colored cyclist

melslur

I agree; time will tell. I would like to think that whites are good at some sport though.

Induray

Shuffleboard my pale face friend.

melslur

Swimming is the other big Olympic sport I can think of.

benkoostra

Nah, he's judging by Fast Freddy and Tinker Juarez!

daveydave

Interesting topic. I think it is just a matter of time.

Michele Ferrari, in "Lance Armstrong's War" discusses the dominance of the Eest African atheletes in marathons as to one of the reasons why he felt Armstrong and other cyclist would be better off to ride at a higher cadence similar to what the E. African runners would use during a marathon. It was always thought that a runner was working more efficiently with longer strides. Then the Kenyans, Ethiopian's and others came around and used a shorter quicker stride. Thus, dominating their sport.
I'm not sure if Ferrari had the original theory on higher cadence = better efficiency, but one would think that you could take many black athletes and find they could be fantastic cyclists.

I also recall reading that the physiology of West vs. East African individuals is completely different, making the two camps suited for different types of success in sports.

On a side note, I often wonder why we haven't seen a huge following of asian riders at the pro-level. Maybe I'm completely ignorant on this topic, but I would think that the success several asian countries have had in endurance sports, along with the high usage of cycles for general purpose would = a rise in interest and production of world class asian riders.

Maybe it all just comes down to exposure, genetic luck, and hard work.

dave

El Loto

Mederic Clain.

YMCA

Don't be so sure of a black guy making it to the top of the European food chain too soon. No problem in the US though.

Europe is about a stone age behind America in the tolerance department.

I know, because I lived it. If I was a person of color, I'd be happiest in the US. The melting pot, you know.

Eden

Maybe we need some US team(s) to pick up some of those really talented African riders and take them to race in Europe.....Culture shock for sure, but could it be worse than yanking someone out of South America? Discovery has alreay recruited some Asians and I *think* even raced Beppu in Europe, though not in any of the Grand Tours to my knowledge. They also just picked up a young up and coming Chinese guy.
Europe's gotten used to people of all ethnicities on their football teams - no reason why cycling should remain in the stone age.

El Loto

I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement. "People of colour" are very well integrated into British society along with the influx of Eastern Europeans since the enlargement of the European Union.

doctorSpoc

here are a couple of european pros...

Rony Martias - BRIOCHES LA BOULANGERE


Johann Gene - BRIOCHES LA BOULANGERE

JTE83

Since blacks are such great runners it make me really wonder why there aren't so many great black riders.

But Discovery is gone now!

Isn't France still a racist country? Didn't they have race riots about 3 years ago?

I'd like to see a great Asian cyclist too.

JAPANic

They may need to start doping too...

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tonyzackery

As being "a person of color" (just call me a Black guy, not African Amercian or any other PC euphemism), I don't care what color or ethnicity the professional riders are. What I desire is that all ethnicities have a fair shot at attaining the professional level, and may the best riders rise to the top - not because they play politics better than the next rider - but because their skill level and desire exceeds all others.

Induray

How about "Bro"? In Jamaica its call "Yadi"...no not yadi....yaaadee.
Just pushing the envelope.