Who would you chose from another sport..

[Nick777]

... to cross over to cycling & make an impact?

Inspired by the Drew Ginn thread.

My choice would be Grant Hackett, for the 4km individual pursuit. Nearly 200cms, one of the highest lung capacities in history (allegedly 13 litres http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22793959-23218,00.html ) - he would have to go ok, you would think.

 

[Anonymous]

If we are talking Aussies, then one of the Ironmen for me, Crowie or Macca.

If not aussies, again, an Ironman, Normann Stadller

But their all a bit old for me.

Triathlon is of course the logical choice, because of the obvious cycling/TT training. Ironman for the endurance, but some short course triathles are strong cyclists with a weak run.

Cross country runners could make the conversion. They have lean bodies and stronger legs than track runners, and could be good climbers with some decent training. Ultra runners too, as climbers. They are very balanced, strong legs, lean bodies and can handle endurance like no other...

 

[BroDeal]

... to cross over to cycling & make an impact?

Jordana Brewster.

 

[Anonymous]

Jordana Brewster.

 

[El Imbatido]

From triathlon:

Alastair Brownlee or Javier Gomez

Don't know much about their vo2's or anything like that. But from watching the some of the ITU Triathlon this year these two seemed to be the stand out performers.

 

[Anonymous]

From triathlon:

Alastair Brownlee or Javier Gomez

Don't know much about their vo2's or anything like that. But from watching the some of the ITU Triathlon this year these two seemed to be the stand out performers.

Good call. Both quite young as well.

Gomez looks like more of a TT guy, he has huge legs compared to the other tri-guys.

Brownlee is just a super talent, and is strong for all three disciplines.

Maybe Brownlee is Sky's realistic Tour winner ...

 

[Moondance]

From speed skating, Olympic silver medalist Sven Kramer. Could've been a great time trialist if he had decided not to become one of the greatest speed skaters of all time.

 

[Tom T.]

I would think some world-class nordic skiers could transition very well over to cycling.

I did the transition from serious runner to cyclist and it was very hard and took a long time. The sports are very different from a physiological point of view, I doubt any world-class distance runners could become world class in cycling---they could become very, very good but not quite top-notch.

 

[ak-zaaf]

Refrigerator Perry. That would be fun.

But agree with Sven Kramer. He even won a couple of amateur classics during his off-season training months.

 

[Moondance]

I would think some world-class nordic skiers could transition very well over to cycling.

I did the transition from serious runner to cyclist and it was very hard and took a long time. The sports are very different from a physiological point of view, I doubt any world-class distance runners could become world class in cycling---they could become very, very good but not quite top-notch.

I doubt they could even become very, very good. Cycling is an endurance sport, obviously, but it isn't just pure stamina like long-distance running. You also need sick amounts of strength and power to succeed in cycling, which I don't think people built for pure endurance could ever hope to match.

 

[Monty Dog]

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from biathlon - is the greatest current winter sports athlete in terms of world-cup wins and could overtake Ingemar Stemark to become the greatest ever - his recovery rate from flat-out skiing to shooting at targets is remarkable.

 

[David Suro]

I second the vote for the Fridge. If he can't come out of retirement (or fit through the door) then my vote goes to Tony Hawk.

 

[karlboss]

Sports that could switch to road riding, track endurance, mountain bike.

Runners, Rowers, distance skaters, cross country skiers, distance swimmers, olympic distance triathletes.

Track sprints

Weight lifters, Athletics sprinters and jumpers, american footballers, rugby players. Swimming sprinters, some boxers and fighters might be interesting.

Special Notes
Kinenisa Bekele runs 10000 in 26.17 and the last lap in 52 seconds. Estimating his Vo2 from his 5000 time gives a score of 95. That guy could definitely learn how to ride a bike.
Or if you are looking for someone stronger on the flats Craig Motram tall white guy who mixes it with the best over 5000m.
The iron distance triathletes are out. I'm going to guess they have trained every last bit of fast twitch muscle out of themselves, though some have impressive numbers there is just not much call for someone who can do a 180km TT.

Interesting Brownlee and Gomez were mentioned, while solid on the bike it is their weak leg, but I suspect this is a function of their sport rather than ability.

 

[maltiv]

Petter Northug. With his incredible power, sprint, VO2 MAX and winner mentality he could've dominated cycling.

 

[Galic Ho]

Sports that could switch to road riding, track endurance, mountain bike.

Runners, Rowers, distance skaters, cross country skiers, distance swimmers, olympic distance triathletes.

Track sprints

Weight lifters, Athletics sprinters and jumpers, american footballers, rugby players. Swimming sprinters, some boxers and fighters might be interesting.

Special Notes
Kinenisa Bekele runs 10000 in 26.17 and the last lap in 52 seconds. Estimating his Vo2 from his 5000 time gives a score of 95. That guy could definitely learn how to ride a bike.
Or if you are looking for someone stronger on the flats Craig Motram tall white guy who mixes it with the best over 5000m.
The iron distance triathletes are out. I'm going to guess they have trained every last bit of fast twitch muscle out of themselves, though some have impressive numbers there is just not much call for someone who can do a 180km TT.

Interesting Brownlee and Gomez were mentioned, while solid on the bike it is their weak leg, but I suspect this is a function of their sport rather than ability.

I was going to mention Kenenisa and Mottram. Kenenisa Bekele is a bit small though. Mottram is a good size for all bike disciplines. He was thinking about a possible switch to triathlon.

Triathletes, well all Olympic distance triathletes are not terribly good bike riders. They are sufficient but nobody stands out in the men. I'd argue some of the women are better, particularly the Aussie girls, Canadians, Swiss and Kiwis. I have suspicions about the authenticity of Alistair Brownlee. Gomez is believable, he has weaknesses. He'd be my pick for a top notch cyclist. Ironman triathletes like Macca and Crowie are better bike riders in my opinion than the sprint triathletes.

I will add to the discussion by mentioning Baywatch and David Hasselhoff. There is a point so read on.

The term 'Ironman' means two things in Australia. One refers to long distance triathletes and the other to the budgie smuggler wearing bronzed men gallivanting across sand and waves. Anyone remember the Baywatch episode with Trevor Hendy and Guy Leech leading a ton of aussie lifesavers in a comp against the Hoff? That still goes on in surfing nations. All the best are aussies. I'd put money on Coolongatta gold winners like Caine and Shannon Eckstein and Zane Holmes being competent bike riders with solid training. Caine recently mentioned he wants to try and make the Olympic squad for triathlon and only requires some more bike training to be a chance. From the women Hayley Bateup would be a good bet. Surf lifesaving Ironmen and women are in the elite group of fittest people in Australia. They are very fit and would make great cyclists.

 

[karlboss]

The current crop of olympic distance triathlete have no need of riding fast, if you can swim under 18 minutes, then all you need to do is hang on and then the fastest runner wins. This is why gomez and brownlee dominate, noone can swim away from them, so they only need hangon, and then their runs are amazing. However if they concentrated on cycling, I don't know.
Macca and Crowie are great riders, Macca is a friend of Stu O'grady and they ride together sometimes when both in the country. The best cyclists in triathlon tend towards ironman as they can take advantage of their strength, however, once they make the change I think it would be hard to go back to something requiring explosive power or even a high 30min max.

Didn't know motram considered a switch I knew he did a few for fun to see how he'd go, if he's interested in the change I'm happy to coach him.

SLSC ironmen...don't see it, too much upper body, though the distances and energy systems would be similar. Again not the coolangatta gold as there is no need for a long sustained effort in cycling. I mean you draft most of the day, and then really are holding max, for what? an hour. The shorter distances might impress in a 4000 though.
Caine Eckstein to triathlon? Can't believe his run time is even close to being competitive, to crack the aussie team he'd need close to a 30min 10km. I might rate his chances by Rio, not London. I can see him in non drafting tri's or ironman being a real force.

