milkbaby

Take it from somebody who has trained between 15 to 25 hours a week for years then. It takes natural talent that is then nurtured into results to be that good and be pro. Both me and my ex gf have trained in the 15 to 30 hours per week window for years and while both of us are "good citizen" athletes, meaning other normal people think we are fast (i.e. faster than they can imagine themselves ever being), we are nowhere near the top amateurs much less within the same solar system as the pros. They are almost like a different species compared to us.

elmore leonard

It all comes down to the size of you engine. Some people have stronger heart muscles then others do. Every sport is the same. A strong heart with dedication and determination.

redfooj

You might have heard this saying in football: you can't coach speed.

And by god no to the simplification that a good (physical) heart and dedication is all it takes to be elite in "every sport".

Instinct, reaction, speed, the right build, cardio, strength, mental edge, more - all of it.

calimtb

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, but pack riding ups your aero efficiency to a huge degree.

I usually ride on my own, but anytime I can catch a draft of even one rider, even if it's only for a few seconds, I can up my speed by several mph pretty easily and pretty much slingshot past them.

Riding in a large pack is even better. You can cruise along at 27 or 28 km, coasting and pedaling with modest effort every once in a while, rather than pushing the pedals at moderate effort all the time.

This doesn't account for their incredible time trial speeds, but even there, aero helmets, wheels, frames and skinsuits make a noticeable difference.

puddinlegs

No need to look beyond time trial times to understand the difference between road professionals and keen, dedicated amateurs.

Fldaves

Sooooo true, it's amazing the difference in speed/ endurance when riding alone compared to riding in a peloton.

Garfield Cat

These would apply to other athletic events like Track and Field, especially track. Jamaica a small country with a big share of sprinters, both men and women. In distance events we all know about the Marathon both men and women. Even down to the 1,500 meters. Just incredible. I am waiting to see if the same will translate to cycling.

Just imagine, a Usain Bolt type in the sprints with teammates who are like the African marathoners.

puddinlegs

Believe me, there's a huge physiological difference between a Cat 1/2 and a domestic pro, and another leap to the world tour guys that has nothing to do with riding in a peloton. Look up individual time trial times and course profiles for any major tour race. The clock doesn't lie. Anyone who thinks it's only 'hard work and time on the bike' that separates the public from the pros is just wrong. As mentioned before, even the lowly world tour domestiques can lay waste to your local 1/2 pro race field.

brianmcg123

They push down harder on the pedals.

la rosa 

They're from another planet

T Stew

I too have only been into road cycling for about a year now. And it is truly amazing what I hear folks can do although I think I'm doing pretty well for a relative newby using vintage equipment and barefoot on platform pedals. Just did a 37 mile ride today that crossed me over 1,000 miles this year - first time I'd ever hit that in a year. And I averaged 17.55 mph including warmup and cooldown and several stops at road crossings and was going at a moderate to hard effort. Hope I'm on my way to doing ok in a duathlon next year.

Pros have many advantages. Most covered above but people just seem to hit on one or two at a time.

1) Genetics. Yes people are born different. Just like how a scrawny dude is highly unlikely to become a winner body builder at the Arnold Classic. When your at the world level, we are talking about the best of the best here.

2) Trainers. Probably have the best trainers in the world analyzing their performance and tweaking their routines based off that. Most amateurs likely won't ever even have a real trainer let alone world class.

3) Training time. Most pros probably don't even have a steady job, and even if they do its probably built around their training and flexible. Us amateurs work regular jobs, overime often... Heck I work shiftwork going back nights and days constantly which has to hurt my system somewhat, and my shifts are 12hrs sitting at a computer (with no 'lunch' break) and 1 hr drive each way. I regularly do a 72hr week once every 5 weeks. Heck if I had 'only' a regular 8hr shift with a short drive I think my performance could jump significantly! Let alone working part time or none at all.

4) Equipment. They got some of the best stuff. Sure some of us could get it too but probably not most. I think even a low end new bike is too much money so I spent a couple hundred on vintage stuff.

5) Drugs. Maybe not every single pro does it but I'm sure most do in varying degrees. I've never taken an illegal or performance enhancing drug in my life (well aside from coffee) and haven't even taken pain killer in several years. I'm proud to be drug free and since I'll never be in contention of winning something big what is the point? I much rather care about my health than shaving a minute off my mediocre time. I am very fond of craft beers and good wine though...

It is quite likely many of the top world athletes in any sport started at a young age too. I am at a distinct disadvantage buying my first road bike at 36 years old. Some of these top competitors were likely child prodigies like the 12yr old kid I saw in a marathon last year. I even cross country in high school but 26 miles? I never would have dreamed I could do that until just a couple years ago.

Well I am sure there are more that seems to be the biggest ones...

cruiserhead

Years of training and racing. That's it.
Hard work and learning the sport from the inside.

I really believe most people, given that desire, could ride at a very high level.
However, life gets in the way most of the time.

There are many talented riders that fail, just as anything in life.

Racing is a bit unique in that there is aero and mechanical advantage that plays into it as well.
A 5'4" rider can keep up with a 6' 2" rider on the flats, as well, a taller, bigger rider can keep up with a featherweight on climbs.
That's unique to our sport.

At the top end of the sport, yes, genetics need to be touched by god as a cost of entry.

