | Precision Fuel &Hydration | ISM

With wurf mixing it up this weekend, does that change anyone's thoughts on what talansky might be able to accomplish given his earlier switch and arguably more successful tt career then wurf?

it is bascailly imposible to predict how he will run. he can ride as well as the best, probably not any better. he could run 3:20 or 2:50, who knows? that is why it is interesting.

he will get the best coaching and support possible and his potential will not not be reached in year one but it will be much more apparent what it is after few races.

Is your assumption that pro tour riders aren't any better than the triathlon uber bikers ?
Why don't you think he can rider any better ?

I think the question is "are pro cyclists switching over to tri, any better swim-bikers than pro triathletes". To date, they have not been much better, or in most cases worse. Even Lance was out split by Kienle at Galveston 70.3....Wurf is literally the first guy to actually outride pro triathletes in Kona, but he was only 2 min ahead of Sanders and Kienle (in my mind these guys are the ultimate age groupers who had big enough engines to turn pro vs coming through the ITU world). Stadler ended up putting out times even faster than Steve Larsen.

Up until this weekend no one had out split Stadler in Kona. It took 3 guys who are probably the sport has had, hammering the shit out of each other with the fear of Frodo and Lange hanging over their heads, to finally blow past Stadlers record. Yes, a former pro biker did it, but really not by much.

As Brooks said, when pro bikers have come over before it has been at the end of the career....Udo Bolts, Chann McRae, Rolf Aldag, Laurent Jalabert, Lance. We really have not seen guys coming across in the prime until Wurf has. Probably Larsen was the closest. I think if you put Larsen on today's technology, he would be right up there with Wurf to T2.

If we're talking a standalone bike TT or hill climb, pro triathletes will be as close to pro cyclists as they will be to pro marathon runners and to pro swimmers....it's just the way it is. Horses for courses. 6 feet 165 lbs is too heavy to be a pro cyclists and pro runner and too small to be an elite swimmers....but it is awesome for being a pro Ironman guy.

So apparently AT swam until his freshman year of HS and when asked "How fast were you?" his answer was "Not exceptionally." So that doesn't bode well.

Yeah, being okay but not exceptional in 8th/9th grade could mean almost anything with respect to his ability to get faster now. If he had okay speed as junior swimmer it could have been due to natural technique and no cardio engine or terrible form and a great cardio engine. Our club's fastest free sprinter in the 13-14 AG (when I was competing in the AG) was also one of the laziest guys in the "competitive" group who could just catch like a champion, while the fastest 200/500 guy was a workhorse who killed himself every practice but looked like he was punching himself in the head.

It is simple in my opinion. Pro cyclist can match the bike section but it takes a lot of time to get your muscles used to run a 2:45 marathon. You can not do this without high risk of injury within 1 or 2 years. Same for swimming, before you have the speed and technic it takes time. Do not forget pro cyclist have spend + 10 years mainly cycling. There body is fully prepared to do one thing.

He likely will make very little prize money. Sponsorships, who knows but not too much I would not guess. Might be stressfull to go from nice salary every 2 weeks to peanuts.

Brooks, I think you could also make the case that Lukas was not a single-sport athlete. He was a standout runner, but didn't he always train as a triathlete? I believe I read that Mola was like Euro champ in the 5k as a junior (or something similar) but we consider him a triathlete.

I suppose guys like Potts and Zaferes who weren't quite Olympians but came darn close might be examples, but they didn't have the single-sport career he's had.

You are right that it is pretty unusual.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

He won that Dauphine by being in the breakaway and Contador wasn't able to catch the breakaway in time. That is NOT the same as staying with the top guns on a mountaintop finish, which he tended to fail at spectacularly. If you watch that stage of the Dauphine, Contador was cutting into his time dramatically towards the end. He just lucked out that the stage ended just in time.

I still think they are leagues apart.
Majaka has won 2 KOM's at the Tour, + 3 Huge stages.
6th & 7th and the Giro, Podium at the Vualta, I'm pretty sure he has also won stages at the Giro.
Bronze at the Rio Olympics.
Talansky has never even sniffed a stage at a Grand Tour, and his best GC was a 5th at last years Vualta but that was a very anonymous 5th.
I'd say that in relation to this thread Talansky is much better then Majaka in TT's but as a overall bike racer, not even close.
He gets much more ink in the english speaking press, so people think he is better then he ever was.

