Why are British cyclists so much better than Australian cyclists?

[TrudyTas]

Yellow Jerseys

In an attempt to get the discussion back on track, here is a comparison of TDF jersey wearers for Australia and United Kingdom:

No. of yellow jerseys: AUS=26, UK=11
No. of yellow jersey wearers: AUS=5, UK=4
No. of green jerseys: AUS=4, UK=0
No. of spotted jerseys: AUS=0, UK=1
No. of white jerseys: AUS=1, UK=1

Based on these criteria, Aussie cyclists are better ...

(ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jersey_statistics#Per_country)

 

[badboyberty]

In an attempt to get the discussion back on track, here is a comparison of TDF jersey wearers for Australia and United Kingdom:

No. of yellow jerseys: AUS=26, UK=11
No. of yellow jersey wearers: AUS=5, UK=4
No. of green jerseys: AUS=4, UK=0
No. of spotted jerseys: AUS=0, UK=1
No. of white jerseys: AUS=1, UK=1

Based on these criteria, Aussie cyclists are better ...

(ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jersey_statistics#Per_country)

I think it's even easier to sort out:

Number of Paris Roubaix wins: AUS=1, UK=0

Australia wins

 

[TrudyTas]

I think it's even easier to sort out:

Number of Paris Roubaix wins: AUS=1, UK=0

Australia wins

Pay that one!

 

[Anonymous]

ok.. um.. milan san remo...?

if only the irish where british.. it would be a no contest...


how many current world champions have australian cycling got?

 

[Anonymous]

In an attempt to get the discussion back on track, here is a comparison of TDF jersey wearers for Australia and United Kingdom:

No. of yellow jerseys: AUS=26, UK=11
No. of yellow jersey wearers: AUS=5, UK=4
No. of green jerseys: AUS=4, UK=0
No. of spotted jerseys: AUS=0, UK=1
No. of white jerseys: AUS=1, UK=1

Based on these criteria, Aussie cyclists are better ...

(ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jersey_statistics#Per_country)

of course that is out of date

 

[uphillstruggle]

The thing is that the Brits are now putting money and interest into road racing. The number of cyclist on the roads has shot up in the last few years. I would put money on Britain producing much better cyclists than Australia will in the coming years especially with Brailsford and co in charge. And frankly Cav is by far the best sprinter in the world already.

 

[stefank]

The thing is that the Brits are now putting money and interest into road racing. The number of cyclist on the roads has shot up in the last few years. I would put money on Britain producing much better cyclists than Australia will in the coming years especially with Brailsford and co in charge. And frankly Cav is by far the best sprinter in the world already.

You would have thought that the "best sprinter in the world" might have managed to win a green jersey in the TDF by now......

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

ok.. um.. milan san remo...?

I think PB is a little more prestigious then M-SR

 

[movingtarget]

UK Riders better ?

Great Britain has never had a rider on the podium in the Tour De France unless you include Stephen Roche who is Irish and won the Tour. Evans finished on the podium twice. Phil Anderson finished fifth and top tenned five times I think and won the white jersey. O'Grady won Paris-Roubaix who was the last UK rider to win that ? Since Millar and Roche in the 80's the UK has not had a rider in the top 10 of the Tour until this year. Evans has top tenned four times in a row until missing out this year.

At the moment the only shining lights in UK cycling are Cavendish and Wiggins. Look at Australia's last 10 years or so : O'Grady, Gerrans, Stephens, McGee, Evans, McEwen, Rogers....................collectively they are responsible for World Titles, yellow jerseys, pink jerseys and stage wins in grand tours and podium places in the Tour and green jerseys.

UK on the pro road season for last 10 years. Cavendish's multiple stage wins of the past 2 years and Wiggins finished in top 10 in the tour this year. Don't see much UK dominance there. UK has some good young riders coming through the ranks but so does Australia. Have to admit that the UK has done much better on the track for the past few years but at the last world titles on the track, Australia did better than the UK.

 

[Anonymous]

At the moment the only shining lights in UK cycling are Cavendish and Wiggins. Look at Australia's last 10 years or so : O'Grady, Gerrans, Stephens, McGee, Evans, McEwen, Rogers....................collectively they are responsible for World Titles, yellow jerseys, pink jerseys and stage wins in grand tours and podium places in the Tour and green jerseys.

ok.. national bias really has clouded your brain...

shining lights in uk cycling - brad and cav...? nobody else.. so nicole cook is a figment of my imagination?

