from inside the knibb camp, USA Cycling is not going to require her to do the road race in order to compete in the TT.
That’s good of them, and very much the right decision. USAC made the rule that put all the marbles on one TT, they can’t then demand you do something completely different at the Olympic level.
The UCI/IOC may not be thrilled with the U.S. starting fewer women than they were allowed. Worst case Knibb could just sit in for an hour or two for a workout, then drop out (unless she wants to race it). The road race is after both the TT and the triathlon, so road race crash risk wouldn’t risk triathlon.
It was Clara Hughes that medaled in Road Cycling and Speed Skating at the Olympics, not Alison Sydor. The MTB goddess Sydor won Silver at the Atlanta Olympics in Mountain Bike Cross-Country
In a different world we had Krista Luding (sp?) from Germany and Allison Sydor from Canada competing in the olympics in speed skating and track cycling (Luding same years I believe, Sydor, different years) and medaling in both. In Canada we had Pierre Harvey racing the 1984 Olympic road race working for Steve Bauer on his silver medal and same year Harvey competed in 1984 Sarajevo Olympics in XC skiing and 1988 Olympic Games in in Calgary (also XC skiing). 1985-1988, Harvey was winning pretty well every triathlon he entered in Canada. (so this guy was a three sport guy). He won several XC ski world cups.
Then there was Lance, winning triathlons against the best tri pros in the late 80s before going to cycling.
On the front of Carol Montgomery , sadly she was silver medalist at ITU worlds 2000 in Perth (short 8km run and ran out of real estate closing on the run for gold) and then she crashed at Sydney 2000 and DNFd the tri and then could not start the 10,000m finals.
Allison Sydor was a mountain biker. But Clara Hughes competed in both track cycling and speed skating.
sheila young was by far america’s best combo speed skater and cyclist (track). best in the world in both sports. many WC medals. but she was too early. i don’t believe women’s track events were contested in the olympics in 1976, there was the boycott in 1980, so she missed her chance to not only compete in but win olympic gold in both sports.
i think sheila taormina competed in 3 summer olympic sports. competed in 4 olympics, gold medal winner in one sport, WC in a different sport.
what is really rare, tho, is someone competing in 2 different sports at the same olympic games. carol got close. she qualified in both. probably easiest is nordic combined and then maybe on a relay in XC or in ski jumping, unless you consider nordic combined the same sport but a different event. otherwise it would almost have to be triathlon but as we all know - morgan pearson and taylor knibb notwithstanding - triathletes are mediocre at all 3 sports
Not quite sure what you mean by “stinks”. Criterion for 3 places is clear; and not met by the efforts of the full time pro USA female cyclists.
Even after all the support USAC have given them over the years.
A bit of a tangent, but I’m not sure what support you’re thinking of from USAC, but the reality is it’s pretty much nonexistent on the road side. All the riders, men and women, are either self supported or supported by their trade team (if they’re so lucky). There’s no development pipeline from amateur to pro, and once you’re lucky enough to make it pro, you’re on your own, for the most part. USAC really only rears its head come Olympic time.
Man, I mean good of them to follow the procedures I guess, but how devastating for the American women road racers.
Poor USAC. They got sued 8 years ago for selecting Kristin Armstrong after arguably ignoring their own stated selection criteria. The lawsuit failed, and Kristin Armstrong ended up being very much the right decision (she won a gold model in the TT). Then Faulkner sued in 2020 asking for more transparency. Also failed.
So in 2024 USAC says, “You want transparency? Here you go, win the damn TT, you’re in.” And then a triathlete wins. There is Benny Hill music in the background.
If Knibb ends up not racing the RR or else isn’t effective from lack of experience, it’s not that great for Dygert. Granted I think Dygert, already a huge underdog vs. the Dutch, can do just fine as a privateer.
And I’m not assuming Knibb could’t be good in the RR. Maybe she can, and regularly bumps shoulders with Cat 1 men in regional group rides. There’s just no body of work from sanctioned races to judge by.