How would you say Talansky compares in their cycling career to, say, the guy who just set the course record at Kona?

Just for reference sake?

Brent

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

What I find interesting is the career he is giving up for a sport that I think he’ll likely struggle at on the big stage. He’s giving up a guaranteed salary at world pro level for a life that maybe you get sponsor pay but you also have to “race” for money. So either he really is turned off by cycling or he thinks he’s got legit shot. We’ll see how it goes, I think he can use his bike strength to win some lower level stuff but the big boy races...that’ll be fun to see how he competes.

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

He just had a kid and said he didn't want to spend over half the year away from his family. I can understand that and hope he does well.

He has joined Purple Patch for his coaching. I’m very excited.

Trainer Road guys interviewed him in Kona, it’s a good listen.

I can understand that and makes my point even greater. How he’s going to deal financially. Hope he has the money backing to support his family.

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

Talansky is a better time trialist than Cameron Wurf. So in theory, he could produce a better bike time. BUT, will he go all out on the bike and leave nothing for the run? Probably not.

I mean World tour pro's post rides all the time that are 3 and 4 hours in length with average power numbers in the low 300's. But they cross the finish line and they are done for the day. So they go much deeper.

Dang, that's sad. Wish he'd have gone with a real coach.

Will he raise his seat?

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Like Paulo?

Listening to the podcast now..

swim background- stopped freshman year of HS.

run background- "running was a suffer", ran last in junior year of HS and then got injured.


He talks about the engine being there, etc, but there is a whole lot of unkown here and he acknowledges that. The more I hear about this, the more head scratching it is to me. Says it's a 3 year window by 2020 should be able to make firm decision on this whole move. Will only use 1 coach, no specialization coaches. I'll stick to what I said about 2 weeks ago, he'll probaly podium at some race simply because there are 40 WTC events around the world, but when it comes to the world's best; no chance of going top 10.

I think this is a cool thing to watch, I mean a world class cyclist essentially at or slightly before his peak cycling career moves to triathlon. That's big news, just the more I hear about the lack of multisport background excellence + previous injuries..........yeah......


eta: Although I feel for him in 1 aspect. At beginning of podcast he sorta outlines why he's not cycling anymore. Travel+family/racing conditions/safety, so it's almost more of him wanting to move to something else and IM being slightly within his wheel house so that he finds a happier/safer sport.

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

Yeah it's pretty obvious he quit cycling because he wanted to quit cycling, not because he wanted to do triathlon. Triathlon is just something to give a shot before getting a real job looks like.

Talansky is a fair bit more accomplished at cycling, and I think your question raises a good point. Cam Wurf has been able to develop his triathlon skill set over the course of two years to the point where he is a legit competitor across three sports in the races he takes part in (while he blew up in Kona, he does have a victory and 2nd place to his name); he's shown it's possible to make the transition from pro cyclist to successful triathlete and it will be interesting if Talansky, as a pro cyclist with a more impressive resume, can transition in the same way.

I listened to the Podcast. I truly hope the best for him and am looking forward to observing his progress. However, is it just me or does it sound transparent and pathetic the way he was shilling for regular old product sponsors? How "passionate" can you be about Clif Bar? They sell them at Target and Walmart for a 87 cents. Did he really claim Canyon was going to give him an advantage and that Tony Martin changed teams to ride Canyon(after winning everything on Specialized) and he "believes" in the brand?? And a baking soda gel to rub on your legs?

A sucker is born every minute and a huslter has to hustle and AT has a kid, but damn, it was sad listening to it.

At least when Ben G espouses the benefits of colostrunm from a goat, it is so silly that it is overtly funny. https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/...-loss-and-colostrum/ That whole website is hilarious if you peruse about once a year.

i agree. it's just the nature of the business though. if specialized walked up to me and told me they'd pay me $65k/year to ride in their apparel (8 kits/year for free), equipment (3 x s works level shoes/year), bikes ( 4 x s works level bikes/year) etc but then after 2 years Trek said: we'll give you Specialized + X amount of money then yea, the Speed Concept would become the best bike for me and I'd really believe in Bontrager products, etc.