Look at Cancellara, Contador or Froome's stats and power output over these large distances. These are devestatingly fast human beings.

phil_k

I don't know why people expect they should be able to be close to professionals in skill.
No NFL fan is so delusional to think they can play linebacker for the 49ers but for some reason the cycling fan thinks he is Peter Sagan.

gregf83 

Likely too heavy to be competitive in road racing. Road racing sprinters are not like track sprinters. They also need decent aerobic capacity and power/weight. Usain Bolt is more like Chris Hoy and would never make it to the finish of a road race.

xjustice09x

Alot of the top riders race more miles than I ride total in a year. And on off days they are out riding additional miles. Genetics as others have pointed out are important as well.

I was in Belgium this year during a few of the spring classics. I got the opportunity to see the pros out training. It was impressive how fast they ride even during training rides. I thought I was doing good climbing the Mur de Huy until the french womens national team came blowing by me like it was nothing. Shortly after that I watched a bunch of the mens teams (BMC, Movistar, Cofidis, FDJ, Astana...) fly up that hill. And they had to race the next day. I thought about latching on to some of the groups of pros, but decided against it because I had plenty of miles left to ride those days and didn't want to over do it.

I know I will never be anywhere close to the pros. It took me almost 13 hours to complete a rainy Liege Bastogne Liege course. It took the Pros 6.5 the next day. Even accounting for the big packs they ride in our difference in abilities is huge.

dksix

Talent can't be acquired, it's just there or isn't.

merlinextraligh

I'm a Cat 3. I've had the opportunity to race against top level pros on occasions in P1,2,3 races. I have also had the opportunity to ride the major climbs of the TDF, and the full length of the US Pro challenge. And at times of my life. I've devoted a lot of time to training. I've also been able to afford elite level coaching.While I could be a bit faster with better training and diet, I have absolutely no delusion that I ever could be a Pro Tour level rider with unlimited time to train.

I'm faster than 90% of people who ride a bike. Perfect training and perfect diet, I could be faster than 95 % or so. To make a living however you need to be faster than 99.5%, and you simply can't reach that level simply by training a lot.

Kopsis

Aero helps to a significant degree, but it's not the reason the pros are so fast. Remember that somebody up at the front of that pack is pulling at those speeds with no aero benefit at all. The guy on the breakaway is pulling away from the pack -- solo. Forget speed, go see how long you can sustain a pro's threshold power -- you'll see that those guys/gals have a true gift and no amount of training/aero will let the rest of us equal it.

redfooj

NFL cut Tim Tebow this year. Dude came out of high school as a highly highly prized recruit, was selected as the best of the best in college -- almost twice, has untold television time and exposure, benefited from top coaching and training, and now can't even make an NFL roster.

(Also cut were all-american record holder montee ball, and future hall of famer reggie wayne).

The active professional rank, in any sport, is the most elite of the elite of the elite. It is god/parent/allah-given talent, polished to perfection.

The 3rd string QB on a roster is a genetic lottery winner. To suggest it is merely a product of "hard work and learning the sport" is absolutely looney

calimtb

I'm not saying it accounts for all of the difference. But it makes a huge difference. The TDF starts with 198 riders. This is an enormous aero advantage overall. The riders at front are only pulling a fraction of the time.

It's astonishing IME how much riding in the middle or back of even a small pack makes. A couple of rides ago, I was pushing pretty hard, pretty tired and after a few minutes drafting a pack which I happened to catch up with, I became extremely restless and sprinted the rest of the ride home.

chasm54

Of course drafting makes a huge difference, but it is just as much a benefit in amateur races as in pro races, it does not account for the difference in class.

For a more realistic comparison, look at the time trials. Bradley Wiggins wasn't drafting anyone when he rode 54.5 kilometres in an hour a couple of months ago.

Campag4life

Great post. Pros are different. Much different. Watching the worlds today, its just so apparent. Those guys are basically animals the way they attacked those cobbles...their bodies and legs forged from blue steel.
Kind of like cage fighters...cut from much different cloth than average people.
There is strength and then there is unfathomable bike handling skill...a side of the sport rarely talked about. And then there is Peter Sagan. Peter Sagan rides a bike like a concert pianist plays a Baldwin. I have never seen anybody handle a bike like him. He has the legs of guy who looks like he can lift up a car. And then that hair. It isn't fair that aside from all his gifts he has hair that good.

DinoShepherd

Fun story. Makes of it what you will.

One of my friends, co.workers and riding buddies was a domestic pro back in the day. Early 40s now, wife, kids, job, travel. You know, a real life. His training is a few hours of commuting a week.

Every now and again our rides cross some of the local 1/2 racers and he has no problem hanging on. Right off the couch!

Your basic genetic freak from the planet VO2.

puddinlegs

I honestly don't think you understand or want to believe that these guys are from a different part of the genetic pool than you or I. Just curious, have you ever ridden with a world tour caliber rider? I have and let me tell you, it's an eye opener even if you think you're pretty fast and doing well in the local races. And again, please look at the average speeds for individual TT stages in the major tours. Believe me, 99.9% of all the posters here including the racer pages could not hang in the pack in the TdF and would be absolutely embarrassed by their comparative TT times.

DreamRider85

Wait, how is poor diet a benefit? I could understand how in powerfifting, the extra food helps.