Ok.. your comment ogrady, gerrans, stephens, mcgee, evans, mcewan and rogers...

responsible for world titles... - um.. how many, no road titles, are you talking about micheal rogers 3 x tt titles, fair enough, but i think claiming the australians responsible for world titles in a bit ott.. (nb. we have had a gold, two silvers, two bronzes in recent years too.. with more than 1 rider) we also have the reigning womens world champion..

but the generalised australia in last ten years, world titles, etc etc..
stuey - 2007 paris roubaix, 2004 stages in the tour and dauphine
gerrans - 2006 winner tour down under, 2008 1 tour stage, 2009 1 giro stage
mcghee - bunch of tt and prologue wins in 2003, 2004 comparable really to boardman, miller, etc 3 days in yellow
evens - 2008 stage of paris nice

which leaves mcewan, who has been responsible for pretty much everything the aussies have won, stages in the tour and green jerseys... bit like cav as far as stages go, and he will win green soon..

but i think collectively saying the aussies have held pink, yellow, multiple world champions, etc etc etc is a bit stretching it... especially when the brits have had pink jerseys, held yellow jerseys, won world championships in exactly the same period of time...

just out of interest.. anyone want to add up how many stages of the tour brits and aussies have won over the last few years..

 

[elapid]

ok.. national bias really has clouded your brain...

shining lights in uk cycling - brad and cav...? nobody else.. so nicole cook is a figment of my imagination?

Ok.. your comment ogrady, gerrans, stephens, mcgee, evans, mcewan and rogers...

responsible for world titles... - um.. how many, no road titles, are you talking about micheal rogers 3 x tt titles, fair enough, but i think claiming the australians responsible for world titles in a bit ott.. (nb. we have had a gold, two silvers, two bronzes in recent years too.. with more than 1 rider) we also have the reigning womens world champion..

but the generalised australia in last ten years, world titles, etc etc..
stuey - 2007 paris roubaix, 2004 stages in the tour and dauphine
gerrans - 2006 winner tour down under, 2008 1 tour stage, 2009 1 giro stage
mcghee - bunch of tt and prologue wins in 2003, 2004 comparable really to boardman, miller, etc 3 days in yellow
evens - 2008 stage of paris nice

which leaves mcewan, who has been responsible for pretty much everything the aussies have won, stages in the tour and green jerseys... bit like cav as far as stages go, and he will win green soon..

but i think collectively saying the aussies have held pink, yellow, multiple world champions, etc etc etc is a bit stretching it... especially when the brits have had pink jerseys, held yellow jerseys, won world championships in exactly the same period of time...

just out of interest.. anyone want to add up how many stages of the tour brits and aussies have won over the last few years..

Wow - this got serious all of a sudden. Nicole Cooke is fantastic, as is Victoria Pendleton, but I think the Aussies can more than hold their own in women's cycling with the likes of Anne Wilson, Oenone Wood and Anna Meares.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Lance the best cyclist of all time, but i dont think the best cyclist at the moment.

Originally Posted by Hugh Januss
Oh yeah, give me cycling any day over that other crap. And Lance is the greatest cyclist of all time.

Oops my bad, there you go, I've edited my post.

 

[movingtarget]

British Dominance

Oops forgot about Boardman and also the female champs. True, Pendleton and Nicole Cook have done very well. The Aussie girls have done well but not so much in recent years as far as road racing is concerned. Also forgot about Roger Hammond who has had some very good results and also Cavendish's Milan San Remo win. National pride has not clouded my brain just blank spots in my memory. I don't mind seeing the UK riders win even though even though I am from Oz. Wiggins rode a great race in the Tour while I am still scratching my head over Evan's comments and performance.

 

[Big Ring]

Don't forget that Belgium has a tropical climate too!!!! And as for Scotland, don't get me started. Oh, hang on, my bad. No, they don't.

Edit: And, last time I was in a geography lesson, Scotland and the Isle of Man were part of the United Kingdom.

Isle of Man is not part of United Kingdom. It is a self-governing Crown dependency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man

 

[Jim Gosger]

Well I always choose Australian Karen over British Emily on my GPS. So you've got that going for you. (It's a Garmin, btw, so you know it's clean.)