People who buy stuff based on what pros are paid to use are silly. I've gotten input from pros on products they are NOT paid to 'advertise' and it was usually much better and more trustworthy advice.

Don't get me wrong, Wurf has done well. Very well, and I suspect he will improve from here on out for sure. Seems to be an engine.

In IMC 2015 at Whistler, craziest freaking cold day I have ever raced...and there's this guy who outbikes all the pros by 10 minutes in the freezing rain, and it's Cam Wurf...and I had to google him. I wouldn't have to do this with Talansky. Not that it makes him better, but let's see what the man is able to do with all the pressure on him. Wurf had no pressure on him that year (I almost got him in Kona...he just walked too fast ;) )

I'm looking forward to this...

Brent

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Apparently it is "widely known" in the pro peloton that Canyon is the best bike. He lost me when he transitioned from his bullshit lactic acid buffer to the Halo Sport.

Completely agree. Worth noting that it took Cam two years to become a complete enough athlete to be professionally competitive, hopefully Talansky has a longer term perspective.

Talansky is a fair bit more accomplished at cycling, and I think your question raises a good point. Cam Wurf has been able to develop his triathlon skill set over the course of two years to the point where he is a legit competitor across three sports in the races he takes part in (while he blew up in Kona, he does have a victory and 2nd place to his name); he's shown it's possible to make the transition from pro cyclist to successful triathlete and it will be interesting if Talansky, as a pro cyclist with a more impressive resume, can transition in the same way.


It's always interesting and here on ST, among the hardcore crowd, the uber-bikers always get an auto-fan following and big support - but it is SWIM-bike-RUN.

As we've seen with none-other than another ST fan-favorite Lionel Sanders, the swim, is critical to how the whole of the day is going to go - at this level of competition. It's taken Lionel, probably 4 - 5 years to get to where he is now - a good 2nd pack swimmer, in these big and competitive races.

I know nothing of Talansky's background - I did read somewhere that prior to cycling he was a pretty good swimmer and runner in high school - if that is the case, then his transition to triathlon may be better than initially thought.

The late Steve Larsen - probably was the best of the known cyclists that did come over. Steve seemed to adapt well to triathlon, and was progressing well. It's shame, that his premature death, possibly took away, the full fruition of what he could have done.

I know I risk being pilloried here, and it's all moot now, but the pro cyclist who had the most promise in triathlon, and at IRONMAN was Lance Armstrong. Many forget that, Armstrong, almost for sure prior to any PED use, as a teenager, was racing with and beating the best triathletes in the world at the time, for a brief period.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Agreed with Fleck here. Lance was a phenomenal triathlete prior to dope and cycling. Its hard for me to get worked up about the PED discussion at all with him and other endurance athletes anymore. That era of cycling was really bad. So was that era of every other sport, triathlon included and it still probably is bad (not as much). It wasn't right, but they are products of that time and place.

That said it is clear that to a fault, Lance had a hunger and desire for winning that outpaced his peers and ultimately probably is why he was caught. My guess is that all things being equal and all athletes of that time being drug free, he would still be amongst the best. He showed a huge engine and big talent from a young age.

Hitting the proverbial nail here, Thomas. Just b/c a person swims growing up does not mean that he/she will be a fast swimmer. If you look at summer league teams, lots of relatively slow kids are on the various teams, and even a few slow ones who stick with it until age 18. Many of the slower ones drop out at 12/13 as they can see they're just always going to be swimming in the slow heats, and never swimming on the meet-winning final relay.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

First race result is in. Can he hold this pace for a little longer....

http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/...County_Triathlon.htm

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https://twitter.com/mungub

that website/timing company holds a high ranking in the ''worst results display of all time'' category.

You’re saying he didn’t get beat by the guys swimming 7 minutes?

Yeah, it’s pretty awful.

