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The Next Great American Hope Thread

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Juan Pelota

May 1, 2009
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This thread is a discussion for up and coming American talents. Ever since the golden generation of late 90's/early 2000's where we saw the likes of Julich/Armstrong/Hincapie/Hamilton/Horner/Levi/Vandevelde American cycling has taken a nose dive. It looked like TVG would be the next great American, but he hasn't panned out.

As of now, it looks like our best chance is the 20 year old Brandon McNulty, winner of the Junior World TT in 2016. He finished 9th in the U23 TT this year. Perhaps he will do something in the RR.

Add any other American talents you wish to this thread and lets discuss and follow their careers.
 
A

Anderis

May 10, 2013
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USA has to be one of the countries with the biggest failure rate in terms of progression of promising young cyclists into riders who enjoy being consistently good at WT level in recent years. With Van Garderen, Talansky, Dombrowski, Craddock, Phinney and Costa all showing some exceptional performances at young age, it's quite shocking that USA have ended up without a single rider who is consistently being a factor in WT races in 2018. Some of it is definetely down to pure chance (you can't blame anyone for Dombrowski's and Phinney's health issues) but there also seems to be a pattern of riders having some mental issues and giving up.

A rider that has caught my eye this year is Sean Bennett. Seems to be decent at everything. Climbing, puncher-stages, reduced sprints, cobbles, TT. He is already 22 so I guess he is not a next Sagan. But this versatility bodes well and I can see him at WT level in the future. Would be funny to have 3 different Bennetts from 3 different countries at WT level. Sam and George have already been confusing commentators from my country for some time :D .
 
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JoeD1997

May 10, 2017
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Bennett was the name that sprung to my mind when reading this thread too.

Kevin Vermaerke, Quinn Simmons, Sean Quinn, Michael Garrison, Riley Sheehan and Andrew Vollmer were the Junior RR team at Worlds. All have looked good as juniors this season, although a few are not 18 until 2019, so won't be in the U23 ranks until 2020. Perhaps worth keeping an eye on those guys.
 
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Bolder

Jun 25, 2015
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The US cycling scene has really shifted since Mellow Johnny's glory years. It's not about racing anymore, it's about the experience of riding. That's OK, but the huge grass roots/semipro/elite MTB racing scene of the early 90s that spawned Landis, Danielson etc is long gone, And there aren't any big one-day races like the Philly classic. Only stage races worth mentioning are ToC and ToU. There's just no base to develop talent. We may have a few unicorns here and there like Kuss or Costa (really thought he had world-class talent) but the bench won't ever be deep the way it is in Europe/Colombia.

Contrast with UK, where track program success and Wiggins's transition to TdF winner has continued to inspire young riders.
 
perico

perico

Mar 11, 2009
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The hope of another TdF winner disappeared when Costa quit and then lost his leg. Of the Americans, he was the only one I saw with Tour winning potential. We have heard rumblings that McNulty has LeMond like physical potential, but it hasn’t shown this year. Kuss is the closest right now. He reminds me a bit of Andy Hampsten, but they said the same thing about Donbrowski.

I noticed two names absent who have been forgotten but were considered to be the best bets to really shine at the top level but ended tragically and prematurely: Saul Raisin and Taylor Tolleson. Raisin of course had his career ended by a crash and brain injury. Tolleson was victim of a hit and run on his motorcycle. They were supposed to be the biggest talents, along with Stetina, who never really recovered from his 2014 crash, and never really looked like a contender before that, although he had shown he could climb with the best domestiques I’m the mtns.
 
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Leinster

Jun 10, 2017
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ngent41 said:
Lambie is already 27, his career is gonna be over before it can go anywhere most likely
Click to expand...
Papa Horner comparisons aside, as a late starter, he’s low mileage and should be able to keep producing well into his 30s. If he has a career as good as, say, Rusty Woods that would be a step up on what Murica’s best are achieving right now.
 
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Leinster

Jun 10, 2017
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I don't think anyone would be surprised by that. If anyone expected any of the current crop of USA riders to be competitive on that course, they must be blinded by patriotism.

And again, if Lambie finishes up with a career as good as Michael Woods has carved out for himself, that'll be a big step up from the current status for American cycling.
 
RedheadDane

RedheadDane

May 5, 2010
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BTW...

Juan Pelota said:
As of now, it looks like our best chance is the 20 year old Brandon McNulty, winner of the Junior World TT in 2016. He finished 9th in the U23 TT this year. Perhaps he will do something in the RR.
Click to expand...

Poor McNulty; randomly losing two positions in the U23 TT... :p

Leinster said:
I don't think anyone would be surprised by that. If anyone expected any of the current crop of USA riders to be competitive on that course, they must be blinded by patriotism.
Click to expand...

Rivera was pretty competitive.
 
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