I’d be shocked if a triathlete is top 25, maybe even 40. And whatever training/racing the triathlete competitors are doing prior to the race isn’t even comparable to what the pro cyclists will have done leading up to it.
To give some perspective, Lieto finished 19th at the Tour of Utah ITT when he was road racing a lot. And that was without any Pro Tour guys.
Well we all knew this would happen…what a shock, the bike racing guys once again reminding us how badly triathletes suck at cycling.
How about having a rough open water swim the next morning to put it all in perspective? See how many of them would even show up.
To give some perspective, Lieto finished 19th at the Tour of Utah ITT when he was road racing a lot. And that was without any Pro Tour guys. \
And this last weekend Paul Thomas, a broken down old duathlete that is 41 got top25 and 30th in 3 tt’s I believe, and that was against Lance, Levi, and a lot of the big boys…And Bjorn would smash him on a tt, just another perspective…
Interesting points to be made. I think if a lot of the great cyclists in Triathlon started competing in cycling only (especially TT’s) they would give a lot of the top riders in the world a run for their money. Someone made a comment about Gomez and Geb. I don’t think this applies to running, but I think in cycling it is more likely for a triathlete to be able to become (if he/she chooses to do so) a top cyclist. But, make no mistake the power profile for these guys are huge. Remember bout reading up on a Lance training day where he would go for an easy to mod 5 hrs at 350 Watts, or something like that. Thats enormous!!! Even when you compare Thunderbear (his training wattage is posted on his Website), he doesn’t hit near the same wattage as Lance. But, then again pro cyclists ride bout 70-120 miles everyday.
Remember bout reading up on a Lance training day where he would go for an easy to mod 5 hrs at 350 Watts, or something like that. Thats enormous!!!\
It’s kind of funny that you hypothesize about a triathlete that might turn cyclist, and then give this sentence as an example of how powerful cyclists are. I guess no one considers Lance a triathlete turned cyclist anymore… (-;
Carl…don’t be too shocked if a triathlete can hit top 20. At the UCI world’s in Bogota Columbia in the early 90’s Duathlete Dr. Matt Brick finished in the top 20. And duathlete Jonathan Hall from Australia finished 7th at the UCI World’s ITT in 1997 or 98. So anything is possible. Not saying a triathlete can get anywhere close to the podium but top 20 is not impossible.
OK, so what do we need to do to get Mr. Bjorn a starting bib number aside from raising $1300 for the bib and getting his travel covered? I am sure that money does not automagically get you a starting bib number for this ITT.
How about having a rough open water swim the next morning to put it all in perspective? See how many of them would even show up.
That’s easy: none would show up for a rough water swim because they have another stage of bike racing the following day.
Since we’re talking about triathletes competing in a bike race, what comparison did you expect? The triathletes are doing an ITT during ToC, and not at a swim meet or triathlon, so you’re point makes no sense.
Question for you: why do triathletes get so worked up about being regarded as inferior cyclists? When I did triathlons I road with the roadies but was never naive enough to think I could compete at a high level with them.
What time trials are you referring to? Finishing 67th at Gila 4:37 down in a field with only 6 or 7 Pro Tour riders? Or 101st at Redlands?
Btw, since you brought it up, the guy who won the cat 3 ITT at Gila was almost :30 faster than Paul
Look, I’m not bashing Paul, Bjorn, Lieto or anyone else but comparing them to Pro Tour riders in an ITT is like comparing their 1k swim times to Phelp’s.
What time trials are you referring to? Finishing 67th at Gila 4:37 down in a field with only 6 or 7 Pro Tour riders? Or 101st at Redlands?
Btw, since you brought it up, the guy who won the cat 3 ITT at Gila was almost :30 faster than Paul
Look, I’m not bashing Paul, Bjorn, Lieto or anyone else but comparing them to Pro Tour riders in an ITT is like comparing their 1k swim times to Phelp’s.
Arguing with Monty regarding Bjorn is a waste of time. He had such a huge man crush on that dude.
