Non-traditional backgrounds for cyclists (such as skiing etc).

[Izzyeviel]

Katy Marchant did the Heptathlon. Weirdly the 200m & 800m let her down a bit.

 

[tobydawq]

Primoz Roglic - ski jumper

What???

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Nathalie Eklund used to be a ballerina, but I think she had done triathlon for a while before she fully committed to cycling.

 

[rallybanana]

Elise Chabbey competed at the 2012 Olympics in the K-1 canoe slalom event. She hasn't done the Olympics yet in cycling. Marlen Reusser was the only Swiss road cyclist in Tokyo. Hopefully, the increased quotas for women in 2024 will see her take part in Paris.

 

[Oldermanish]

Roglic is quite a good descender, and this is easily linked to his past, but of course downhill skiing would be the more obvious choice as a sport to prepare you for this. Ski jumpers just move straight ahead. But yeah, the courage maybe comes into play.

I think Roglic is used to training his whole body rather than just his legs, and this has helped him in a lot of ways. In recent years a lot of trainers in cycling have realized that just training on endurance is not enough. I heard on Geraint Thomas' podcast he basically never trains in the gym. Now that I just find unbelievable, you can see the advantage it brings to everyone who does it. It has made all the difference for Van der Poel, for instance.

I suspect Geraint simply hasn't broken enough bones to have a relationship with a gym routine. It does seem odd for a track cyclist not to have done strength work, though.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Ludo Dierckxsens worked as a spraypainter at a trucking company before becoming a professional cyclist. He turned 30 in his first pro season.

 

[Sandisfan]

Ludo Dierckxsens worked as a spraypainter at a trucking company before becoming a professional cyclist. He turned 30 in his first pro season.

A graffiti artist. Hahaha just kidding I hope Ludo always wore the the particle mask while painting.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I think Roglic is used to training his whole body rather than just his legs, and this has helped him in a lot of ways. In recent years a lot of trainers in cycling have realized that just training on endurance is not enough. I heard on Geraint Thomas' podcast he basically never trains in the gym. Now that I just find unbelievable, you can see the advantage it brings to everyone who does it. It has made all the difference for Van der Poel, for instance.

If you want to climb mountains like Vingegard, doing serious gym work is only going to hurt you. Of course it doesn't mean a little bit won't help these top level athletes stay healthy, and basically all recreational cyclists should do strength training, but when it comes to the best possible climbing performances it will only add weight and diminish recovery if done during the main phases of training.

When you see Roglic shirtless, you see that his upper body is skin and bone. I think he looks more stocky on the bike because of his massive ribcage, which hence means huge lung volume and a great talent for climbing.

 

[Netserk]

If you want to climb mountains like Vingegard, doing serious gym work is only going to hurt you. Of course it doesn't mean a little bit won't help these top level athletes stay healthy, and basically all recreational cyclists should do strength training, but when it comes to the best possible climbing performances it will only add weight and diminish recovery if done during the main phases of training.

When you see Roglic shirtless, you see that his upper body is skin and bone. I think he looks more stocky on the bike because of his massive ribcage, which hence means huge lung volume and a great talent for climbing.

It has been remarked upon poetically before.

"Spinning on that dizzy edge."

https://twitter.com/x/status/1662560922634682376

View: https://twitter.com/giroditalia/status/1662560922634682376

It's funny that Roglic looks pretty big in a TT suit on a climb then you shee him standing upright shirtless and it's as if he has about 49 ribs

He's all ass, no tits.

 

[theyoungest]

If you want to climb mountains like Vingegard, doing serious gym work is only going to hurt you. Of course it doesn't mean a little bit won't help these top level athletes stay healthy, and basically all recreational cyclists should do strength training, but when it comes to the best possible climbing performances it will only add weight and diminish recovery if done during the main phases of training.

When you see Roglic shirtless, you see that his upper body is skin and bone. I think he looks more stocky on the bike because of his massive ribcage, which hence means huge lung volume and a great talent for climbing.

There's quite a few steps between sitting in the gym all day and not going to the gym at all. I don't mean to say that Roglic trains like a bodybuilder. He has credited his rise in cycling partly to his background that required him to train not just his legs.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Bart Lemmen, military

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Race commentary informs us that Mavi Garcia's first sport was figure skating on hardboard.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Antonia Niedermaier obviously also deserves a mention for not only having started out in ski mountaineering, but also still being active in it. She was injured at this point last year and had therefore not done a major race in almost two years, but today she finished 6th in her first ever elite World Cup race.

 

[rallybanana]

Lukas Nerurkar did long-distance running until age 16 when he started concentrating on cycling. It's not surprising as his father finished 5th in the 1996 Olympic marathon and his sister is also into running.

