how old is too old to train to go pro? - Page 2

To the OP. It just wont happen. the chances 10bazilliontrillion to .00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

Im looking at it this way. In my age group U17's I expect maybe 5 guys to become professional cyclists in australia. therefore I have to be in the top 5 of my age group by the time I am 23. I started 1 year ago, now 15 years old and have made steady improvement but I still doubt I am in the top50 of my age group as of yet. The top guys in my age group have been riding before they could talk and have a lot of skills and race tactics. A lot of power aswell .

When you start as young as I do you still need a lot of natural talent and superhuman determination just to be average. At your age even if you were naturally more gifted than lance you WILL NOT be riding grand tours. Maybe you could be riding cat1 when your 35 and doing some big local races. You aint gonna be winning and gold at the olympics though.

Do I wish I started even younger? not really. I am competitive enough already and i have one advantage over the others and thats untapped improvement. I haven't even scratched the surface of what I am capable of.

wow lots of replies. I like the people that say I have a change....I agree with them, even if its less then 1% its still a chance right? I'm gonna try to go for it...either way I know this, I'll have fun trying

lol, just ride old fella . You do know how dont you?

Cycling seems easy behind a computer screen

honestly man, if you're a freak, then you're a freak. you gotta train smart, and figure out where it is you might have freakish potential, both of which would indicate you ought to get a powermeter asap.

well you seem to want to attempt turning pro. fair enough. in my opinion heres the route that your probably going to have to take. im assuming that you live in america.

1. first thing youve got to do is get an elite license, i dont know the system in america but i imagine thats going to take you a good two seasons.

2. by now youve got your elite license, have won some high level races in america and should be racing for a half decent amauter team, now you need to find a good amauter team to race for. this could be in the states or in europe, if you go to europe good destinations might be belgium, france, holland the basque country or italy. if you go to europe and are successful you might be more likely to get that pro contract than if you stay in america.

3. and this is where the hard bit comes. start winning regularly for you high level amauter team. im going to assume you went to europe as i dont know much about the amauter system in america. first off your going to have to beat some really talented riders. someone said earlier about some pros like julich and horner who didnt have special talent. i disagree, it takes special talent just to win at this level and they are a whole 2-3 levels above. its also quite likely that many of your competitors are taking illicit substances which will further increase the difficulty of your situation, this is because theres no real dope control at elite amauter level so riders are free to take what they wish.

4. so you won your elite amauter races, your obviously an insanely talented rider, now you will likely get offered a contract with a continental team or a staggiare (trial) contract with a protour team. you may not be a protour rider or you may be in the B squad for a protour team, but let me tell you those guys have a special talent too and should not be disrespected.

JR, age is a factor, but not as much of a factor as drive to succeed. At 24, you are at potential peak physically, and if you want it bad enough, you can get that goal. It's all up to you, my friend! Go for it and have fun! If you don't make pro.....big deal! You still get to race and have a blast!

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That's correct but his reason for not accepting the offer of a pro contract was, part of that contract was the willingness to take any drugs that were handed to him.

JR, it is within the realm of possibility that you can become a pro cyclist. However (as many have stated) each year that passes you by, the hill becomes that much more steep. In the end, it all comes down to you. You have to ask yourself some serious questions if this is what you desire.


Such as:

• What kind of pro cyclist do I plan on becoming? Track, Road, Mountain? What discipline within my selected flavor, etc?
• Am I willing to spend the time required EVERY training day in the saddle?
• Am I willing to train even harder than someone 2/3 my age?
• Am I willing to sacrifice in my current professional/social life to achieve this dream? The need to pay the rent, train, eat, train, buy parts, and train, etc.
• Am I willing to sacrifice my list of wants to be able to pay the tens of thousands of dollars for bikes, equipment, coaches, etc, etc, etc.
• What are the rewards that I am expecting? Forget the big bonuses and contracts the elite pros get. Would you be willing to accept a contract for base minimum for team riders, even if it would be less than what you could make if you decided to do something else professionally?
• What are my reasonable goals? Don't forget that every competative sport (everything within life, for that matter) falls within a pyramid structure (so does the pay). The higher you climb, the harder it becomes, but greater are the rewards.

