Training or Doping - UK track cycling

Powerful Pete

Yes, good question, what has happened to the Australians? As Lim says, does it have more to do with the development of the Brits or a decline in the Aussies?

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thunder

I think Australia have no 22/23 yo's who can put out mega wattage on the track.

Jamieson is about 24, Renshaw 2 years older, and Dawson a year older again. There was no guy who really came thru for our teams pursuit in that age group.

Dawson stagnated, perhaps it was the resources and trying to ride some road program with SA-AIS like Tour of Gippsland. If Dawson was French, Madiot would have signed him up 5 years ago and perhaps he would have ridden the Tour. He won a stage of the Giro Delle Regioni, which is the equivalent of the biggest u23 stage race, and he had a contract with Liquigas, but he just missed the u23 qualification, so they cancelled it on him. PT teams need 2 u23 riders per squad, thus, the u23 world champs is not the est indication of potential when there are 36 odd u23 riders who do not qualify for the worlds.

Jamieson is more a pursuiter than a teams pursuiter. Zak Dempster has class but not world champion class. Wooldridge30/31(?) and Hutchison 29 (?) have passed their best, and struggling to get living wage resources.

One or two guys left after the juniors who might have gone on to the pursuit team. Miles Olman perhaps did not focus on a teams pursuit because he saw the depth in the team. Perhaps he does not have the threshold for the worlds teams pursuit. He is still on 23 turning 24.

It might be a product of their hegemony, and they never developed the guys like Olman and Jamieson. Maybe the young guys do not have the ability.

Bobridge, the Meyer bros, and Howard are keepers tho. Ask Jono L, he rides with them. Also Rohan Dennis. John O'shea might be a good track endurance rider also. Lots of talent.

Britain is on the continent. Big advantage. Australia has a 20thousand km flight over 24 hours to compete or use road competition as training miles.

Look to the young NZers.

Westley Gough 20/21. Bewley 20 and Sergeant 21. Christie 17. Pieter Bulling 15. Some great track riders coming up thru the NZ program. They will be a threat at the London 2012 in the team pursuit.

They have two good road riders coming thu, Clinton Avery, who was the main animator in Ronde Van Vlaanderen u23 last year when he was 19. And Tom David, 17yo who beat Phinney in a tt in Canada last year, and came 5th in the worlds tt.

Ofcourse, these are young young riders. Who knows their hunger and how they will develop. All well and good to have the objective of riding the Tour de France, but there are perhaps 10 thousand espoirs with that aim, and many have the talent too.

limerickman

Thanks for that detailed answer.

It is interesting to note that a great generation of Aussie track cyclists such as Shane Kelly, Brad McGee has not been replicated subsequently.

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morelike hypocrisy.

thunder

bayley' palmares is impressive, and renshaw had bucketloads of talent.

lots went straight to the road, sutton, simon clarke.

the meyers and howard all beat mcgees 3km jnr world record time I think.

heinkel12

Track cycling in Australia is dying. It hasn't been looked after at all. The young blokes all want to ride the road now and the track season is but a shadow of what it use to be.