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https://twitter.com/mungub

OMG it really is horrible

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AJ

-------------------------------------------------------
IM WC Hawaii 2024

Yeah, I was really confused until I realised that it's all the different events just jumbled together. This link makes a bit more sense:

http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/...Triathlon+Individual~All

His post from Instagram:
"Yesterday I kicked off my triathlon career in much the same way as I did my cycling one over 11 years ago: at a local, grassroots event that showcases what the sport is all about. I haven't been that nervous before a race since maybe the first time I lined up for the TdF in 2013! I had a great time, met some good people and I can't wait for more. "

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Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan

i don't worry about his swimming. obviously nobody needs to worry about his cycling. the run is going to be the interesting question, as he develops.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

yeah that first page is jacked... but you can search around a little more and find a cleaner readout

About the swim, hard to know if the splits are correct, but if so it looks like he got beat by 3 /12 minutes by one guy and 2 1/2 by another. I know it looks good at the top comparisons where he finished, but of course this was a local race without any real fast people. But those two swim times indicate what real pros would have swam and being 3 1/2 minutes down in a 1500 swim, well I would worry about that, especially once extrapolated out to 2.4..

i'm not sure i believe any of the times before alexander lindsey. if you google around on the times faster than this, they seem suspect. if you have a really good swimmer, front pack swimmer, beating andrew by just over 2min over olympic distance, in what is a very early effort in andrew's tri career, i'm not too worried about that.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Looking at the results on the web site given by awenborn, he went 2:00 to win a very small (166 entries) Oly Dist triathlon by 10 min. As expected, he had the fastest bike by 5 min but his swim was 5 min slower than the fastest guy, and his run was at least 19 sec slower than the fastest runner. On the whole, and i don't mean to seem overly critical, but this just looks like the performance of a talented amateur tri guy, not a former pro cyclist. He would seem to have a long way to go to be a top pro triathlete.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

We can't make any assumptions off a single race where he did win overall but clearly we do not know how much effort he really put in for the win. Let's see how he does say over 6 races and then start looking at where we can improve. This is a guy that most likely jumped into the pool with very little swimming, rode the bike fast but not anywhere near how fast he can ride and then ran not a bad pace. I do not think this is a performance that shows what he is capable of.

Looking at the results on the web site given by awenborn, he went 2:00 to win a very small (166 entries) Oly Dist triathlon by 10 min. As expected, he had the fastest bike by 5 min but his swim was 5 min slower than the fastest guy,//

As Dan pointed out those super fast times other than the guy that beat him by 2 1/2 minutes are suspect, so for now it is that 2.5 beat that is legit. Still that is a lot, but it is early and we don't know it that is a fitness issue or something more worrisome. But it is not just a little bit, and I assume this was a wetsuit swim, so that would work in his favor for sure..

This is a guy that most likely jumped into the pool with very little swimming, rode the bike fast but not anywhere near how fast he can ride and then ran not a bad pace. I do not think this is a performance that shows what he is capable of. //

Actually in a weird way it does tell us something important. It says that yes he can actually swim pretty good, and run pretty good too. He is not starting at some super beginning point that needs a long curve to arc to becoming really fast. All his times indicate that he is at least proficient at a pretty high lever in swimming and running, not yet pro level, but not yet tested either. And he has some time...

Or just a case of a guy that has not swam much or barely anything vs a person logging 20k a week. Not telling at all.

I read Monty's point as being that whatever his swim or run load thus far, Talansky's splits mean he has at least something a baseline he can work off of i.e. he's not DOA (or dead out of the water) like Zirbel with his 35-38 min 70.3 swim speed.

You read my point exactly right. And on further inspection it looks as though the guy that crushed him in the swim is not as good as we thought. He barely won the wetsuit division against a couple guys and girls just behind him, sans wetsuits , so maybe like a 2nd pack pro guy.

i don't know that the first 3 times were legit. maybe the alexander lindsey guy. so, how good is he? however good he is, AT is 2:30ish behind him, as of today.

just, to put this in perspective, would lionel have liked to have had AT's current swim speed in his first triathlon?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

i don't know that the first 3 times were legit. maybe the alexander lindsey guy. so, how good is he? however good he is, AT is 2:30ish behind him, as of today.//

Ya I couldn't find anything on the 15+ or 17+minute guys, probably mistakes in timing. But the Lindsey guy is a legit good swimmer and the results of him winning that Tahoe swim were pretty good. But like I said, he won in a wetsuit against several others that were close without wetsuits, including on lady. So he really only won the wetsuit division and would not have won the scratch race. So good swimmer, but around 2nd pack pro or so I would say. Top swimmers would have been 16/17 minutes in Andrews race this weekend.