Young athlete Almi Nerurkar looking to follow in father Richard's Olympic footsteps

Almi Nerurkar knows the Olympic Games like the back of her hand – and is hellbent on following in father Richard’s memorable Barcelona and…

www.heraldscotland.com

 

[Wyndbrook]

Elise Chabbey competed at the 2012 Olympics in the K-1 canoe slalom event. She hasn't done the Olympics yet in cycling. Marlen Reusser was the only Swiss road cyclist in Tokyo. Hopefully, the increased quotas for women in 2024 will see her take part in Paris.

I was there, unfortunately as a spectator.
I made the same switch in my sports, mediocre slalomist to mediocre cyclist.
Doctor as well, she is obviously a very talented person.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Maria Canins won the inaugural Giro Donne and two Tours Féminine in the 80s, but only took cycling seriously in her 30s, maintaining her 20-year cross-country skiing career alongside.

Benjamí Prades (older brother of Edu) rode amateur but his main sporting life until his mid-20s was as a biathlete, competing on the IBU Cup (the second tier competition) from 2005 to 2007.

Keven Lacombe rode in the US and Canada including a couple of years at the ProConti version of SpiderTech in 2011-12, winning sprints in small races and getting some decent placements at races like the Tour of California; before this he was an ice hockey pro, playing in the QMJHL, one of the three Major Junior leagues in Canada that are major feeders into the NHL.

Canins wasn't just doing XC, the Mamma Volante (the flying mama) won the Marcialonga ten times in a row and was the first Italian Woman to win Vasaloppet (yes I know, there was no official women's race back then, but she beat all the other women, so...)

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Oliver Naesen was a postman (by bike) before turning pro.

Greg Van Avermaet was well on his way to play as a goalkeeper in a 2nd, 3rd or 4th divisions football team in Belgium before switching to cycling.

Justine Ghekiere who won the Vuelta Valenciana last year ahead of Van Vleuten was a life guard who suddenly found herself with a lot of free time on her hands during Covid so she started Zwifting. The rest is history.

And I think Dennis Vanendert was a thatcher who started giving cycling another go when he saw his brother get great results. He never won anything noteworthy but he did start 3 GT's and finished 2. Which is more than most of us.

Briek Schotte wasn't allowed to compete in pro-cycling, his dad forced him to work the fields. Only when he won his mom a washing machine did his dad finally say: "Ok son, give it a shot."

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Jean-Baptiste Claes was a domestique mainly riding for Eddy Merckx but he did win a Vuelta stage if I recall. He postponed his business masters degree untill after his pro career and founded a clothing retail store.

He currently owns over 120 establishments and it's one of the few who only sell "fair" clothing.

I believe notable cyclocross-riders like Niels Albert and Kevin Pauwels started out competing in motorcross before switching to cyclocross. Which they both credited for their great balance and technique on the bike

 

[search]

Gorka Sorarrain, current leader of the mountain classification in the Volta Valenciana, was a basketball player before switching to cycling at the age of 23.

Gorka Sorarrain, de ingeniero electrónico a ciclista milagro a los 27

Hasta 2019 Gorka Sorarrain (1996, Tolosa) era un buen jugador de baloncesto de la liga EBA. Pero llegó la pandemia y como todos se recluyó en su casa, no sin antes

www.lavanguardia.com

 

[search]

Swiss lightweight rowing world champion Andri Struzina will switch to cycling next year, as his discipline is not going to be part of the Olympics anymore.

He was guest at SRF's "Veloclub" show today, but did not mention which team he'll be joining. He has a BMC bike, though, so I guess Tudor would be most likely.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Gerben Kuypers' career has gone steep uphill.
Untill three years ago he had a fulltime job as a technician in a meat-processing-plant. Than suddenly, he (as an amateur) started beating well-established pro's on a regular basis in the cross. He signs his pro-contract with the Wanty cross team and this year he got promoted to the WT-team.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Don't know where else to post it so I'm just going to drop it here.

Jens Debusschere has embarked on a new career and has just opened a bakery in the city of Waregem.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Don't know where else to post it so I'm just going to drop it here.

Jens Debusschere has embarked on a new career and has just opened a bakery in the city of Waregem.

This thread is probably more fitting for such a story:

Page 4 - Ex pro cyclists cropping up in unexpected places

Page 4 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

forum.cyclingnews.com

 

[rallybanana]

The Irish women's TT silver medalist Annalise Murphy is no stranger to silver medals. In 2016 she won an Olympic silver medal in sailing.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

And apparently Oscar Freire (or possibly Pedro Horrillo, the post is ambiguous) was into remote controlled car racing, even to the point of gaining fame for it.