Most top riders per capita...

[ingsve]

... Per capita Australia has to have the highest % of great racers right behind Lux

I saw this post by fatandfast in another thread and I got curious about what the statistics per capita actually was so I did some calculations.

The lists include all countries that have at least 1 rider in the top 100 at the Cycling Quotient ranking here..

The statistics are riders per million inhabitants (populations taken from wikipedia). I have made three lists for the top 100, 200 and 300 riders to get some depth in the statistics as well. Some countries only have 1 rider in the top 300 so they drop in ranking between the lists but overall the statistics are fairly even between the lists which suggests that the strength of a countries riders is fairly linearly distributed.

top 100
01. Luxembourg 4.06
02. Slovenia 0.97
03. Estonia 0.75
04. Denmark 0.72
05. Belgium 0.67
06. Norway 0.41
07. Italy 0.33
08. Spain 0.32
09. Netherlands 0.30
10. Australia 0.27
11. Switzerland 0.26
12. New Zealand 0.23
13. Sweden 0.21
14. Slovakia 0.19
15. Ireland 0.16
16. France 0.14
17. Belarus 0.10
18. Czech Republic 0.10
19. Germany 0.09
20. Great Britain 0.05
21. Russia 0.03
22. United States 0.01

top 200
01. Luxembourg 4.06
02. Slovenia 2.44
03. Belgium 1.63
04. Netherlands 0.85
05. Estonia 0.75
06. Denmark 0.72
07. Spain 0.60
08. Italy 0.56
09. Switzerland 0.52
10. Ireland 0.48
11. Norway 0.41
12. Australia 0.36
13. Sweden 0.32
14. France 0.31
15. New Zealand 0.23
16. Belarus 0.21
17. Czech Republic 0.19
18. Slovakia 0.19
19. Germany 0.17
20. Great Britain 0.07
21. Russia 0.05
22. United States 0.02

top 300
01. Luxembourg 6.09
02. Slovenia 2.92
03. Belgium 2.11
04. Netherlands 1.21
05. Denmark 1.08
06. Spain 0.90
07. Italy 0.78
08. Estonia 0.75
09. Switzerland 0.65
10. France 0.63
11. Norway 0.62
12. Australia 0.54
13. Ireland 0.48
14. Belarus 0.41
15. Sweden 0.32
16. Germany 0.23
17. New Zealand 0.23
18. Czech Republic 0.19
19. Slovakia 0.19
20. Great Britain 0.11
21. Russia 0.06
22. United States 0.03

The results are fairly expected. Some smaller countries that manages to produce a good amount of good riders are in the top while the big cycling nations have so many riders that their averages are still fairly high and finally the huge countries are at a disadvantage no matter how many riders they produce.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Nice list.

Did you just count the riders, or did you weighted them, based on their rank?

 

[kelvedon wonder]

You really did have some time on your hands over Christmas!!

 

[sadfitty]

Looks like it's not weighted. If weighted, a country like Norway with two riders (Hushovd and EBH) in CQ´s top 12 would be much higher IMO.

No matter how you look at it Luxembourg is amazing. They're way ahead of everybody even if Kirchen had a lousy year...

Australia? Haha, not so impressive. Especially so if you consider the fact that they have a much friendlier climate for cycling than some of the countries ahead of them on the list.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

But still, the first non-european on the list

 

[ingsve]

You really did have some time on your hands over Christmas!!

Actually it took less than an hour to do.

 

[ingsve]

Nice list.

Did you just count the riders, or did you weighted them, based on their rank?

No, they are not weighted but that would also be an idea. It would take longer to do though.

 

[Bala Verde]

Pretty amazing stats for Italy and Spain still, given their large population (60 and 46 million respectively).

 

[Beech Mtn]

It would be interesting to see how Switzerland changes if you take out Cancellara. Other than him, they have a much smaller field of top riders than in past years.

 

[Ferminal]

Looks like it's not weighted. If weighted, a country like Norway with two riders (Hushovd and EBH) in CQ´s top 12 would be much higher IMO.

No matter how you look at it Luxembourg is amazing. They're way ahead of everybody even if Kirchen had a lousy year...

Australia? Haha, not so impressive. Especially so if you consider the fact that they have a much friendlier climate for cycling than some of the countries ahead of them on the list.

Climate is also friendlier for Swimming, Fishing, Cricket, Golf, Beach etc

 

[maltiv]

No, they are not weighted but that would also be an idea. It would take longer to do though.

Luxembourg would still be topping that list by far if ranks were counted in, and Norway would probably be second then I guess.

 

[LugHugger]

Climate is also friendlier for Swimming, Fishing, Cricket, Golf, Beach etc

Very true, And this is why you could make an argument that Australia actually underperforms in most sports given its climate is so complementary to sport participation.

 

[kurtinsc]

Not suprising to see the US at the bottom. As much as I wish it were otherwise, cycling is a fringe sport here. Lance has made it a bit more popular... but only a bit.

 

[ingsve]

Ok, since it was brought up I made a weighted ranking as well. I simply gave the no 1 ranked 300 åpints and the 300th gets 1 point. Like before it's calculated per million inhabitants.

Top 100
01. Luxembourg 1139.96
02. Slovenia 229.42
03. Denmark 179.86
04. Estonia 163.43
05. Belgium 162.57
06. Norway 120.41
07. Italy 83.60
08. Spain 81.05
09. Netherlands 73.20
10. Australia 71.19
11. Switzerland 67.58
12. Sweden 52.01
13. New Zealand 47.33
14. Slovakia 41.46
15. France 33.69
16. Ireland 32.70
17. Czech Republic 26.38
18. Belarus 23.94
19. Germany 21.85
20. Great Britain 12.41
21. Russia 7.23
22. United States 3.26

Top 200
01. Luxembourg 1139.96
02. Slovenia 499.27
03. Belgium 290.17
04. Denmark 179.86
05. Estonia 163.43
06. Netherlands 147.90
07. Spain 124.17
08. Norway 120.41
09. Italy 119.63
10. Switzerland 106.47
11. Australia 85.04
12. Ireland 83.49
13. Sweden 68.63
14. France 59.44
15. New Zealand 47.33
16. Slovakia 41.46
17. Czech Republic 39.42
18. Belarus 38.66
19. Germany 35.55
20. Great Britain 14.33
21. Russia 10.29
22. United States 4.24

Top 300
01. Luxembourg 1251.52
02. Slovenia 536.29
03. Belgium 323.97
04. Denmark 211.86
05. Netherlands 171.22
06. Estonia 163.43
07. Spain 135.49
08. Italy 131.26
09. Norway 127.22
10. Switzerland 109.57
11. Australia 96.85
12. Ireland 83.49
13. France 73.13
14. Sweden 68.63
15. Belarus 55.35
16. New Zealand 47.33
17. Slovakia 41.46
18. Czech Republic 39.42
19. Germany 39.26
20. Great Britain 16.55
21. Russia 10.41
22. United States 4.88

Comparing the two diffrent calculations we see that the most important factor is still the countries population. The weighted ranking switches a few palces here and there but there are no huge diffrences. The biggest jump is made by Norway in the top 200 ranking where they are 8th instead of 11th.

 

[ingsve]

Another thing I noticed is that France was at a disadvantage compared to alot of countries in the weighted ranking. If we compare the three biggest cycling nations France, Spain and Italy we see that they are faily close on the number of riders in the top 300 with 41, 42 and 47 respectively but looking at the top 100 we see that Italy has 20 rider and Spain 15 but France lags behind with only 9.

That's pretty much what we have seen the past 10 years. France has lots of riders but a rather weak top tier.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

You deliver fast
Not much changed indeed.

Always great to see my country score so high :d

 

[ak-zaaf]

You deliver fast
Not much changed indeed.

Always great to see my country score so high :d

And now for Cyclo Cross...

 

[ingsve]

I should do one of these next year at the same time to see what changes...I'm betting there could be alot of changes in a year depending on how riders from the smaller countries do.

 

[ulrichw]

It would be interesting to see how Switzerland changes if you take out Cancellara. Other than him, they have a much smaller field of top riders than in past years.

This is pretty easy to figure out:

Switzerland has a population of 7.8 million. This means each Swiss rider's impact on Switzerland's ranking is 1/7.8 which is approximately .13.

Per the scores, Switzerland had 2 riders in the top 100, 4 riders in the top 200 and 5 riders in the top 300.

So leaving Cancellara out has the biggest impact on the first ranking - dropping Switzerland to approx. 16th, while on the next two rankings Switzerland would end up 11th and 12th, I believe.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Thanks ulrichw.

 

[ingsve]

Another season is over so I thought I'd redo the calculations I did last year to see how many top riders different countries have dependong on their population. I have used the version from post 14 in this thread where I have weighted each position in the top 300 ranking rather than just counting the number of riders as in post 1. The placing and score from last year are in brackets.

