Become pro in 12 months

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crux
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Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 2:20 pm
Location: Zurich, Switzerland

by crux

Maybe you already heard of him, Alex Richardson.
Watched the video today and found it very interesting.

What are your thoughts about it?

https://cyclingpulse.com/from-stockbrok ... 12-months/

by Weenie


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Flasher
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Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:10 pm

by Flasher

What team is he a pro for?

AJS914
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by AJS914

It's interesting. Genetics and natural ability will take you a long way, quickly. They don't say what he was doing before cycling. I mean, was he running 5 miles a day for the last 10 years and building his aerobic engine? Or did he never do sports? I'm curious what his VO2 max is.

In Jamaica they find running talent by having competitions at elementary schools. They find that handful of kids that can run close to a 4 minute mile before they have even hit puberty.

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ryanw
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by ryanw

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He left his team mid 2018 and raced independently for a bit, winning the Lincoln Grand Prix (pretty big race in the UK).
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Slack
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by Slack

One of my favourite topics.

He didn't do it in 12 months, it was 3 seasons he was training to a level that would be considered full time.
He has openly admitted to taking steroids when he was body building before cycling so will always be able to build muscle that he wouldn't have naturally.
He sleeps in a hypoxic tent, trains with a hypoxic mask in a climate controlled training room.
He's literally training/recovering and eating like a world tour pro, so he should be good. He has every financial advantage that is available.

The only thing that would be weird, would be that if he wasn't good after all that.

AJS914
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by AJS914

I don't believe that most people with enough time and resources could be pro in three years. You still have to have the good genetics and natural talent to start with. Every pro in the world tour even if they are nobody that doesn't win races was at one time the fastest junior, local champion, state champion, even national champion, etc. Often these guys get to the pro ranks on shear talent and then they get introduced to sports scientists, trainers, coaches, etc.

zmjones
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by zmjones

AJS914 wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 4:59 pm
I don't believe that most people with enough time and resources could be pro in three years. You still have to have the good genetics and natural talent to start with. Every pro in the world tour even if they are nobody that doesn't win races was at one time the fastest junior, local champion, state champion, even national champion, etc. Often these guys get to the pro ranks on shear talent and then they get introduced to sports scientists, trainers, coaches, etc.
100% agree

even on the local scene there are so many people that train so very little (compared to me) that are also just so much better. such is life.

Karvalo
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by Karvalo

AJS914 wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 4:58 pm
In Jamaica they find running talent by having competitions at elementary schools. They find that handful of kids that can run close to a 4 minute mile before they have even hit puberty.
Jamaica is the home of sprinting. They've never had a World or Olympic champion in any distance running event. Even Ireland is more successful :P

TheRich
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2019 1:36 am

by TheRich

AJS914 wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 4:59 pm
I don't believe that most people with enough time and resources could be pro in three years. You still have to have the good genetics and natural talent to start with. Every pro in the world tour even if they are nobody that doesn't win races was at one time the fastest junior, local champion, state champion, even national champion, etc. Often these guys get to the pro ranks on shear talent and then they get introduced to sports scientists, trainers, coaches, etc.
If you have the genetics and don't have to lose a bunch of weight, a year is possible....at least when it comes to power and fitness. Learning how to win would take longer than training required to be able to win.

Without any other constraints on your time, enough motivation, and good coaching, how long would it take to get to a 150 CTL? 9 months?

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bikeboy1tr
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by bikeboy1tr

In Canada we have Micheal Woods who was a runner doing well in 1500 and 3000 meter Olympic events but suffered injuries and overtraining. He turned to cycling for recovery and in 2012 started racing moving up through the ranks quickly. In 2013 he rode Tour de Beauce with the National team with a 9th overall result. Although he wasnt Pro at this point he rode for Quebecor-Garneau which is a Continental team and then had his breakthrough at Tour of Utah in 15 which got some Pro team attention. So he made it to being a local Pro in Canada in a year but as he says I was able to compete at a high level fitness from running but his bike handling and tactics were still that of a runner which no doubt holding him back. Here is the link for his story. For those that are not familiar with his name he rides for EF and is a very strong climber.

https://www.businessinsider.com/michael ... ist-2017-5
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=154188
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