how old is too old to train to go pro?

jrtalon

Ok simple questions (ok maybe not that simple) but old is too old to have thoughs of becoming pro, riding in the (Giro, tdF, Olympics etc). I talking about someone whos never seen a road bicycle before a few weeks ago...me for example, I'm 24 my father asked me if I wanted to go pro, I wasn't really considering it...I just got the bike for a new hobby but its in my head now. I noticed that a lot of elite cyclists are in their late 20s early 30's as is the case with a lot of endurance sports. I plan of training hard to become a good cyclist regardless but do you think I'd still have a shot at become a pro?

PartisanRanger

Most pros start out pretty early but believe you me, if you're good enough you could go pro at 30+. That said, I wouldn't worry about going pro if you've only recently gotten into road biking. There are tens of thousands of aspiring pro cyclists in this country and very limited opportunities to make cycling a career. Don't let it get you down though, do the best you can, have fun, and see where that leads!

oneradtec

There have been quite a few pros over the years that started riding bikes at this age. You can do it. Here is the master key to success...."Become so good that they cannot ignore you".

One day, Graeme Obree was sitting in his room looking at his bike. Rain was pounding on the windows. It crossed his mind that he wanted to break the World Hour Record...and he decided he would do it. Well that might be interesting if it was coming from Indurain or Boardman, but Obree was a amateur rider without sponsors or track TT bike. well, Obree decided to build his own bike since he didn't have any money to buy one. It has been said that he used some parts from an old washing machine in the construction of the bike. Anyway, long story short, Obree shocked the world by breaking the World Hour Record, as well as winning a World's championship. He was later offered a pro contract to ride with the professional team LeGroupement(spelling?). That didn't last long however, because Obree was a bit wayward in his personality and he didn't fit in well with the bunch. That team disbanded when the sponsors didn't meet their financial obligations to the team.

anyway...you have to decide to do it or not do it. Then go for it, and don't listen to the naysayers. I'm sure Graeme Obree didn't come to this board and ask if he should try to break the World Hour Record. He just went out and did it. You have to do the same. Become so good that they cannot ignore you. Good luck!

alfeng

I think that how successful you will be toward the goal of becoming a pro cyclist will depend on how good of an athlete you are, or were very recently (during your collegiate period) ...

As posed, your question is like the the patient who asks the doctor if he will be able to play the piano after his hand heals from an injury ... and, the punch line (after the doctor says that he should be) is "Great, because I couldn't play before."

You possibly still have a four-or-five year window of opportunity during which you will have an opportunity to learn what you need to know and to prove yourself ...

rayhuang

Really depends on what your genetics have in sttore for you. If your a natural and the success (racing) comes quickly for you-by all means go for it.


I started cycling in college on a borrowed huge heavy steel bike. I was 19 or 20 years old. I borrowed my roomates racing bike that was also way to big for me-but that was it, I was hooked. I was racing within the first 6 months or so of starting cycling and I had a bad crash that bruised my liver and I was in bed for two weeks!!

I bought a bike soon after recovering and rode and rode and rode.

Long story short, get fit, find a club locally that hopefully holds weekly or biweekly races, learn the craft of racing, get your USCF license and see how you do.

If theres one thing back then that kept me from going further (I finished one position out of a chance to try out for the Olympics at the USCF State Road race as a Cat3 (everyone ahead, but one guy was Cat2 and Cat1) was lack of knowledge on nutrition!! I thought I knew what to eat, but my diet of almost pure carbos (energy drinks, Carbo load drinks (nasty) and pasta and more pasta) I think hurt my training.

So knowledge is key as well. The internet didnt exist that I know of anyways when I was racing, so nowadays its really easy to find and ask the world questions (like yours).

OH-yeah-so yes-your not too old.

BlueJersey

Why would your father ask that question???? Pros riding for any of the Division 1 teams (Pro Tour teams) started out in their teens. They have talents. Grew up in a cycling culture. Raced a lot. Won many big races. If you have the genes, you should be winning your first cat5 race by a huge margin. If you are the real thing, you should be beating your local amarture elite riders within a year or 2. If you don't have the genetic potential, smart training and racing would be your only hope to make something out of racing. That would take probably 3 to 4 years of dedicated training. Bike racing is HARD. So much you have to do in a race based on your fitness level. Race fitness does not come overnight. Takes years and years.

oneradtec

Get the DVD's 'The Hard Road' and 'Pro'...both directed by former pro Jamie Paolinetti. You'll learn a lot about the process.

ewan52

you want to turn pro, your 24 and youve only just started riding. im sorry mate but youve got to be realistic, if your good enough to be a pro ok but i dont think you can aim for that having just started. im 15 and racing in the basque country at the mo and when i started cycling i was like ye i will be a pro when im an adult but in the basque country its hard to win a race even in U16s, the best ive come is 5th and the other day i felt bad and when you have a bad day here your like hanging off the back of the peleton on the climbs (which i was... got dropped a bunch of times but got back on) and theres a whole structure youve got to go through before youve any chance of being a pro, youve got juniors and then espoirs so with cadetes thats like 7 years of amauter riding and youve got to be some kind of prodigy, like killing a high standard area like the basque country to become pro after youve finished juniors. a load of the riders im racing against are not ever going to be pros, id say only 4-5 in my category, youve got to be something special to be a pro you cant just make it happen. just ride your bike for fun and see where it gets you, im sorry but if you aim to be a pro your more than likely going to be dissapointed.

