Pro Cycling Graph Of Nationalities

[boardhanger]

http://cyclingiq.com/2012/01/11/is-tour-of-australia-needed-for-down-unders-rise/

Interesting article on TDU also.

 

[Kwibus]

Fun to see the statistics.

I'm not sure about a 3 week GT in Australia in January though

Well I'm fine with it, but I don't think the riders will like it. I'd rather suggest keep the TDU and make it more interesting and add a 'challenging' 1 day race 3-4 days after the TDU.

I agree on the fact that Australia is becoming a cycling nation and that they could use some more racing in their own country, but you can't just start a 3 week WT GT in January.

 

[theyoungest]

Lot of Dutchies in the WT this year. Imagine if Skil gets WT status next year, it would become a bit ridiculous.

 

[The Hitch]

Great graph. Very close between Italy and ESP but I think it shows Italy deserves its status as biggest cycling country with most riders, most teams, 2 out of 5 monuments, the 2nd gt and the best domestic scene.

Fun to see the statistics.

I'm not sure about a 3 week GT in Australia in January though

.

Countries need to earn gts. You cant just start a Tour and a decade later expect a gt

I mean no disrespect to the TDU organizers there because its not them arguing it, unlike you know what, which expects to destroy cycling and become a gt after like 3 editions.

 

[theyoungest]

It will only create a divide between Aussie and European pro racing. You can't have a 12 month season, so you'll have to make a choice, and the best European pros aren't going to choose the Aussie grand tour.

 

[hfer07]

well-just another proff that Cycling is indeed a LATIN sport

 

[Arnout]

Interestimg find. Would also be interested in the quality per nation, by dividing number of cyclists by the total of their CQ points.

 

[Tuarts]

What a funny thread. Think the graph is great, not paying any mind to the Aussie GT idea lol

 

[skidmark]

This stuff is really interesting to me. I've had this pet project of tracking all-time riders through a ranking system, and the striking things that I've noticed about demographics are:

- The Italians are rich in cycling terms, so deep and with so many talents over the century plus of pro cycling.

- I thought French cycling was dying, as far as analysis of the top riders. But exposure to things like this and CQ ranking has just made me realize that the culture of cycling seems to be still strong, there just haven't been top talents since, well, Jalabert. Things are hopefully turning around based on the last couple of years, with Rolland, Pinot, Demare, Sicard (fingers crossed), etc.

- Aussies are exploding on the scene; it's interesting to note that so many Aussies are good TTers, I'm assuming this might be because of the focus on track cycling at the top levels there (just like the UK has done somewhat in recent years).

- Spain's ascendancy in the past 10 years or so is clear, but it seems like the big wave is cresting with Freire and Valverde and Rodriguez and Sanchez aging... Contador's got alot more in the tank, but the depth of talent seems to be drying up a bit.

It would be interesting to see more in-depth data.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

- I thought French cycling was dying, as far as analysis of the top riders. But exposure to things like this and CQ ranking has just made me realize that the culture of cycling seems to be still strong, there just haven't been top talents since, well, Jalabert. Things are hopefully turning around based on the last couple of years, with Rolland, Pinot, Demare, Sicard (fingers crossed), etc.

Yeah, that's it. Italian, Spanish and Anglophone riders just have been more "talented" over the last years.

 

[Straßenrennen]

Sometimes even sarcasm comes over on the internet...

 

[Kwibus]

Yeah, that's it. Italian, Spanish and Anglophone riders just have been more "talented" over the last years.

Yep, just like the fact that the French didn't use doping over the last years.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Yep, just like the fact that the French didn't use doping over the last years.

The bad word came from you first. I was just talking about, ehm, preparation in general.

 

[Kwibus]

The bad word came from you first. I was just talking about, ehm, preparation in general.

Well we all know what you were hinting at and it's silly. The french knew how to get their ..ehm... preparation in general as well.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

i will be amazed if you dont get warned

 

[PCutter]

In the bloggers defense, Im not sure he's calling for a 'Grand Tour' in the same way as the big 3, but rather a larger - perhaps 3 week format - race giving the conti/pro conti teams in Asia Pac (and maybe one or two Euro teams to add interest/quality/performance marker) a chance to race for 21 days, something they don't currently have the option to do. The European connection is about providing pay TV content back into cycling fans in Europe in January, when they might be desperate for some uphill racing (there are some decent mountains in Australia - just not in Adelaide).

For antipodeans wondering why we pay so much for cycling gear while we can import from UK websites much cheaper, Cycling IQs series on the supply chain is very informative. See the "Vertical Limit" drop down title at the top of his page. He's well informed having worked in the industry in Australia and Asia for some time.

 

[Havetts]

Aussie GT. No problemo, would be 3 weeks fully of sprint stages anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Its about quality, not quantity.

Not dissing Australia, just the article.

CQ Rank
. (1) Spain Europe Riders 11527
2. (2) Italy Europe Riders 10403
3. (3) Belgium Europe Riders 9354
4. (5) France Europe Riders 8004
5. (6) Germany Europe Riders 7427
6. (4) Australia Oceania Riders 7083
7. (9) Great Britain Europe Riders 6707
8. (8) Netherlands Europe Riders 6389
9. (7) United States America Riders 5293
10. (10) Switzerland Europe Riders 3874

6th in number of riders, and 6th in the world rankings. So just performing as per their numbers.
Based on that you could say that the British are overperforming wildly, and the dutch are underperforming.

Australia has the all of the elements for a Grand Tour; roads (more than Spain and Italy combined),

Having more roads doesnt really count, belgium has less roads than australia but on the whole its roads are infinately more interesting. Thats like saying Qatar is better than Holland because it has more roads (but less roundabouts)

 

[auscyclefan94]

Its about quality, not quantity.

Not dissing Australia, just the article.

CQ Rank
. (1) Spain Europe Riders 11527
2. (2) Italy Europe Riders 10403
3. (3) Belgium Europe Riders 9354
4. (5) France Europe Riders 8004
5. (6) Germany Europe Riders 7427
6. (4) Australia Oceania Riders 7083
7. (9) Great Britain Europe Riders 6707
8. (8) Netherlands Europe Riders 6389
9. (7) United States America Riders 5293
10. (10) Switzerland Europe Riders 3874

6th in number of riders, and 6th in the world rankings. So just performing as per their numbers.
Based on that you could say that the British are overperforming wildly, and the dutch are underperforming.

Have a look at any other year and then you will see how wildly Not So Great Britain are underperforming.

 

[El Pistolero]

Its about quality, not quantity.

Not dissing Australia, just the article.

CQ Rank
. (1) Spain Europe Riders 11527
2. (2) Italy Europe Riders 10403
3. (3) Belgium Europe Riders 9354
4. (5) France Europe Riders 8004
5. (6) Germany Europe Riders 7427
6. (4) Australia Oceania Riders 7083
7. (9) Great Britain Europe Riders 6707
8. (8) Netherlands Europe Riders 6389
9. (7) United States America Riders 5293
10. (10) Switzerland Europe Riders 3874

6th in number of riders, and 6th in the world rankings. So just performing as per their numbers.
Based on that you could say that the British are overperforming wildly, and the dutch are underperforming.

CQ ranking for teams and countries is a joke. Don't hold much value to that. They put way too much emphasis on small races.

 

[Old School]

Pretty cool graph man.

Nice to see what is going on with the world.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

CQ ranking for teams and countries is a joke. Don't hold much value to that. They put way too much emphasis on small races.

however he is probably right about the dutch. Tho I didn't need statistics to tell you that.

 

[Anonymous]

the whole article is silly. The author is claiming that Australia could have a grand tour based on the fact they have roads, hotels and airports.

So does Devon :S

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

the whole article is silly. The author is claiming that Australia could have a grand tour based on the fact they have roads, hotels and airports.

So does Devon :S

The author is brainless, clearly lacks the knowedge of cycling culture if he thinks it is even an outside chance.

No way the riders comprimise thier season for the prestigious Tour of Australia !!!

And could you imagine the amount of transfers needed for this race... would be ridicilious.

At best they can probably hope to add another one day race following the tdu imo (melbourne baby), with WT status I suppose.

 

[El Pistolero]

however he is probably right about the dutch. Tho I didn't need statistics to tell you that.

Says a lot about Rabo's signing policy huh?

Nah, just joking. The Dutch don't have a big winner to bring home the CQ points. GB have Cav/Wiggo, Australia have Evans/Goss and Germany have Greipel/Tony Martin. And France just has a ****load of worthless cyclists getting points in worthless French races. If you included all professionals on all teams of cycling France would have the most cyclists by far.

I mean, how many races have the name Paris in their name? To give just one example of how many (small) French races there are where French cyclists usually dominate because no one else is there. It's like Belgian cyclocross in those races. That's why I find CQ ranking to be pretty useless for such rankings.