How do yo become pro?

[roadiewill]

Do you get spotted or what? Never really found out.

 

[bonj2]

You can't.

 

[rich p]

King of the Mountains gets spotted

 

[roadiewill]

right...

 

[spandex]

King of the Mountains gets spotted

 

[Dave5N]

Enter a lot of races and win most of them. If you don't get on the BC programme, be prepared to go to France and race for your fees.

 

[Keith Oates]

and put in some very long, painful and hard working hours on the bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[yello]

Is there a pro-cycling game on playstation or some such? Because that's the closest I'll ever get to being a pro... and I don't own a playstation.

I like to think that anything is possible if you try. (Well, I don't believe it but I like to think it!). But there's a harsh reality check, and starkly chilling it can be, when you accept that there are some things that will just never happen. Like me riding for a pro-team. Or scoring the winning goal in an FA Cup final. Or kissing a girl.

 

[Tetedelacourse]

It's not impossible if you're young enough.

Get a ride with a good amateur team (done through winning club races). Then get a ride with a pro team in the UK. Or move to France. Then you'll get picked up by a pro team over there, then ultimately a pro-tour team (or a French Tour team!!).

Reading the stories of some of the pros, I wouldn't want it though! I suppose if you're very very good (i.e. superhumanly good) it would be a good lifestyle, but for 95% of the pro peloton it'd be a hard slog for not a huge reward.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I have an ex-clubmate who is going through this process now. He is the single most talented cyclist I have ever known. He works his arse off training (and managed to get a medical degree at the same time). His style is so smooth and deceptive, he can be riding next to you one minute and a half a mile down the road by the time you next look up.

He's ridden in Belgium (which is a far better place than France to get some serious amateur road-racing experience and lots of the Irish and British hopefuls go over there) and now rides for one of the Irish development squads. He's had Top 20 placings in British Premier races and completed the Irish RAS and won the Northern Irish Criterium championship this year - and I saw him almost take Roger Hammond in a Crit a couple of years ago.

But even he is still some way off even getting a neo-pro contract. It is really, really hard. But don't let that put you off if you are really determined. Just make sure you have a good alternative career alongside it or in case...

 

[numbnuts]

Fish net stocking, a short skirt and stand on a street corner normally does the trick

 

[Ludwig]

How to become a pro at anything....be good, practice a lot, have a determination and will power. And don't be put off by failure. You need to fail to succeed.

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

Pedal really really quickly

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

But in all seriousness, after reading a plethora of cycling biographies ('Searching for Robert Millar' being the latest) being a cycle pro must be one of the hardest sporting profession there is. I can only think of boxing as anything near the dedication, effort and privation required and quite often for much less reward or recognition. Plus you have to deal with the French.

I wouldn't be a pro cyclist for a fat pig.

 

[walker]

surprisingly you don't have to be elite to turn pro either, some riders are picked up at cat 2