*Consider that Bjorn finished fourth (or was it sixth?) in the Swedish TT championship and non of the guys that beat him are cycling super stars. *
I agree with you but as a funny anecdote the guy who finished just in front of me was 4th in the world TT champs later in the year. This also shows that you can twist almost anything with results taken out of context like I see a lot of people do here.
You’re right, FS.
Imagine if Mr A devoted himself entirely to cycling…he would be monstering those sprints etc in the tour.
The name given to triathlon is a bit deceiving. Yes, it’s comprised of three sports, but no, not equally.
For the sake of simplifying an argument, the sport seems to be 1 part swimming, 5 parts cycling, and 3 parts running. So, we might say that 5 out of 9 pro triathletes could go on to be pro cyclists given the proper amount of time to train for that (several years of specificity), 3 out of 9 pro triathletes could go on to be pro runners, and 1 out of 9 pro triathletes could go on to be pro swimmers. This is not true of course, as the world’s top runners are on a continent of their own, quite literally. However, if we exclude Africa from professional running I think the theory may hold up, or at least hold up quite a bit stronger.
I think part of the fact that this model doesn’t work stems from the fact that triathlon requires a high degree of athleticism to excel at, though it would require even more if the time required to finish each discipline was set up to be the same, i.e. an Ironman where top times in the swim were expected to take 2:40, top bike splits 2:40, and top run splits 2:40 (which is already about right for the run.). The sport that requires the most athleticism here is swimming. This is primarily due to the fact that water is approximately 78,400% more dense than air. Basically, you can run with horrible form and still hall balls, but if you don’t swim like a fish you’ll never be a top tier swimmer (I don’t think.) SOOOO, swimming is clearly the group of athletes to go after, BUT the problem is they are not blind, and can see that what they excel at best ALREADY only comprises about 11% of a triathlon, so the draw is much more limited.
I say if you really want to see triathlon draw more top caliber athletes, (pros that aren’t quite making the money spots in their respective sport because they are .01% too slow), you stop making triathlon a cycling sport with transitions from and to the start and finish and turn an Ironman into a 7 mile swim - 70 mile ride - keep the marathon.
For the time being I would say more professional swimmers are likely to convert to being a professional triathlete than any of the other combinations possible (swimmer → cyclist, swimmer → runner, cyclist → triathlete, cyclist → runner, cyclist → swimmer, runner → cyclist, runner → swimmer, runner → triathlete, triathlete → cyclist, triathlete → swimmer, triathlete → runner)
“the guy who finished just in front of me was 4th in the world TT champs later in the year.”
I should have qualified my comment by stating that world class triathletes, although good in all disciplines, will never be the world’s greatest runners, swimmers or cyclists simply because they have to concentrate on all three sports instead of only one.
Perhaps you picked the wrong sport. There is a feeling here (that I also share) that you could be a top cyclist if you didn’t also have to devote time running and swimming.
BTW, best of luck in NZ and for the rest of the year. I’m actually one of your fans.
It seems a prerequisite for success in pro cycling is accepting the use of performance enhancing drugs. That would be my greatest concern if switching from pro tri to cyclist, it definately isn;t a level playing field on the pro tour, anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. Not sure how much of that goes on at the tri level, the lack of prize money is the main thing keeping things clean at the moment.
“a prerequisite for success in pro cycling is accepting the use of performance enhancing drugs”
I think Nina has sort of changed that. No doubt triathlon isn’t near as infested as pro cycling, but our sport has now lost it’s virginity.
but look at Kai Hundertmark. He was a Procyclist in team Telekom. He got the second fastest bikesplit in IM Germany (his first IM) and hammered the second fastest bikesplit in Kona (his second IM - place 16 overall)!
But, he is a top triathlete, no?
And going to pull off some huge wins in the next five years, we all think.
Well, I think, anyway.
Spenser Smith struggled like hell when he tried it. It would have taken 2-3 years to get his physique correct (although he was at least built for the classics) but bear in mind he was one of Tri’s strongest bikers at the time. also note that when Udo Bolts did IMH he was outsplit on the bike by Reid…
We’re jack of all trades people not specialists ! We have a talent all of our own.
I’m sure they could go 4 hours in hawaii…if they skipped the swim, and didn’t care about running a marathon afterward.
I was being a bit facetious…sorry if you didn’t pick up on that.
I agree with you.
btw…i used to be a fairly elite level rower. One year I decided to try to train for the national rowing championships and a half ironman at the same time. All I succeded to do was get my ass kicked six ways from sunday…or maybe it was 4 ways. If I used some peoples logic here, that means I could never be an elite level oarsman.
I’d never question any world class athlete’s ability to become a world class athlete in another discipline. They’ve obviously already proven that they have the mental and physical capabilities of doing it once…what makes anybody here think they couldn’t do it again.
Ever hear of Eric Heiden??
I think this entire thread is crazy. There are alot of sports were the top athletes can be competitive in other sports. We have seen pro baseball players play football and basketball players play baseball. There are xc skiers in triathlon and triathletes that cycle at the pro level. But, to somehow discount the pro cycling scene and say that because you are a top level triathlete you could ride in the pro peleton is crazy. Cycling is fiercly competitive at the pro level. Many kids in Europe grow up training to become pro cyclist (something that kids in cycling and triathlon dont do in the U.S. for the most part). Dispite this there are very few that ever make it to the pro peleton. I think people get caught up sometimes in the time trial splits at races and think because someone can post those numbers they can be an elite cyclist. Cycling involves much more than just time trial power. Think about it, if the top level triathletes could be pro cyclists why wouldnt they??? The money is better. The exposure/potential fame is better. Every sport has its top tier and there are always only going to be a handfull of people that can compete at that level.
People taking things out of context and twisting them on all around…on slowtwitch?? Surely you jest! 
Good luck Saturday!!!
Its important to remember that this thread was started by a 16 (or are you 17 now, FS?) with a limited perspective and a lot to learn…
just turned 16 two weeks ago
.
Does that say anything about our sport?
It says triathalons disproportionately emphasize the bike. Usually the bike leg takes as long as swimming and running combined. If you had equal time in each event, the people who succeed at tris would be less likely to be the good cyclists.
Yea, I vaguely remember you announcing that around here…congrats on sixteen…
Awesome…I have a daughter older than you…and I just went over 18 years in the Marine Corps yesterday…starting to feel old here…quick…one of you REALLY old-timers tell me how much of a kid I still am…I’m only freakin’ 36 for chrissakes!
;^)
I understand what you’re saying, but must we* *discount freestyles’ posts because of his age? There are a obviously many people here with limited perspectives and we we all have a lot to learn.
While I don’t believe he’s 100% correct, he makes an interesting point. I don’t think most could be pro cyclists, but certainly more could be competitive cyclists than could be competetive runners or swimmers.
I guess no one really sees how hard it is to ride 45km/h for 4h without drafting even for pro bike riders.
they are maybe a handful of pro riders who could do that…none of the sprinters, none of the climbers. Lance, Jan, Vino, maybe the ‘I don’t care it’s draft legal’ pro riders like Durant, Voigt, Piil…but for most the answer is no…
just check the average speed done at the Grand Prix des nations on a course not as hard as Kona, which is pretty much the longer official UCI ITT, and you’ll realize that there aren’t so many who can do that.
British competition record for 100 mile TT (closest distance to IM bike): 3hr 22min 45sec. At that average speed the IM bike would be 3hr 47. This record was made on a fast course with traffic, but no drafting of other cyclists was needed.