I would love Knibb to attempt a Kiesenhofer in the RR (if you’re asking “who?”, that’s the point). Get up the road early while the Dutch women laugh “Nib who?” and then forget she’s up there. But having been burned, I somehow doubt the Dutch make that mistake again.
The UCI/IOC may not be thrilled with the U.S. starting fewer women than they were allowed. Worst case Knibb could just sit in for an hour or two for a workout, then drop out (unless she wants to race it). The road race is after both the TT and the triathlon, so road race crash risk wouldn’t risk triathlon.
What an option. I mean, has Knibb ever even raced an actual sanctioned, cycling road race? And now she has the option to top off her Olympics experience with a type of race she’s never done before but so many others would sacrifice anything to be accepted into the field. Can you imagine the jealousy out there?
If Knibb ends up not racing the RR or else isn’t effective from lack of experience, it’s not that great for Dygert. Granted I think Dygert, already a huge underdog vs. the Dutch, can do just fine as a privateer.
And I’m not assuming Knibb could’t be good in the RR. Maybe she can, and regularly bumps shoulders with Cat 1 men in regional group rides. There’s just no body of work from sanctioned races to judge by.
I would love Knibb to attempt a Kiesenhofer in the RR (if you’re asking “who?”, that’s the point). Get up the road early while the Dutch women laugh “Nib who?” and then forget she’s up there. But having been burned, I somehow doubt the Dutch make that mistake again.
So why would Knibbs experience in ITU make her unsuitable for a road race? Is the thought that because she can lead or breakaway in the right conditions from the ITU women they must not be good enough? I wouldn’t be surprised if she did the road race in Paris and the dynamics were the same. Pack riding following all the attacks and then try to match and beat any breakaways?
So why would Knibbs experience in ITU make her unsuitable for a road race?
I don’t know enough about ITU or Knibb to call her unsuitable, so I didn’t call her unsuitable. I left open the chance that she might want to race, in which case she should, and I’m sure as hell not going to be one to stand in her way. I was the one fantasizing about her Kiesenhofering the Olympic field.
But, not knowing her, maybe she’d also prefer to specialize vs. the clock. In that case I don’t think she should be compelled to contest the road race because of a USAC selection rule solely based on TT performance. I think there should be conversations with USAC and even Dygert to come up with a plan that makes Knibb and everyone else happy about the situation.
So why would Knibbs experience in ITU make her unsuitable for a road race?
I don’t know enough about ITU or Knibb to call her unsuitable, so I didn’t call her unsuitable. I left open the chance that she might want to race, in which case she should, and I’m sure as hell not going to be one to stand in her way. I was the one fantasizing about her Kiesenhofering the Olympic field.
But, not knowing her, maybe she’d also prefer to specialize vs. the clock. In that case I don’t think she should be compelled to contest the road race because of a USAC selection rule solely based on TT performance. I think there should be conversations with USAC and even Dygert to come up with a plan that makes Knibb and everyone else happy about the situation.
Gotcha. Every impression I have of Knibb is that she is a competitor and she likes to battle against people around her. And she isn’t afraid to dish it out. But equally important is that she doesn’t like being crowded, which is why she seems to pick weird swim start locations to not be in the fray of it or would just rather lead the swim to not get pushed around. Same when you look at her recent bike in Yokohama. She went back and forth from the front of the pack which suggests to me that she doesn’t like being surrounded by other riders. Aggressive opportunistic competitors paying attention to these traits would have some guesses of her weaknesses.
I’d be surprised if she didn’t take this unique opportunity to race, if for nothing else than the road racing experience alone.
So why would Knibbs experience in ITU make her unsuitable for a road race?
I don’t know enough about ITU or Knibb to call her unsuitable, so I didn’t call her unsuitable. I left open the chance that she might want to race, in which case she should, and I’m sure as hell not going to be one to stand in her way. I was the one fantasizing about her Kiesenhofering the Olympic field.
But, not knowing her, maybe she’d also prefer to specialize vs. the clock. In that case I don’t think she should be compelled to contest the road race because of a USAC selection rule solely based on TT performance. I think there should be conversations with USAC and even Dygert to come up with a plan that makes Knibb and everyone else happy about the situation.
