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.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog