Why are British cyclists so much better than Australian cyclists?

[TrudyTas]

My GF thinks hes the ugliest of a bad bunch!

Maybe this thread sould be who looks better Aussie or British pro cyclists? Wiggins V Evans Robbie V Cav...........YUCK!

As long as the Austrians (ie Kohl) don't start getting mistaken for Australians!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/10/15/article-0-02191CF6000005DC-521_468x330.jpg

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

No - Thorpe was a product of the swimming culture in Australia, not the other way around.

I actually find sporting success on a national level a very interesting topic, being Australian and having lived in the USA and Canada (and England very briefly). IMO, there are freaks out there that are going to be champions no matter who much or little support they get. Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, Mark Cavendish, a number of cricketers, etc.

But the real difference lies in grass roots support and being involved in a sport from an early age and then having the infrastructure to support the development of individuals as they progress. This includes football, rugby, cricket, soccer and swimming in Australia (also athletics, but we're not so good at this on the international scene); hockey in Canada; basketball, baseball and football in the USA. I am less familiar with the USA, so forgive me if the likes of swimming is widely practiced by school children.

In Australia in the 80s and 90s, we excelled in a number of sports because we had infrastructure to support the development of talented athletes. This is particularly true of cycling (especially track), cricket and swimming. This gave us an advantage over other countries because they did not have this support network to develop their sports people. Great Britain, having seen the success of this model, then developed similar policies and infrastructure. The benefits of this can be seen in sports like cycling and cricket where they have adopted this model and are now very successful.

With this in mind, I am always amazed at the level of support and infrastructure for sports in Canada because it really doesn't exist for anything but hockey. When I was growing up, Canada was a powerhouse in swimming and athletics because of good infrastructure and government support. But they lost the government support and swimming pools were ripped up a long time ago. In Australia, there are 50 m swimming pools everywhere: most schools, nearly every country town, and readily accessible in cities (the closest one to me in Melbourne has three 50 m pools, two outside and one inside). However, there is only one 50 m pool in Ottawa, Canada's national capital, and this is not public and is only available for one or two afternoons a week. The same is true for most other sports.

For sports in general to be successful, beyond talented and determined individuals, then getting children involved from an early age and supporting their endeavours as they develop with infrastructure and sound coaching and nutritional advice is essential.

I know this is one hell of a tangent, but Great Britain copied the Australian Academy concept and hence the current success of British cycling is in part due to Australians anyway!

Thanks for the correction on Thorpe. I did check Australia Olympics records in swimming and it's pretty good.

Otherwise I was going to make a point about the infrastructure but you did that already in much more detail. Obviously some countries excels in some disciplines or achieve incredible results considering their population (Cuba is a good exemple). Obviously the geographic and historic context plays some part but "natural talent" can only go so far.

Maybe someone has the membership numbers for those two countries, relative to their population?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the correction on Thorpe. I did check Australia records in swimming and it's pretty good.

thats only cos we used to moor the ships two miles out and make them go the rest of the way themselves..

 

[Baggins27]

You guys need to let us Brits have our little bit of success...... we've been pretty rubbish for a while!

On a serious note, now the track lot are targetting the road, it should be interesting. I find it a bit odd because I'm not sure road racing will ever be truely popular in Britain as it is in mainland Europe but I'm glad they are giving it a go. Although I'd imagine for the first three years Team Sky's main hopes for success will be with Italians and Spanish, rather than Brits.........

 

[53 x 11]

Dim. You'd swim quickly to if you knew you were getting away from Blighty.

 

[Baggins27]

Dim. You'd swim quickly to if you knew you were getting away from Blighty.

Ooooh. Put the handbags away!

 

[thehog]

Tasmania is a state of Tasmania, just like Hawaii is a state of the USA!

Tasmania is the state of Tasmania? Thanks for the clarification. Was that your first head talking to your 3rd head. Explains a lot.

 

[TrudyTas]

Dim. You'd swim quickly to if you knew you were getting away from Blighty.

Bit hard to swim on the surface with shackles on ...

 

[TrudyTas]

Tasmania is the state of Tasmania? Thanks for the clarification. Was that your first head talking to your 3rd head. Explains a lot.

LOL - thanks for pointing out my lapse of concentration ... Tasmania is a state of Australia !!! Isolated but beautiful!

 

[thehog]

LOL - thanks for pointing out my lapse of concentration ... Tasmania is a state of Australia !!! Isolated but beautiful!

Special award for special person.

 

[53 x 11]

Was that your first head talking to your 3rd head.

hahahahahahahaha. So many jokes in my head, so not suited to a public forum

 

[TrudyTas]

Was that your first head talking to your 3rd head.

I can't believe this 'joke' has gone international!

 

[elapid]

Mt Wellington is in Tasmania which is a separate country from Australia. Its not even on the mainland. So technically I think its still under British rule. Therefore it doesn't count. Is Evans from Tasmania? Explains a lot.

Hello? Ireland and the Isle of Man are not on the mainland either. Does this make them any less British?

In addition, the Isle of Man is as much British as Australia is British. The Isle of Man "is not part of the United Kingdom but foreign relations, defence, and ultimate good-governance of the Isle of Man are the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom."