Gotcha. Every impression I have of Knibb is that she is a competitor and she likes to battle against people around her. And she isn’t afraid to dish it out. But equally important is that she doesn’t like being crowded, which is why she seems to pick weird swim start locations to not be in the fray of it or would just rather lead the swim to not get pushed around. Same when you look at her recent bike in Yokohama. She went back and forth from the front of the pack which suggests to me that she doesn’t like being surrounded by other riders. Aggressive opportunistic competitors paying attention to these traits would have some guesses of her weaknesses.
I’d be surprised if she didn’t take this unique opportunity to race, if for nothing else than the road racing experience alone.
In an ITU peloton, how much contact, pushing, elbows….is there ?
Draft legal triathlon tends to be raced more like a bunch of breakaway groups off the front of a road race than like a road race. I have limited faith in her ability to navigate the pelaton and make it into a breakaway group. She’s certainly a strong cyclist, but the demands of competition are different, the pack skills are unknown, and I think we’re not giving enough credit to the cycling specialists that they’re very good at what they do.
I really take my hat off to Taylor for doing what she is doing.
I googled the number of athletes who have competed in two different Olympic sports and the list was a lot more than I would have expected, although it did not narrow it down to two different sports at the same games. However, a lot of those who have done are in things like swimming and water polo and road and track cycling, not something which is quite a bit more diverse in terms of triathlon and TT (granted the TT is somewhat of an extension of the triathlon aspect but quite different in terms of the TT nature versus an Olympic Tri).
I got your diverse sports right here: "The 2020 graduate is the first Cornell Olympian to qualify in multiple sports since Lee Talbott competed in tug-of-war, wrestling, and track and field at the 1908 Games in London. "
Her ITT win is super impressive but she isn’t going to be “dishing out†anything in the Olympic road race. That’d be like saying Mariana Vos will be in the mix at the Olympic triathlon; different sports, different skills.
Her ITT win is super impressive but she isn’t going to be “dishing out†anything in the Olympic road race. That’d be like saying Mariana Vos will be in the mix at the Olympic triathlon; different sports, different skills.
i get no indication from those inside the TK camp that she is interested in the road race, nor that USA Cycling wants her to race it. I do hope that USA Cycling will take 3 for the road race, with TK not being one of them. even if they don’t have the money, tell person 3 she can go and then let’s all gofundher.
Re: Knibbs attitude, I’m just saying I can her road racing style being exactly like how she swims and bikes. Either by herself up front or in the back. She doesn’t seem to like being in the thick of it.
I don’t know enough about female road racing to say if Knibb could handle the peloton. I could see the other athletes wanting to teach any new comer some kind of lesson, especially from triathlon. That said, if Knibb was road racing, I’d expect on any narrow technical parts of the course, she’d hang back, and in any straight aways she’s try to surge around the pack. The idea that she’d be unable to do so if there was a wide and straight enough part of the course is the question, and I think it’s likely she could. I’m not saying the group couldn’t follow and she’d just ride off the front, but that she’d try to pull around to the front if the dynamics permit. If that’s the same strategy as the rest of the group and she doesn’t have a path to the front of the group, then she’d just be hanging out in the back “resting” until there’s an opportunity to strike.
I think of all the cyclists you want sitting in the back waiting for the right moment to attack, Knibb is probably one of the more dangerous ones.
Either way, if she races, like a lot of triathletes, I’ll be paying attention. If not, I won’t really care as I don’t have any connection to that sport. So it’s certainly good publicity from that perspective. Female triathletes seem to get a lot of attention relative to triathlon’s overall popularity vs cycling. Lucy Charles seems to have more followers than the biggest female cyclist I can find.
The pro women at the olympics are of a caliber they will not even notice Knibb, or worry about her, will elbow her out of the way without even noticing she exists. (probably). She probably will not have the snap or pack handling skills to even get in a break, or win out of it she got in one.
All of that said anything can happen in road racing even her winning it, if she races it. Would be hilarious. It probably isn’t sensible for her to race it but would be interesting to watch! Good luck!
