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A major problem with usa racing.
A major problem with USA racing is lack of attention to up coming
young racers(the future of USA cycling). The average age for a racers to turn pro is the age of 25. By Pro I mean on a gc1, or "paying" gc2/3 team. To be on a small domestic gc3 team does not count. A good junior in the USA can race in Pro,1, races and finish(maybe do ok). It is a waste of time for them to do junior races because they are to easy. Now usacycling has the world qualification races for juniors which is a good start in the right direction. After being a junior it is a straight jump into the NRC races. At all big NRC races not only do you have guys like Chris Horner, O'neal,Hank Vogel,Vaughters,Pate,and etc... but you also have really crappy racers that are put in as fillers. All the NRC races are dominated by the best racers and Teams and unless you are on one good luck for a win. NRC races are impossible for any first year to win,and unless they are super talented it is hard for any u23 to win. When people say there are politics in USACycling they are so wrong. How are they going to get noticed as a U23 is doing a race they can not win? The national team coaches don't looks at how well you did at Tour of Ohio, or if you won your local stage race. They and big teams only look at how well you did at Fitchburg,Solano,Redlands, or look big NRC races a U23 cant win(unless they are super talented or on a big team). Actually they do look at races like Tour of Ohio, but there is no notification for a "Best Young Rider" so how do they know who is who? But tour of Ohio is not a hard race, only has a bunch of old heads. Also the U23 national championships were a joke. This year they were in Texas, flat, hot and they only averaged like 25mph. A break lasted from the start to to the finish. If that race was in holland it would have been 28.5mph and only 25guys would have finished. The only real hard US races are like Lancaster,SanFran,Georgia, and USPRO. Last, real racing is in Europe. That is where the money and the competition is. Any good Euro pro like Nathan O'neal can come from Europe and clean up here. Some Great USpros can not handle Europe so they decide to settle here. This is not a bad thing, but this is who young racers have to go against them. Even U23 racing is harder than Nrc races. The BEST U23 racers might not have a much top end has the Top PRos in the USA. But the whole field is at more of a level playing field which makes it really hard. The USA U23 national team is where to be to get noticed by the Euro teams. You sure as hell are not going to get noticed by a Euro team placing top10 in a NRC. So how is a U23 going to get on the USA Natioanl Team to get a chance? Maybe the cyclingcenter.com or placing high in big NRC events. So unless they win the national championships, put in a good perfomance in front of the right people, good luck. If they are good, and they have direction they will go far. "A cyclist with no instruction, is a cyclist on a path to self-destruction" Lets just face it. We need a U23 racing series in the USA,We need "Best rider jerseys", and we need more sponsors to fund these things. I really don't know what I am trying to get to other than something is really wrong with USA Racing. Usacycling is not at fault, it is more of the promoters who need to give special attention to these riders. |
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#2
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A major problem with usa racing.
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#3
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A major problem with usa racing.
Tritonrider wrote:
From: (RacerX) Lets just face it. We need a U23 racing series in the USA,We need "Best rider jerseys", and we need more sponsors to fund these things. I really don't know what I am trying to get to other than something is really wrong with USA Racing. Usacycling is not at fault, it is more of the promoters who need to give special attention to these riders. So what races/series are you going to promate and find financing for? Bill C I actually don;t think that you have much of a case. I mean yeah the development doesn;t make sense, but recently the US has been prodcuing good riders...(or at least riders who the average american might care about). If you can get sponsorship for cycling I would rather see it for top quality racing in the US rather than U23 races. I think that you need to suggest a better devlopment method that doesn;t involve much financial support. I mean how bad has the US really done in the last 20 years with Armstrong, Lemond, Hampstein, Hamilton, Jullich, Rodriguez, Hincape, Danielson ect. Hey we've done a lot better than the french. I don;t mean to say that this isn;t lucky or that we couldn;t have done better, but still. -- -------------------------- Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com |
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A major problem with usa racing.
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#5
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A major problem with usa racing.
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#6
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A major problem with usa racing.
you kind of rant a bit, but i understand your point... i first have to say that
you are a bit wrong by saying that any good european u23 can win an NRC... those UCI U23 races are good races, but they dont have the level of a big NRC at the top end... they are more competitive, but they dont have guys like horner in them or o'neal or vogels... i think that you should slow down a bit and have a little more respect for the ability of a US based pro... the best guys are here by choice, not because they couldn't cut it across the ocean... Horner, O'neal, Vogels, Sweet, Davedenko, Fraser, Grishkine, et al. were not mere "mid pack" pros... they are and were VERY good pros, better than most.. you should become more of a student of the sport and learn to understand the game... back to the subject... you are right that there needs to be organization to the calendar, so that the young riders can develop... you have a great point in that its tough to learn to race in races that are way above your head... the tactic for a young guy in an NRC race is just to hang on... there are a growng number of people that see that there is a problem and are begining to call for some clarity to the calendar... i think that USA cyling should establish different levels of competition, in the same way that the french do... there needs to be national races with pro teams and the best amateur teams, regional events, and local events... currently, with every race trying to be an NRC, a lot of races get lost in the shuffle and actually lose importance by becoming a mediocre pro-am event, where they would be able to thrive and gain prestige if USA cycling gave the option for events to be a part of a second tier regional series... there should also be rules to govern who can do what races... the local cat 2 shouldnt be able to show up at every big race and line up next to the best teams, while conversely saturn shouldnt be able to go to the local event and kick the living **** out of all the 9 to 5ers and the college students... organizing the racing into destinct levels of competion and restricting participation at those different levels makes identifying up and coming talent much easier for the federation and for the teams... a tier system also makes each event in that system more marketable to potential sponsors... the riders and teams could be ranked within those tiers (earning the right to win their way into the next tier), making themselves also more marketable... if, for example there were 3 divisions, A, B, and C with div B being the regional level, those teams would have a predetermined schedule of races catering to their division, ensuring a competitive event where racers could actually race amongst those who are similar in ability... these events would constitute a regional series, and ranking... races and teams would then have a package that they could sell to sponsors... teams could present themselves to sponsors being able to promise participation in a certain number of events with a regional exposure... now, of course, all of this depends on motivated, and marketing savy race promoters, bike clubs, and the help of USA cycling... but i think that the kernel of this idea is a good one and has proven very successful in europe, not just in cycling, but in just about every other sport... it's a single solution that has shown itself to be an effective way to bring in sponsorship dollars and to foster development... |
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