nonky Posted June 19, 2014 Share Just because it is easier to learn ride a bike, does not mean that it is easier to reach the top echelons in cycling/mtbing than in rugby, swimming, athletics or any other sport. Genetics AND hard work AND no injuries AND monetary support AND some luck AND sheer bloody-mindedness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretch Posted June 19, 2014 Share In cycling the genetically gifted can't avoid the hard work; in something like football and definitely cricket, you can, hetschelle gibbs is a classic example of someone with inherent ability that did not focus enough on the hard work side of things....he was a good cricketer who could have been a world great Starvin' Marvin, Spoke101, Andrew Steer and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIPSLICK Posted June 19, 2014 Share Just because it is easier to learn ride a bike, does not mean that it is easier to reach the top echelons in cycling/mtbing than in rugby, swimming, athletics or any other sport. Genetics AND hard work AND no injuries AND monetary support AND some luck AND sheer bloody-mindednessagreed there are a LOT OF AND,AND,AND,AND to get to the top,i know guys who look like the were created in labs, but they dont have the drive, or the financial backing,,,,,,,there are lots of AND,AND TO GET THERE nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcza Posted June 19, 2014 Share I would be interested to see what they tested... body fat % He does have an above average % of fast twitch fibres, as per all sprinters. He's always maintained though that what makes him a great sprinter is that he is one of the few guys that can hit near his max 1580 watts (I think it was) at the end of a race - he basically looks after himself better in the race. He's also quite compact compared with Greipel/Kittel etc - so more aero, and therefore requires less power. If I remember correctly his numbers were just too low. Bear in mind that in bike racing there isn't really true sprinting so the bang you see from guys like Cav, Greipel etc is nothing like you will see from a true track sprinter like Chris Hoy. They are already sitting at speed then need to sprint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SportySpice Posted June 19, 2014 Share Amazing that a guy like Greg Minnaar, whose competition only takes him seconds to complete, can successfully finish an Epic! nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imploder Posted June 19, 2014 Share there is also the whole concept of gladwells outliers theory -where your surroundings as well as your birth date affect success...also a good read 10000 hrs people, 10000 hrs is all it takes..... Pants Boy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted June 19, 2014 Share there is also the whole concept of gladwells outliers theory -where your surroundings as well as your birth date affect success...also a good read Surroundings maybe, birth date I doubt.... Birth order, definitely - just under 70% of all Olympic gold medals are won by second children.... now why would that be do you suppose? Of course, my mother said it's because there are more second children.... which caused several triple takes and much laughter.... hayleyearth and Pants Boy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted June 19, 2014 Share Amazing that a guy like Greg Minnaar, whose competition only takes him seconds to complete, can successfully finish an Epic! I am sure GM probably could finish the Epic, but so far, he hasn't yet - he has entered before, but withdrawn before the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummibear Posted June 19, 2014 Share Birth order, definitely - just under 70% of all Olympic gold medals are won by second children.... now why would that be do you suppose? They learn to fight for what they want....stronger minds and the will to win. nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcza Posted June 19, 2014 Share 10000 hrs people, 10000 hrs is all it takes..... I thought this was already debunked as not accurate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickGM Posted June 19, 2014 Share Surroundings maybe, birth date I doubt.... Birth order, definitely - just under 70% of all Olympic gold medals are won by second children.... now why would that be do you suppose? Of course, my mother said it's because there are more second children.... which caused several triple takes and much laughter.... Interesting stat! I've always suspected this and my theory was as follows: Take a family with 3 brothers. The youngest always has guys maybe 2 and 4 years older than him to bowl to him/tackle/challenge in general etc. He competes at a higher level than his classmates/age-group because of his older brothers. And if he has any shred of natural ability it is exposed quickly by playing sport with people bigger and stronger than him. So often the youngest of 3 brothers is the best at sport for this reason. So why the 2nd sibling succeeding at the olympics and not the 3rd? Well there are more 2nd children than 3rd, even your mom will understand that (no offence meant). I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought of this though. Pants Boy and nonky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted June 19, 2014 Share Interesting stat! So why the 2nd sibling succeeding at the olympics and not the 3rd? Well there are more 2nd children than 3rd, even your mom will understand that (no offence meant). I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought of this though. No. you are not - but even when you normalise the data to reflect the lower numbers of 3 and more kids, and the extra firsts, because of single children, second children still take it by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headshot Posted June 19, 2014 Share Amazing that a guy like Greg Minnaar, whose competition only takes him seconds to complete, can successfully finish an Epic! I did the S2C in 2007 and he raced it too. I think he came in the top 20 or 30. It's not be surprising actually. You need to be extremely fit to be at the top of your game in DH. Its a myth that they don't train. You should see how much riding our local DH riders do... nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted June 19, 2014 Share LUCK, don't forget about huge big totally blind LUCK DIPSLICK and nonky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorn199 Posted June 19, 2014 Share I am sure GM probably could finish the Epic, but so far, he hasn't yet - he has entered before, but withdrawn before the start.But he has finished the Roof of Africa motor bike race in the top 30. Raw talent on 2 wheels, with the determination to make it to the top. Racing motorbikes myself, I can say that talent gets you 60% of the way there, with rest coming from determination and commitment to be at the top. nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted June 19, 2014 Share Amazing that a guy like Greg Minnaar, whose competition only takes him seconds to complete, can successfully finish an Epic! Not forgetting "The Roof of Africa" on a enduro bike Genetics AND hard work AND no injuries AND monetary support AND some luck AND sheer bloody-mindedness Nail on the head, there are lots of variables and depending on the sport type not one single determining factor.For example the comrades win is quoted in that you have to have the right parents (Fordyce quote), but you can have the best genes in the world without the other variables you wont win it. I'm not convinced about the gene theory as being the most important tbh, look at the African running phenomena, why do these guys dominate mostly in running type events but not in others such as swimming, cycling...surely if genetics was the most important then we would have a few Kenyan / Ethiopian / Nigerian / Ghanaian / Rwandan / Jamican world champion swimmers / cyclists etc by now...? Which one of the variables is most important to win, that's the question.... depends on the type of sport imoEndurance sports every one says its in the genes, for a sport like DH which requires huge skill and courage i would say genes are less relevant than the long term background (i.e. what you did in your formative years as a kid.... like the Kenyans who ran lots and the white kids who rode lots). Edit: Add Jamicans Edited June 19, 2014 by SwissVan nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now