Originally Posted by
Leinster
Thomas won the 2004 Junior Paris Roubaix and rode the 2007 Tour de France for Barloworld aged 21. He's never been "just" a track rider, he happened to be a rider with a very good engine, hence why GB picked him for the team pursuit in the Olympics.
The surprising thing is that more countries don't do exactly that; get 5 or 6 road pros who you know can do a good short TT, drill them on the track every chance they get for 12 months before the Olympics, photo-bomb the podium when your charges pick up their medals.
There's a difference between having a good engine and dropping people on climbs, usually track guys are not climber types, I could be wrong, I just don't care for Sky.
Probably because training for the track is a bit different than training for the road and they may not want to jeopardize their road careers for the track, which is probably less popular in the US than road racing. But it is something to consider.