You will have to want it more than the next guy and be willing to do what it takes to achieve your goals. Just look at Ryan Leaf and Kurt Warner for examples... Leaf 1st round draft pick and completely bombed as a pro. Warner wasn't picked, but didn't let that stop him. Ends up taking the Rams to the SB, twice.


-GN

Forget the pros and Olympic championships and take it one step at a time. Start training with a race club, and get into a citizens/Cat 5 race to see how you like it. You don't need to buy a USCF license to start; you can pay an extra $10 day-of fee to jump into your first race.

If you find you have some ability for racing and are having fun, then set your sights on winning points and moving to Cat 3 in a couple of years. Just don't quit your day job yet. Racing can get expensive. Our entry fees here last weekend for the state championship RR, TT and Crit were $35 per day. In order to move up the rankings, you'll likely start traveling to races over weekends; travel costs really add up.

As far as actually making money and a career from pro cycling, would agree with the "million-to-one" assessment. After all, talented riders who train and race over 10K hard miles a year, and spend thousands of their own money to get and keep Cat 1 amateur status are common compared to those few who are riding for pro teams. If you had the exceptional genetics required to be a star cycling pro, you'd know it by now.

If he just started riding, how would he know it by now? If we took the entire population of (insert your country here) and tested them for cycling, how many great potential riders do you think we would find? Now, how many of those will never throw a leg over a bike? Certaintly the possibility exists that there are people out there that have huge potential but will never know it because they haven't yet, or won't find the sport.

I say follow the advice given earlier. Start training, find a race and purchase a one day license. You will have a much better idea of your possibilities after doing this. If you get completely blown away.......well, welcome to our mere mortal world.

I was thinking that any individual with the exceptional genetics it takes to be a pro cyclist would have excelled in other sports, even if he never rode a bike. HS or college track, distance running, swimming, soccer, crew or speedskating come to mind.

If the OP hasn't shown talent in any aerobic endurance sports by age 24, chances are even more remote that he'll have the rare talent, and be able to start from zero-base capability to hit the pro ranks. Best way is still to jump in and give it a try.

A Canadian pro(who is now still racing and nearing age 40) said recently that it doesn't matter when you start...just know that you will have about 10 good years before you are mentally fried. In other words...you will probably burn out mentally before you burn out physically.

Again...Ludo Dierkxsens(Belgium) was working in a factory when he started racing his bike at age 27. Ludo did all the big races in Europe, and got some good results too.

Tony Rominger started at age 21...and later set the World Hour Record. Took him less than 10 years to become the fastest endurance cyclist the world had ever seen.

If have the freakish genetics it would have shown itself by now. You would have been naturally awesome at endurance sports all through your junior years. If this was the case you probably would have been an athlete with a contract by now anyway.

Chances are your just a medium to exceptionally talented cyclist and you would have missed the boat when you were 13-14 of having any chance. If you were that one in a billion to be a pro by starting at your age you would already know it.

ive noticed another 15 year old cyclist, dm69 has posted 3 times on this topic. i bet thats because he feels a little bit insulted, like me, that a 24 year old who has just started cycling and done a 10 miles steady ride averaging 19mph thinks he might have what it takes to be a pro. youth cyclists like us ride with the dream of becoming pro but we know how difficult it is to achieve that dream and we know that very few will actually make it into the pro ranks.

you cant just become a pro cyclist it takes years and years of conditioning to reach that level and the way you think you can bypass the system p****s me off because it shows that you dont realise or appreciate what aspiring young cyclists have to go through if they are to make cycling their proffession.

I don't think this person was trying to insult anyone. He also didn't give us any athletic background information (i.e. participation and level of success in other sports.) He simply asked is 24 to old to go pro. The bottom line answer to that question is no, it isn't too old. But let's caveat that answer with, you better have some wicked hidden talent. Even if this person is a genetic freak, it isn't going to keep him from having to work hiss A@@ off to make it. Like most of the young riders are alluding to, he would have a lot of catching up to do, and the learning curve would be extremely steep. I don't think anyone here is saying that any 24 year old could jump on a bike and become a pro. It would definately be the exception, not the rule.