 

[avanti]

Our cricket bats are doing too well either. Great Britain, in the form of another non-English Scotsman, are also doing better than us in men's tennis. Don't talk to me about rugby union. At least the Poms can't swim and they suck at rugby league. But what comes around goes around. We'll just sit back, suck on a few tinnies, and wait for the inevitable when the Poms crumble in a heap and the Aussies take their rightful position on the top of table. Enjoy it while it lasts!

A team from Scotland won gold for curling at the last winter Olympics - perhaps another gold next year in Vancouver.

 

[kukiniloa]

An American sounds in.

For a fair fight I'd say there'd have to be two Brits for every Aussie.

Does this have something to do with it? Probably not.

 

[180mmCrank]

A team from Scotland won gold for curling at the last winter Olympics - perhaps another gold next year in Vancouver.

Oh no some one mentioned the dreaded C-word "Darts on ice" - who would make "ironing and sweeping up" a sport?

I have to declare that being a brit living in Canada I can put up with football being called soccer -eh, rugby being called football -eh, ice hokey being called hockey -eh and people saying 'cricket that's like baseball but less exciting isn't it - eh' BUT please don't infect my haven with the worst of the worst... enough said

 

[Irish2009]

Great Britain has never had a rider on the podium in the Tour De France unless you include Stephen Roche who is Irish and won the Tour. Evans finished on the podium twice. Phil Anderson finished fifth and top tenned five times I think and won the white jersey. O'Grady won Paris-Roubaix who was the last UK rider to win that ? Since Millar and Roche in the 80's the UK has not had a rider in the top 10 of the Tour until this year. Evans has top tenned four times in a row until missing out this year.

At the moment the only shining lights in UK cycling are Cavendish and Wiggins. Look at Australia's last 10 years or so : O'Grady, Gerrans, Stephens, McGee, Evans, McEwen, Rogers....................collectively they are responsible for World Titles, yellow jerseys, pink jerseys and stage wins in grand tours and podium places in the Tour and green jerseys.

UK on the pro road season for last 10 years. Cavendish's multiple stage wins of the past 2 years and Wiggins finished in top 10 in the tour this year. Don't see much UK dominance there. UK has some good young riders coming through the ranks but so does Australia. Have to admit that the UK has done much better on the track for the past few years but at the last world titles on the track, Australia did better than the UK.

LISTEN CAREFULLY YOU .........the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND IS NOT PART OF THE UK....it is part of the British Isles just as Germany and France is part of mainland Europe, you just wouldn't call an Italian, German or French because they live on the mainland. So stop insulting Irish people by implying we are somehow from the UK.

 

[beroepsrenner]

LISTEN CAREFULLY YOU .........the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND IS NOT PART OF THE UK....it is part of the British Isles just as Germany and France is part of mainland Europe, you just wouldn't call an Italian, German or French because they live on the mainland. So stop insulting Irish people by implying we are somehow from the UK.

Not sure that everyone understands the difference between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

 

[Dr. Maserati]

LISTEN CAREFULLY YOU .........the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND IS NOT PART OF THE UK....it is part of the British Isles just as Germany and France is part of mainland Europe, you just wouldn't call an Italian, German or French because they live on the mainland. So stop insulting Irish people by implying we are somehow from the UK.

LOL- I was waiting for one of the Irish guys to spot that!
Stephen Roche is Irish, ie from Ireland - the Republic of Ireland - it's own separate country!
Using that logic as America was founded by the British Empire I think LA's victories should go in to the UK results..... (yes, I am joking!)

 

[Anonymous]

Not sure that everyone understands the difference between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

im actually racking my brain trying to think of a rider from northern ireland

 

[auscyclefan94]

Looking back at the past 10 years Australia wins hands down across all disciplines. If you look at the past 3 years then maybe the british by a whisker

 

[Dr. Maserati]

im actually racking my brain trying to think of a rider from northern ireland

Hmmm, David McCann.

 

[LugHugger]

LISTEN CAREFULLY YOU .........the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND IS NOT PART OF THE UK....it is part of the British Isles just as Germany and France is part of mainland Europe, you just wouldn't call an Italian, German or French because they live on the mainland. So stop insulting Irish people by implying we are somehow from the UK.

lol You tell 'em Irish. Then again, Aussie's aren't renowned for their logical reasoning.