And I really don't know where Lionel started, guess he was pretty bad. And to tell the truth he has gotten all his low hanging fruit and most likely is in the group he will almost always come out with now. Making that 5 minute non wetsuit leap across what is typically clear water is not an easy feat, one almost never bridged by AOS's.


I would love to see a video of Talansky's stroke, that would tell a lot about his potential. I know you have talked to someone we respect who has swam with him in the past and he says he looks good, so a very good sign for dropping the 3+minutes a mile he will need to in order to be competitive.. He may also not make that 48/50 group, but all he really needs to do is make Lionel's/other uber bikers group, then he can work his way up like they all did this year..


Do we know when he is going to do a real race, one in which at least top AG'ers are doing? Maybe some 70.3?

i don't know his schedule. i imagine i'll be learning more. i talked to him in hawaii, he certainly knows me/us/slowtwitch, so, i'm hoping that along with guys like lionel, who seem to like slowtwitchers, AT will join the fraternity.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Would this performance even earn a pro card?

No. Moot point though because the race couldn't have qualified him, so we don't know how much actual effort went into this. Could have been an all out effort, could have been basically a threshold workout and him trying to practice putting it all together.

My guess is he’ll be part of the special consideration status which is for pro athletes in running/cycling/swimming and have been on national teams for said sport. All they need to do is finish top 10 and within 10% of winner in race with 200 participants to qualify for pro status in tri.

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

So pretty far from a 33 min 10k then...

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

If the distances are accurate and the difficulty of the course was at least moderate, that's a pretty good first race. 20min swim, sub-60min bike, and sub-40min run off of 6-8 weeks of training?

If he can get his open 10k run time down under 35:00, this could get interesting.

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Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

Why would it get interesting? a 35 min 10k is a pretty good amateur time, but terrible for a pro and would land him a spot waaay down. I mean the brownlees will have the same splits but then run sub 29. Things won't get interesting before he's sub 32.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

He won't race Olys.

That is beside the point. It isn't possible to be competitive in Tri today if you don't have a killer run. Let's say he's in a 70.3 and hangs on to 2nd pack for the swim 3 min behind leaders, bikes his way to the lead, and enters t2 with a 5 min lead, if he runs 35 min open 10ks he is gonna do around a 1:20 during the race and he will get caught by halfway.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I mean the brownlees will have the same splits but then run sub 29.//

Couple things, first he is not racing the Killer B's at olympic distance. He swam a 21 minute swim, they would have swam a 16+ minute one on that course. Andrew has a killer bike as he should, but it is going to be tempered as he gains ground in swimming and running. He is most likely going to long distance, he needs that long ride to make up for gaps in the other two sports, short races don't allow for that make up time. I like what I see so far, he should continue to make big chunk improvements for at lest the next year, maybe two.


It will be fun to see where he ends up, hopefully not where Alan Webb did after his foray into our sport..

No you're right, he's not racing the B's in olympics, but he will be racing Alistair in 70.3. He has a great bike, but it's impossible to know how well it translates to the steady pace 70.3/ironman racing, and he will need a huge lead off the bike to be in contention. I just don't think anyone, no matter their cycling prowess has a chance at winning a competitive 70.3/140.6 anymore if they can't run fast off the bike. His current running shape is prob close to Cam Wurf's, and he is getting outrun by 30 min. Even if Talansky were to ride faster than Wurf, he needs huuuge improvements in order to be in contention. And I would say to go from a 37 min open 10k (where I'm assuming he is now) to get to a sub 1:14 half off the bike (bare minimum to win) is going to take a loong time if even possible.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

It will be fun to see where he ends up, hopefully not where Alan Webb did after his foray into our sport..



What AW did proves just how good these triathletes are, and I see that happening here as well. I would guess AT will have a much longer "sink or swim" timeline that essentially was there for Webb. He essentially had really only 18 months to see if he could make the Mola/Murray swim group. He missed it barely in some big ITU events, and thus was no real reason to keep going (especially if funding gets pulled and it's on the athlete to pay for the journey).