Top 100
01. Luxembourg 1130 (1st @1139.96)
02. Slovenia 351.9 (2nd@229.42)
03. Belgium 182.78 (5th@162.57)
04. Ireland 118.67 (16th@32.70)
05. Norway 115.92 (6th@120.41)
06. Denmark 95.45 (3rd@179.86)
07. Slovakia 93.70 (14th@41.46)
08. Switzerland 90.26 (11th@67.58)
09. Spain 89.13 (8th@81.05)
10. Italy 74.64 (7th@83.60)
11. Netherlands 71.81 (9th@73.20)
12. Australia 69.47 (10th@71.19)
13. New Zealand 55.45 (13th@47.33)
14. France 38.65 (15th@33.69)
15. Kazakhstan 31.98 (New)
16. Czech Republic 26.00 (17th@26.38)
17. Sweden 25.53 (12th@52.01)
18. Portugal 23.68 (New)
19. Germany 12.09 (19th@21.85)
20. Great Britain 8.68 (20th@12.41)
21. Canada 8.28 (New)
22. Colombia 4.49 (New)
23. Russia 3.64 (21st@7.23)
24. United States 3.21 [22nd@3.26)

Top 200
01. Luxembourg 1130.00 (1st @1139.96)
02. Slovenia 478.10 (2nd@499.27)
03. Belgium 300.09 (3rd@290.17)
04. Norway 151.84 (8th@120.41)
05. Ireland 148.00 (12th@83.49)
06. Denmark 126.43 (4th@179.86)
07. Netherlands 120.90 (6th@147.90)
08. Italy 117.40 (9th@119.63)
09. Spain 117.04 (7th@124.19)
10. Slovakia 93.70 (16th@41.46)
11. Switzerland 90.26 (10th@106.47)
12. Australia 82.40 (11th@85.04)
13. New Zealand 80.23 (15th@47.33)
14. France 72.11 (14th@59.44)
15. Sweden 39.68 (13th@68.63)
16. Kazakhstan 38.89 (New)
17. Portugal 38.40 (New)
18. Germany 28.29 (19th@35.55)
19. Czech Republic 26.00 (17th@39.42)
20. Great Britain 18.47 (20th@14.33)
21. Canada 13.94 (New)
22. Colombia 12.69 (New)
23. Russia 7.01 (21st@10.29)
24. United States 5.53 [22nd@4.24)

Top 300
01. Luxembourg 1130.00 (1st @1251.52)
02. Slovenia 489.05 (2nd@536.29)
03. Belgium 367.13 (3rd@323.97)
04. Norway 151.84 (9th@127.22)
05. Netherlands 149.10 (5th@171.22)
06. Ireland 148.00 (12th@83.49)
07. Denmark 140.36 (4th@211.86)
08. Italy 130.76 (8th@131.26)
09. Spain 124.89 (7th@135.49)
10. Switzerland 109.62 (10th@109.57)
11. New Zealand 96.14 (16th@47.33)
12. Slovakia 93.70 (17th@41.46)
13. Australia 90.53 (11th@96.85)
14. France 84.04 (13th@73.13)
15. Kazakhstan 46.79 (New)
16. Portugal 44.91 (New)
17. Sweden 39.68 (14th@68.63)
18. Germany 31.99 (19th@39.26)
19. Czech Republic 31.05 (18th@39.42)
20. Great Britain 19.82 (20th@16.55)
21. Canada 13.94 (New)
22. Colombia 12.69 (New)
23. Russia 7.37 (21st@10.41)
24. United States 5.59 [22nd@4.88)

So what can we say about the changes. Well, the big winners of the year compared to their population is Ireland and Slovakia who are up on all rankings. Ireland had both Martin and Roche that had good years while Slovakias increase is through Peter Sagan and Peter Velits. Norway surprisingly had a good year despite the fact that their two top riders did slightly worse but their third (Kristoff) was better and they also climbed places because some other nations did worse than last year. Another team that had a strong year overall was Belgium while Switzerland and Slovenia had good years for their best riders (top 100) but stayed the same when looking at the top 300. There are also four newcomers to the lists in Kazakhstan, Portugal, Canada and Columbia who now have at least one rider in the top 100.

Denmark had a bad year losing places on all lists. Gone from the lists are Estonia and Belarus since they no longer have a rider in the Top 100. The Netherlands and Italy have a worse score than last year but they still manage to keep their positions on the lists fairly well. Luxembourg still reigns supreme eventhough they dropped very slightly in the score.

We once again see that large nations are at a disadvantage as is to be expected when looking at per capita statistics.

The figures from last year are different than if they would be redone again today because several riders have been removed from the CQranking due to doping suspensions that removed some of their results. For example Canada would have featured already last year had the removed riders not been there.

 

[El Pistolero]

Very true, And this is why you could make an argument that Australia actually underperforms in most sports given its climate is so complementary to sport participation.

That's bull**** as none of the top Aussie cyclists even live there...

 

[happychappy]

Pretty amazing stats for Italy and Spain still, given their large population (60 and 46 million respectively).

All the top quality beef.