 

[Nick777]

.
Didn't know motram considered a switch I knew he did a few for fun to see how he'd go, if he's interested in the change I'm happy to coach him.

Mottram was a junior triathlete, and was either victorian or australian all schools champion. He switched to running because of time constraints with study.

 

[Galic Ho]

The current crop of olympic distance triathlete have no need of riding fast, if you can swim under 18 minutes, then all you need to do is hang on and then the fastest runner wins. This is why gomez and brownlee dominate, noone can swim away from them, so they only need hangon, and then their runs are amazing. However if they concentrated on cycling, I don't know.

This is partly why the mens bike legs are boring. Nobody takes risks and they all wait for the run leg where they get burnt by Gomez and Brownlee or if in the hotter climates Atkinson or Docherty. The women do take risks on the bike and they often work.

[/QUOTE]Macca and Crowie are great riders, Macca is a friend of Stu O'grady and they ride together sometimes when both in the country. The best cyclists in triathlon tend towards ironman as they can take advantage of their strength, however, once they make the change I think it would be hard to go back to something requiring explosive power or even a high 30min max. [/QUOTE]

Won't argue with that. Agree with all of it. Ironman triathletes are far better bike riders than their sprint distance counterparts.

Didn't know motram considered a switch I knew he did a few for fun to see how he'd go, if he's interested in the change I'm happy to coach him.

He and his coach who have now split ways were trying to figure out what to do after they stuffed Beijing up. A switch to triathlon was on the cards because he can ride and only needed a semi decent swim leg to be competitive. Somewhere around that 18 minute mark you mentioned is good enough. Nobody would touch him in the run leg.

SLSC ironmen...don't see it, too much upper body, though the distances and energy systems would be similar. Again not the coolangatta gold as there is no need for a long sustained effort in cycling. I mean you draft most of the day, and then really are holding max, for what? an hour. The shorter distances might impress in a 4000 though.
Caine Eckstein to triathlon? Can't believe his run time is even close to being competitive, to crack the aussie team he'd need close to a 30min 10km. I might rate his chances by Rio, not London. I can see him in non drafting tri's or ironman being a real force.

SLSC ironmen have no less body weight to lose than most bigger bike riders (Cancellara, Hushovd) or for that matter rowers. They would have no trouble. Caine Eckstein is a monster runner. He tore chunks out of everyone in the 8k run up surfers this year. Sand running is about four times harder than normal running. He'll have no problem. Caine mentioned that would be the easiest for him as he would get to train on softer, more durable and firmer surfaces (anything beats running on sand). 30 minute 10km run? Very few do that. Very few. Most who get near 31 minutes are flogging themselves. Kind of like the talk I hear from Brits about Brownlee putting in 29 minute 10km runs. Absolute bull$h1t! Not even Brad Bevan was that good. If anyone can put in 30 minute 10km run legs they will make any national team, more importantly the team should work for them at the Olympics. That is near impossible to match.

 

[karlboss]

Brownlee and Gomez have both run sub 30 off the bike, and yes guys who run that fast off the bike like whitfield do have the other 2 support them. Courses can be different lengths but they have done it too many times, yes they are better than brad, but brad had to compromise and be able to put in a killer bike. In Australia however I can near guarantee we get our 3 can all run 30min on a track, maybe not 30 flat, but low 30, and low 31s off the bike, hence if eckstein wants in our national team...he needs to run a low 30min on a track. Eckstein thrashed some surflifesavers running on a beach, Lance won in nevada city...he may be good, but that doesn't prove it.

I'm thinking of pictures I've seen of ironmen and cancellara and hushovd, if they weight the same, the ironmen still have more to lose, its all up top, these guys are triangles. Rowers are not triangles.

 

[Psalmon]

I'm going with Apa Sherpa from mountain climbing. This guy has summited Everest a record 19 times.

http://www.everestnews.com/everest2009/apasherpaeverest2009.htm

In fact I'm going with an all Nepal team to support him. Team Sherpa. Everyone would have the last name too! I see these guys riding away on something as "low" as the Tourmalet from the elite guppo like team Cinzano in Breaking Away, chatting away at 30 k/hr.