Even I’d bjorn could crack the top 10 what does that prove other than what we already know that Bjorn is a good swimmer and cyclist when he finished for a triathlete but a mediocre pro triathlete overall.
Last I checked you still have to run as well as finish races to have a chance at podium spots in triathlon. Things that Bjorn isn’t known to reliably do.
Drug testing was as sophisticated back then either. Not saying that these guys were using PEdS just that testing wasn’t as tough. Although with the rash of recent cheats in the pro cycling tour I guess anything is possible.
I do not want to get shot in the crossfire, but I do think Lieto will surprise you…As a matter of fact, I am going to hire Monty as an agent to get me the 1300 to race, as I will prove that a greying 41 year old can finish top 60%…as long it is flat!
Even I’d bjorn could crack the top 10 what does that prove other than what we already know that Bjorn is a good swimmer and cyclist when he finished for a triathlete but a mediocre pro triathlete overall. //
Man you are all over the place, this is a thread about cycling tt racing and you go off on some tangent. Try and focus here a little bit. And then you go off about some drug theory of the old days, and it sounds like you are saying the triathletes that did those tts were probably doped?? You read any papers lately, like in the last 10 years or so. It was the cyclists that were dirty as hell back in the day, and still fighting that image daily with almost weekely busts. But go ahead and think the triathletes that did those races for fun were doped, the cyclists were not, and that is the only reason they did so well…
Slowman, in your article you mention Lieto, Macca, Wellington and yourself. At Wildflower I asked Joe Gambles if he was going to be doing it and he said “yes”. Can you confirm if the “Tasmanian Devil” will be there doing some damage to egos?
Dev
which article? can you post a link please, I’d like to read it.
Please know I meant no disrespect by noting your times; I’d have likely been 68th and 102nd or worse.
Lieto wouldn’t be that much of a surprise but everyone else will be. Even though the ToC guys will have 700 miles of racing in their legs and the triathletes are fresh, I still think it’s reaching to go top 25. I know and have TTd against a number of the domestic pros who were at Gila and it’s scary how much faster the Pro Tour guys are.
Unless the triathlets don’t change their positions for this single TT they will have no chance against the ProTour guys who will still compete for the classement général or who wants to win the stage. But I suppose the triathlets are not willing or cannot change their positions just for one day.
It tells us that if we cut off one of Bjorn’s legs so that he weighs a buck 45, he might have a chance.
Wait…the leg…
Nevermind…
Besides, we have some distant evidence of how Bjorn stacks against pro cyclists…I believe he came 4th (or was that 9th?) in the Swiss TTs a few years ago…which puts him…oh…well…waaaaaay down the pecking order.
That’d be the Swedish TT’s. You know Sweden and Switzerland are not the same and Europe is not a country… Now that we have cleared that up I’m the first to admit that I’d get my ass kicked. I have finished 4th-6th a nr of times in the national championships when all the best swedish pro tour riders have been present such as Gustav Larsson, Löfkvist, Bäckstedt etc. My best for a hard 50km is giving up between 2min20s-3min on Gustav Larsson who has olympic silver, worlds silver plus several top5 tour de france tt results. I think with the improvements I’ve made in the wind tunnel I could possibly lose a little bit less time now if I’m on a good day(which is less than often the case these days). And I have actually beaten and been very close to a then Protour and Saxobank rider a couple of times at nationals so it’s not inconcievable that Lieto could beat a couple of guys if he goes well. But yeah, of course there’s gonna be a huge difference between the pro cyclists and triathletes.
Fair enough…let’s assume that triathletes and cyclists in the 90’s were equally doped out. That still puts Matt Brick 20th at UCI World’s in columbia and Jonno Hall at 7th at the 97 or 98 World’s. As a follow on to that, Hall went to pro cycling with a Spanish team whose name I cannot remember. I am sure that Paul Thomas remembers Matt Brick quite well. My point to Carl is that Top 20 has been done by multisport guys at perhaps the most competitive TT outside a Grand Tour and certainly with deeper fields than ToC.
OK, can someone confirm that Gambles will be on the start line (going back to my original question).