Chrissie Wellington to switch to cycling?

[Will1985]

One of many articles here. I've seen such ideas about a change of discipline being floated around on slowtwitch for months but this is one of the first hints we have had directly from her.
Olympic triathlon would be a no go as she would be slaughtered - the bike leg is where she pulls out these 20 minute leads, so 40k of draft legal "racing" would negate any advantage.

Trying for the road race is an interesting one - on one hand we know she has the stamina to easily complete it, but she may not be used to the constant attacks and accelerations as the select few near the finish. On the other hand, the time trial might be a good option as it plays more to her strengths.

I can't see the Olympic cycling routes being anywhere near as hilly as Beijing where she could have flown up the hills (for those who don't know, she recorded the fastest bike split in the Alpe D'Huez long course triathlon of all competitors including the men so she is good going uphill!) so that ability probably won't come into play as much.

 

[Skip Madness]

The talent is definitely there for her to be a great cyclist - if my maths are right, she rode the 115km bike leg of last year's Alpe d'Huez triathlon at 27.7km/h. Compare that to the average of 29.1km/h by Edita Pucinskaite in the 83.5km Grande Boucle stage in 2000 to Tourmalet. There are variables to factor in - sure the Tourmalet is tougher, but that stage didn't come in the middle of a damned triathlon (although it was nine stages into a two-week race) - but you can get an idea of her power from that statistic alone.

It's not easy to know what she should do, though - as you say, the road race will likely be pretty flat (Hampstead Heath providing the hill), and I have no idea how powerful she would be against top-class rivals over Olympic time trial distance (20-30km). I'd definitely like to see her try it.