ETA: The big difference is that AW was on the very very back end of his athletic career. He really hadn't run all those fast times consistently in years. AT maybe hadn't even hit his peak, so that's exciting in that he has a longer ability to "learn" the sport, and it actually allow him good result(s). Webb basically was thrown into the deep end and expected/required to either make it or not, and if he didn't he was out there to fend for himself from a funding standpoint.

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

 I just don't think anyone, no matter their cycling prowess has a chance at winning a competitive 70.3/140.6 anymore if they can't run fast off the bike//

I guess this is the difference between you and I, I don't expect him to win anything for awhile, if ever. But it would be a success in my mind if he were to start cashing in pro races, and eventually be in the thick of the actual race itself, like Wurf is now. Cameron is a real contender in outside Kona ironmans, I expect if all goes well for AT he will one day be in that spot. But to compare him to Kona pros at this point is not really being fair to him, he needs his runway of improvements to play out before any of those types of comparisons are even a valid topic.


Right now he is a competitive AG'er, one who can win a local no cash race, lets talk about the next step, not how he cannot win Kona or beat the Brownlees.

In an Ironman, he'll need to be able to run 2:45-2:50. He doesn't need to have 29-min 10k speed to do that. 34-35:00 10k 'speed' with a large dose of endurance will get him close.

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Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

There is no way someone with an open 10k of 35 will be running 2:45 in an Ironman. Look at the current top runners in ironman, they are also genetic endurance freaks, but they run a lot fast than that in an open 10k.
Patrik Nilsson for example has split a 33 min 10k during an IM and I would bet that all the guys running sub 2:50 can run a 33 min 10k tomorrow.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I think this sums up everything quite nicely :)

Expecting Talansky to just show up and be in a position to win would grossly underestimate the level of talent in triathlon. Even Lance - with all that came with him - whom had an actual tri background - did not sweep in and dominate his first race!

I also think its very hard to judge someones potential by one race where we don't know the exact course/conditions. Will be interesting to follow him going forward!

For what it's worth, I know someone who was at the race. She reported that the course is not particularly fast and that Talansky didn't even look like he was working coming off the bike and was just in cruise control on the run. She felt like he was simply out for a training day trying out swim/t1/bike/t2/run.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

Article today on cyclingnews about Talansky's plans. He plans for Kona in 2018. Realistic goal?

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________
It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

As an amateur yes, but as a pro I don't think he'd have a shot.

Good article, it gives some good insight. He clearly knows that he'll have to completely destroy the field in 112 miles to have any shot at being successful. His races should be fun to watch!

"This isn't a one-year plan. The goal is to qualify and be in Kona in 2018, even that's ambitious. I think it's a three-year project. I think Kona 2020 is where we're going to see what I might be capable of. When I line up there, I'll be 31, and you can be winning Kona when you're 37."

Seems fairly grounded. He's a world-class cyclist who is still discovering how well he can swim and run. What do you suppose he should he be saying in an interview like this?

Agreed. Thanks, I wasn't thinking about the AG route

Edit: Still two IM in coming year. Isn't that quite a bit of running for someone who said he was going to build up slowly? Or does he have the speed to KQ with lesser run training?

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________
It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

What continental championship has the hardest bike course? I'd say winning one of those is his only shot at Kona 2018.

I know being super skinny is de rigueur in cycling but man, he is just a stick figure in those photos. I think he will need to gain a few pounds in his upper body to swim fast enough to come out with the Sebi/Lionel 52/53 min group. I would think this will just happen naturally once he starts swimming a lot, if he eats enough and allows a few lbs of muscle to develop. If you look at pics of Lance at the Super Frog Tri the year he won it, he looks pretty muscular, weighing around 165-170-ish at 5'10", at least 10-15 lbs more than in his pure cyclist days. I'm not saying Talansky needs to become as muscular as Lance but a little muscle does help in the water.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Yeah that Lucy Charles is ripped!

Ummm, actually, she has broader shoulders and more definition in her arms than Talansky, who appears to have very little muscle in his upper body in those cycling pictures. Further, female swimmers tend to look less muscular on average than male swimmers, in part b/c they tend to have a little more body fat.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Mid pack elite triathlete.

yep! 4;20ish HIM .....