I wonder what THEIR blood profiles look like. There's no question these guys have an acclimatization and genetic advantage of some sort.

Thank goodness cycling is not a passion in Nepal.

 

[Galic Ho]

Brownlee and Gomez have both run sub 30 off the bike, and yes guys who run that fast off the bike like whitfield do have the other 2 support them. Courses can be different lengths but they have done it too many times, yes they are better than brad, but brad had to compromise and be able to put in a killer bike. In Australia however I can near guarantee we get our 3 can all run 30min on a track, maybe not 30 flat, but low 30, and low 31s off the bike, hence if eckstein wants in our national team...he needs to run a low 30min on a track. Eckstein thrashed some surflifesavers running on a beach, Lance won in nevada city...he may be good, but that doesn't prove it.

I'm thinking of pictures I've seen of ironmen and cancellara and hushovd, if they weight the same, the ironmen still have more to lose, its all up top, these guys are triangles. Rowers are not triangles.

My problem with the times is I can never confirm them. Hence I think the optimistic ones are fishermen tales. Strectching the truth a bit too far for my liking. Beijing was a fast track. Hot and great weather for a fast run. They top four only just broke 31 minutes. Frodeno put in a 30:40. The fastest run I've seen at Mooloolooba or Noosa was by Atkinson in a very low 30 minute time. Apart from Kahlefeldt, the other younger aussie guys are trailing them by at least 30 seconds. They rarely make the lead pack for the run. We don't have anyone who can consistently match Gomez and now Brownlee. They need better tactics, team tactics, but that won't happen.

Rowers have similar upper body muscle as SLSC Ironmen. If they stopped the board paddling and kayaking they'd be fine.

I'm going with Apa Sherpa from mountain climbing. This guy has summited Everest a record 19 times.

In fact I'm going with an all Nepal team to support him. Team Sherpa. Everyone would have the last name too! I see these guys riding away on something as "low" as the Tourmalet from the elite guppo like team Cinzano in Breaking Away, chatting away at 30 k/hr.

I wonder what THEIR blood profiles look like. There's no question these guys have an acclimatization and genetic advantage of some sort.

Thank goodness cycling is not a passion in Nepal.

I'm with that. Team Sherpa sounds awesome. The vampires will love them. Lots of intriguing blood profiles no doubt

 

[karlboss]

Rowing is about legs and lower back, they don't have the chest or upper back and their legs are already trained. SLSC guys have more useless muscle to lose, not saying they can't.
Beijing was not a fast course, it had some nasty bumps in it, and there were guys mixing it up on the bike so everyone had to push up hill, which takes energy. Of course you don't see fast runs at mooloolaba or noosa, noosa is draft illegal, and how strong is the mooloolooba field? They certainly don't have depth of competition to form an easy/fast bunch the ITU cup races are where the fastest runs will be. Given the airmchair, brownlee will crack 30. Until we have someone who can swim sub 18 (of which we have many) and run sub 30 we can't challenge brownlee and gomez in the current format.

And for those who want interesting blood profiles its people of incan decent who seem to reap the benefits of altitude most.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Lebron James. Dude is 6'8" 250 lbs. How wild would it be to see a man that size racing a bike?

And he has already made somewhat of an impact by buying a stake in Cannondale and hosting a charity ride in Ohio.

 

[johnnh]

Chrissie Wellington. Her record speaks for itself.

 

[Oldman]

I would think some world-class nordic skiers could transition very well over to cycling.

I did the transition from serious runner to cyclist and it was very hard and took a long time. The sports are very different from a physiological point of view, I doubt any world-class distance runners could become world class in cycling---they could become very, very good but not quite top-notch.

I would mention Darren Rahlves, retired US Downhiller. The guy was incredibly strong and had the endurance. He'd need to drop some weight but he was the right height/power, for sure.