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Last Updated: 3 Jul 2021 - 10:52:54 AM |
Paddy Doran asks, Can we tell who the next Irish professional riders will be?
By Paddy Doran
14 Dec 2010,
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He / she could be the next Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly, Siobhan Dervan, Louise Moriarty! This has been the mantra for year's, this rider, that rider, every rider who showed some talent would be the next to take up the mantle of the Irish cycling heroes. The reality of it is that very few go on to professional level.
We have seen it year in year out, promising Junior or youth cyclist's. Wow, looks like the next Kelly or Roche. We have moved on from that to some extent and now we hear he/she could be the next Nicholas Roche, Dan Martin, Philip Deignan. Siobhan Dervan, Louise Moriarty.
Anyway, how will we know when the real deal arrives? Well, based on research on a large number of junior cyclist's we won't! This research was carried out by the late great Coach and Sports Scientist, Aldo Sassi who sadly passed away in the last few days. Sassi was director of the Mapei Centre on Italy, which many elite cyclists and professional teams use for testing and training purposes.
THE RESEARCH
Sassi and others carried out research in the area of young cyclists and that research is published in Medicine& Science in Sports & Exercise (2009)
Aerobic Fitness Variables Do Not Predict the Professional Career of Young Cyclists.
Paolo Menasp', Aldo Sassi and Franco M Impellizzeri
The study looked at the aerobic fitness measures of junior cyclist's of a number of competitive levels, including club and national team riders and whether these results were able to identify the cyclists who went on to be professional cyclist's. They tested 309 junior cyclists. 'The cyclists were classified according to their competitive level and specialty:
1) National team (NAT) and non-National team (non-NAT);
2) non-professionals (NP), professional flat-specialists (PFL) and professional climbers (PCL);
3) non-professionals (NP), Professional Continental (PC) and ProTour (PT)'..
And while the results showed differences in vo2 and aerobic measurements between different groups such as non-national riders and national squad riders, none of the tests could predict which riders would become professional riders.
Conclusion of the research
'Traditional physiological measures of aerobic fitness are useful to identify junior cyclists who can excel in their category. However, these variables cannot be used for talent identification, if 'talent' is interpreted as a young cyclist who will succeed in becoming a professional
DIFFERENCE?
So what is it that makes the difference in a rider remaining a good amateur or becoming a professional rider? It's clearly not just the physical ability even though this is obviously very important as a starting point. So is it physical and mental toughness, mental skills, social skills, dedication, discipline, specific types of intelligence, or a unique combination of all these qualities and more?. Maybe its not even measurable, maybe we just have to wait and see who comes through and do everything possible to help riders make the breakthrough.
THE FUTURE
Perhaps all riders should be educated from a young age about the key qualities that professional riders have and the realities of the lifestyle of a professional cyclist. This just might make the difference with some riders, who may have the physical talent but whom for one reason or another might be lacking in some of the other qualities.
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