For those still interested in following this story, Talansky went on Phil Gaimon's podcast and talked about cycling and the transition to Triathlon. Tri talk starts around 40 minutes in. The most open natural interview I've heard yet (probably owing to his friendship with Phil).

http://www.thepelotonbrief.com/real-talent-with-phil-gaimon-20/

Based on some of his comments, I'll be curious to see what kind of success he has. He somewhat dismisses the swim, and says he's tenacious on the run, so he should be able to compete. We'll see about that....

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

For even FOP age groupers at the IM distance that's not a terrible strategy (unless you're a Josh Beck type swimmer but not a Josh Beck type biker/runner). For a pro that has expressed a desire to be competitive at Kona that is an awful strategy.

He's really good listen, I think this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've heard him interviewed. I get the sense this is the best sporting alternative for him with his new life prospective (having a kid).

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

Phil Gaimon... One of the great hypocrites of cycling.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

No way the brownlees's run sub-29, and probably not even sub-30, off a non-drafting bike leg especially if they are truly not drafting.

?? You don't think he competed clean ??

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

No clue about his performances and if they are clean. I'm referencing his level of criticism of some dopers over others.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

What? Look at basically all of Alistairs races, he is the one pulling and has done solo breakaways and small group breakaways many times while still running sub 30.
I would say the the steady state effort that non-drafting has will likely leave his legs fresher than the huge surges he is used to.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Listen to the podcast. Especially the last 15 min. It's a hard hard position for these guys to be in.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Just listened to his TrainerRoad podcast interview, really good.

I think he's had a really hard time on this thread.

To sum up his points:

• He's making the change out of passion, he loves tri
• Personal life will become easier
• He would like to qualify for Kona 2018, said nothing about winning or even doing well. He called qualifying in 2018 a pipe dream.
• He doesn't think he'll be setting fast bike splits because 1. People like Kienle are already really fast 2. He needs to be able to run after the bike
• His swim is not good and needs a lot of work
• He will have to build up running really slowly to avoid injuries
• Minimum three years before being very competetive
• Will not be good over short distances as he's not explosive. He's able to hold hard efforts for a long time. Even HIM effort is a bit too hard.

He came across as really humble and looking forward to joining the sport.

I think the strategy for 2018 is "be in Kona" - which, if you're a new pro with a sub-par swim - leveraging a strong bike and praying you can hold it on the run is probably the only way to get to Kona next year.

If he's still playing that game in 2020 then that's another matter.

I always liked Phil but now i understand why some people really dislike him. The conversation about on doping was kind of nauseating.

Sounds like you are allowed to dope and can still be a good person if you are friends with them, but if you are someone like contador or lance, then doping is not okay and you are the problem with cycling. That segment really blew me away.

They basically said yeah X doped, but he’s a really good person so that’s okay. On the other hand, Phil was upset when ex-dopers still recieved praise and attention. WTF!?

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https://twitter.com/mungub

Not to confuse anyone (if they are), I've never heard of this podcast or of Phil Gaimon, but I was referencing listening to Talansky a few different times now. I

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

I don't see how he can honestly say he's making the change out of his "passion for triathlon". If that were truly the case, then why did he spend the last 8-10 yrs as a pro cyclist??? I think reason #2, i.e. that is personal life (new kid) will become simpler and better, is much closer to the real truth. Just my 0.02...

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

You can have a passion for something but then choose the money sport instead....
I think pro cycling in Europe becomes a demoralizing grind unless you are winning or getting results. These guys often have 1-2yr contracts, which means they're one injury away from messig up their season and wondering if they're going to be unemployed for the following season.

I suppose this is true but i still would think that, given the huge amount of effort required to get to and stay at the top or close to the top of any sport, it would be almost impossible to muster the motivation to kill yourself day in, day out, unless you had a huge passion for it. Now perhaps Andrew had a big passion for both cycling and tri to start with, and only chose cycling b/c he thought he'd get a more regular paycheck. I guess this possible but i wonder. In fact, i wonder if Talansky really has the level of motivation needed to push himself relentlessly in the pool and on the road and track running, if he really just wants to be with his kid more. We'll see...:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."