In article ,
ST wrote:
On 9/18/08 2:56 PM, in article
, "Andre"
wrote:
This year so far (in my opinion) the countries that have had more
success; or improved the most, in order:
1. Spain...that was easy
2. Belgium...lots of promising stars on the rise, plus many victories
3. France...this is unusual but they have made strides
4. Germany... some good results and some hope
5. Luxembourg...for a small country
6. Australia...they still got Evans; Mcewen is losing a bit but some
young stars rising
7. America...VandeVelde, Levi..and some excellent choices in picking
riders for teams
here it becomes very nebulous
8. Austria...Kohl Kohl Kohl
9. Holland...not much but they do have Gesink
10. Russia...producing talent like crazy
Chernobyl happened 22.5 years ago!! Coincidence???
Maybe not
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis
No Canada on this list?
For nations that generate low numbers of cyclists, or are simply small
to begin with (Luxembourg) it's very hard to see recent results as
anything but chance. It just happens that the genetically-compatible Mr.
and Mrs. Schleck are Luxembourgers, and their offspring are pretty much
the entirety of their country's current generation of elite cyclists.
Now that Mrs. Shleck is beyond her reproductive years, the nation's
cyclist output may be in for a great fall (see also Finland, economy,
what happens if Nokia falters).
There's a lot of chance in the generation of pro cyclists.
--
Ryan Cousineau
http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."