Yup, Lance was a triathlete before he was a professional cyclist, and went on to win triathlons afterwards as well.

How far would a pro cyclist get in basketball, baseball or football? The results would surely be embarrassing. Why? They're not very good athletes aside from their level of endurance.

It's routine for nfl, mlb and nba players to be decorated athletes in multiple sports, and not rare for these athletes to have opportunities to become a professional in more than one sport.

When's the last time you heard of a pro cyclist having an opportunity to compete in a professional sport outside of a bicycle race? That's right. Never.

Pro cyclists are very narrow specialists. NFL, MLB, and NBA players can and do compete in a wide variety of sports. Cyclists can check off one or a few boxes in which they excel athletically. NFL, MLB, and NBA players can check off many boxes in which they excel athletically: run, jump, throw, hit, take hits, etc etc etc.

Yes, essentially everyone has been saying that. What are you having trouble with exactly?

So, he was an endurance athlete. That's my point. That's all pro cyclists excel at.

Why do you have trouble understanding that pro cyclists are inferior athletes overall compared to nfl, mlb and nba players?

Why do you keep comparing completely different athletic skills that aren't really transferable? A pro cyclist doesn't need to hit a 95mph fastball. Most probably can't. Michael Jordan wasn't even very good at it. Kirk Gibson was, and he was also an excellent college wide receiver who if I recall was in the NFL draft. There are no 6'4" world class gymnasts, and no, there are probably only a small handful of pro tour riders with strong enough upper bodies to do an iron cross, but they don't need to. Sure, NBA guys are great athletes, but with different skills more suited to basketball than cycling. I don't know why this is difficult to understand. If I were picking a major sport where the athletes might have the genetic stuff to ride a bike for money, it'd be soccer. And no, I don't think too many 1% cyclists would make pro soccer players, though I'm sure a handful of the Euro guys can probably play a respectable pick up game. Anyhow, life calls. I'm out. Argue on.

So endurance athletes excel at endurance sports? All right, we get your point. Please move on.

Most American sports require a similar set of attributes. Being big and strong are 2 of them. Cyclist can and do succeed at sports where the desired attributes are similar to cycling. Cross country skiing, triathlon, speed skating, etc.

To be exact, he's having trouble explaining why all the nonsense he posted yesterday wasn't really nonsensical at all, because cyclists aren't baseball players, but most baseball players can ride a bike.

Issue here is that you are making up a definition of 'athlete' and then deciding that the skillset of a subset of athletes is more important than the skillset of others.

Uh, no, jordan stole 30 bases, and drove in 51 runs in 127 games. Those are very good numbers individually, and excellent for a single player to combine both. This is for an athlete who hadn't played any form of competitive baseball in at least a decade.

It was obvious to anyone with even an inkling of knowledge about the game of baseball that he could be a legit pro prospect in a season or two.

What type of numbers would a 31 year old Miguel Indurain post in AA ball? 30 stolen bases? No, zero. 50+ RBI's? Uh, no, zero.

You don't have to "make up" a definition. The more athletic skills possess, the better an athlete you are.

Sitting on a bicycle seat and pedaling for a long time is a single, narrow skillset.

NFL, MBL and NBA players possess a much wider athletic skillset.

If a "chef" is only capable of making one dish, how good of a "chef" are they? If another chef can make dozens or hundreds of dishes which are all excellent, and at the same level of quality as the other chef who can only make one, then the latter is by definition, a better chef.

Very easy to figure out. Except on bikeforums.

Basketball - Skill sport with strong emphasis on hand-eye coordination
Baseball - Skill sport with strong emphasis on hand-eye coordination
Cycling - Endurance sport with strong emphasis on well endurance.

It makes sense that a person good at the first would be good at the second. It also makes sense that a person who is good as the third may not be good at the first 2. We really have no way of knowing given our sample.

Read this and get back with us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic

Look, I'm as much of an athlete as Lebron James!

NBA players don't just have different skills, they have MORE skills.

And Jordan as I said, was good enough to drive in 51 runs in 127 games in his first season. The guy could play pro baseball at a high level. If he had stuck with it, he'd have played in the major leagues.

You don't seem to get that "sticking with it" really doesn't cut it at that level.

Yeah, that's a rather incomplete list of skills required to excel at basketball. Nice try though.

You don't seem to get that you know nothing about baseball or basketball.

Only you are not one of the top 6 players in the history of basketball, nor were you a championship caliber football player in high school and a legit NFL prospect.

You do however, have 851 posts in bikeforums, along with 1 post mention.

At what level did you play baseball? I would like to compare our resumes.

You claimed NBA or NFL. I gave you two specific examples of NFL players trying to race bikes Dhani Jones, and Jeff Kopp. Neither one of them tore it up.

A "big" crit racer is 6'2" 170. It's a different body type.

Why is this argument still going on? Every sport selects for a specific set of physical traits. If you have those traits then you're more likely to succeed in it than those who do not.

Basketball--height
Cycling--aerobic capacity
Gymnastics--diminutive size

Trying to compare a cyclist to a basketball is a pointless exercise.

What makes pros so much quicker? Good genes. End of story.

lol..need to hang around Durian Rider :)

You know, this thead is in the best traditions of the 41. The OP asks what it is that makes pro cyclists so fast, and we end up with about eight pages on the fact that they don't play pro basketball. You couldn't make it up.