 

[beroepsrenner]

I'm not sure that Evans is even Australian, he whinges too much. And before all his fans jump on me, i'm not critsizing his ability to ride a bike as he does that quite well. Now for a geography lesson....Hobart in Tasmania is actually the second oldest city in Australia and Mt wellington is a decent climb just as the lady said and yes it is cold as hell at this time of year. Tasmania has produced some world class track riders. 1958 world motor pace champion Graeme French, Six day stars Graeme Gilmore and Danny Clark, Mat Gilmore also a six day star, Olympic gold medalist in the teams pursuit, Michael Grenda and even a Giro stage winner in Michael Wilson. Many other Tasmanians have done well in International cycling including Mat Goss who currently rides for team shreck... I mean Saxo Bank. Forgive me if I've missed any other prominant Taswegians.

 

[uphillstruggle]

British guy walks into a doctors and asks him to make him a kiwi,
The doctor says: ok but you do realise that this procedure requires we remove half your brain.
The guy agrees.

After the operation the doctor walks in and tells the guy he is really sorry but they actually removed his entire brain instead of half, to which the guy replies:

'no worries mate'

Seriously though Oz is prime for cycling compared to the UK, much better roads, less traffic and better weather.

 

[beroepsrenner]

British guy walks into a doctors and asks him to make him a kiwi,
The doctor says: ok but you do realise that this procedure requires we remove half your brain.
The guy agrees.

After the operation the doctor walks in and tells the guy he is really sorry but they actually removed his entire brain instead of half, to which the guy replies:

'no worries mate'

Seriously though Oz is prime for cycling compared to the UK, much better roads, less traffic and better weather.

We should just about hear a voice from NZ sometime this week after that one.
As for the comment about roads and no traffic: I'm not sure which part of Aus you are thinking of but its not where all the cyclists are thats for sure.

 

[Boeing]

I'm not sure that Evans is even Australian, he whinges too much..

Maybe he is part Kiwi

 

[Boeing]

British guy walks into a doctors and asks him to make him a kiwi,
The doctor says: ok but you do realise that this procedure requires we remove half your brain.
The guy agrees.

After the operation the doctor walks in and tells the guy he is really sorry but they actually removed his entire brain instead of half, to which the guy replies:

'no worries mate'

Seriously though Oz is prime for cycling compared to the UK, much better roads, less traffic and better weather.

perhaps but the Brits do take things quite serious and make it a Science. they might go round and round to the left but still

 

[TrudyTas]

I'm not sure that Evans is even Australian, he whinges too much. And before all his fans jump on me, i'm not critsizing his ability to ride a bike as he does that quite well. Now for a geography lesson....Hobart in Tasmania is actually the second oldest city in Australia and Mt wellington is a decent climb just as the lady said and yes it is cold as hell at this time of year. Tasmania has produced some world class track riders. 1958 world motor pace champion Graeme French, Six day stars Graeme Gilmore and Danny Clark, Mat Gilmore also a six day star, Olympic gold medalist in the teams pursuit, Michael Grenda and even a Giro stage winner in Michael Wilson. Many other Tasmanians have done well in International cycling including Mat Goss who currently rides for team shreck... I mean Saxo Bank. Forgive me if I've missed any other prominant Taswegians.

How about Louise Yaxley who was involved in that horror accident in Germany(?) 3 or so years ago that (or don't women cyclists count? )

Also Wes Sulzberger - I think he's riding in Europe ...

 

[workingclasshero]

Australian still has better:Food, Women, Wine, Weather, Beer, Beaches and after the next World Cup a better football team.

what, you mean you don't rate the pale, chubby, half-naked, bad teethed, slútty british girl?

 

[beroepsrenner]

How about Louise Yaxley who was involved in that horror accident in Germany(?) 3 or so years ago that (or don't women cyclists count? )

Also Wes Sulzberger - I think he's riding in Europe ...

Sorry! I knew i would get into trouble by forgetting someone. Karl Menzies riding in the US is another. There have been a few other tasmanians who have ridden for Euro or US teams as well. Maybe someone with a better memory than mine can enlighten us more.

 

[TrudyTas]

what, you mean you don't rate the pale, chubby, half-naked, bad teethed, slútty british girl?

Geez, another reason to be glad my ancestors were convicts!

 

[dsut4392]

Seriously though Oz is prime for cycling compared to the UK, much better roads, less traffic and better weather.

better weather I'll pay, but not better roads, and "less traffic" just depends on where you happen to be. I lived in Sydney for over 20 years, and have lived in Hobart the last 5, minus a sojourn in SW England for most of last year. There I went on many a bunch ride down nicely sealed country lanes, passing only a handful of cars in a 30-40 mile ride. In England (barring London) it is much easier to get out into the countryside than from most any of the major cities in Australia (Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/Adelaide/Perth), as we haven't mastered the concept of high density housing. The upshot of this is suburbia that sprawls on and on and on, with the associated car traffic. Yes you can find some appalling traffic in England, but it's much more likely to be on the M25 than on your popular cycling route.

The other major difference I notice riding in England was that running cyclists off the road doesn't seem to be anywhere near as popular a sport amongst English drivers as it is in Australia. Weather aside, riding on British roads (even commuting in town) was a positive pleasure compared to the Australian experience.

Which all makes it so much more extraordinary how many good cyclists Australia has produced

 

[53 x 11]

In England (barring London) it is much easier to get out into the countryside than from most any of the major cities in Australia (Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/Adelaide/Perth), a)

You might want to check your facts on that one.

 

[53 x 11]

what, you mean you don't rate the pale, chubby, half-naked, bad teethed, slútty british girl?

Hey, smate! Yooos look soooo hot. Wannna pull?

Yeah I lived in the UK for a couple O years grew pretty tired O that.