Pendejo

I don't think this is much different than a 24-year-old saying, "I just started playing tennis (baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.) and I like it and want to know what my chances are of becoming a pro." The answer is "a million to one."

dhk2

"One in a million" is probably the right odds. At age 24, believe you'd know by now if you had the super genetic potential required for pro cycling.

Suggest you take things one step at a time. Join a club, go out and have fun, get into race training rides and start competing. Maybe you will be one of the small percentage of racers who becomes a winning Cat 1. Or, perhaps by age 30 you can become a winning Masters racer. Just don't quit your day job.

oneradtec

I cannot stand to be told that I can't do something before I even try. I'd say give it a go if it is really something you want to do. You can race at a very high level right into your 40's. Kent Bostick made the Olympic team for the first time at age 43. Graeme Miller raced professionally well into his 40's. Pat McCallion started in his early 30's...and within 3 years he won the rainbow jersey as Master's World Time-Trial Champion. Andy Bishop was racing in the Tour de France less than 2 years removed from being cat 4 amateur.

Ludo Dierckxsens didn't start racing his bike until around 27..and he did all the big races in Europe with a division 1 team. Retired last year around age 40.

You are young enough..but you don't have any time to waste. You better get serious. become so good that they cannot ignore you.

zaskar

Most pros like other posters said start very young, under teen years. being you haven't even rode on a training level let alone competitive level, i dought you could make it. its not impossible, you have a 1 in a million chance.

oneradtec

BS!...it is not a one in a million chance. You can become faster and stronger than 90% of all cyclists in the USA just by being consistent, training hard, and never quitting. Good genetics might move you even further up into the top 5%. Most young racers lose interest, quit, or have too many other interests outside of cycling and racing. Fred Rodriguez, currently racing in Europe, said that the guys that made it to pro level with him were not necessarily the most gifted, but were simply the ones that never quit. Guys like Bobby Julich, Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie, etc..never wanted to do anything else but race their bikes. Guys like Chris Horner never quit. They were the first ones to arrive for the club rides on Tues and Thurs nites. They were the ones that drove 4-6 hours on Sat and Sun. morning...week after week... to get to the all the races in their region. These are the guys that did 250+ mile weeks in the saddle...week after week, year after year..and loved every minute of it. Next thing you know they are moving up the USCF categories and getting noticed both regionally and nationally. Next thing you know these guys are getting spots on domestic teams and doing the bigger domestic races like Philly, Redlands, and Trenton among others. They do this for several years while making very little money....and never complaining. Then one day they start getting major results. Teams like U.S. Postal and CSC come calling. Finally all the hard work starts to pay dividends. Like when Horner won that big stage in the Tour DuPont many years ago. That stage earned him a spot in Europe. He was working as a bike mechanic and riding for the lowly Nutrifig-Colorado Cyclist team. He was able to quit his job and race and train full time after winning that stage in DuPont(I think it was '95??). Bobby Julich had raced domestically for several years when his contract was not renewed by his team. He could have easily quit, but Bobby decided to go out and race as a free agent. He maxed out his credit cards so that he could travel to all the important races. He had no sponsors or support...but he found a way to keep racing. He literally spent his life's savings. Well, Bobby got signed to a team the following year...and a few years later he was racing in the Tour de France....and eventually got on the podium in 1998.

Then you have the genetic freaks like Lance Armstrong. These are guys that win the World's at age 21. Guys like Jan Ullrich who wins the Tour de France at age 23. Guys like Greg Lemond or Indurain. You don't necessarily have to be one of these genetic freaks to be a successful pro. Just ask guys like Julich, Rodriguez, and Horner.

You might find this guys web blog quite interesting....

www.mikezagorski.com

BlueJersey

You missed couple of minor details. There are others also work and train as hard as they are but couldn't go anywhere higher up than racing for a div 3 domestic pro team. Until you are stuck in racing cat 4 for 2 to 3 years and training as hard as the other guys (maybe not smarter), you have no ideas how hard bike racing is. Oh, you want to be make it as a pro you have to race in Europe. Your local cat1 racing in Europe is like a cat4 here.