American World Domination - Its a Mindset

Tejay with the Scriven family in the background

WORLD DOMINATION
This is an idea I've had for quite some time but never got around to writing about it completely.  However, with the accelerated rise of several young American cyclists on the world stage I thought I should get this out now with the hopes of starting some excitement for my vision - world domination by the USA.

I'm not talking about a James Bond villain or the Mike Myers version of the 007 nemesis in the form of Dr. Evil.  Rather I'm referring to actually producing an American winner of the Cycling World Championship Road Race.  Specifically I'm focusing on the Men's race because as I see it, the problem doesn't exist in the women's side of the event.

THE PARTICIPATION PROBLEM

One BILLION dollars!

What's the deal?  Well, looking over the history (modern history at least) of the World Road Race it's pretty easy to mention the only American winners of the event, Greg Lemond (83 & 89) and Lance Armstong (93).  Of course we all know about Lance's recent "troubles", but for the sake of this little post I don't even care what he was taking, injecting or if he was "glowing"... all I care about is whether he was participating.  My issue with the US team since Lance's victory is that they've sent a lackluster squad to the worlds to compete when on the sidelines have been some of the worlds best cyclists at the time.  Participation is the problem here.  I wrote previously in support of Taylor Phinney representing the USA at the Olympics and derided the other top Americans that had skipped the World Championships where participation and getting a top 15 would have produced two spots for an American in London rather than just one as we had for the 2012 Olympic Time Trial.  So this trend continues.  What I hope doesn't happen is that Taylor and the other youngsters decide to forgo the World's race once they hit their stride and make a mark on their career.

What's up with those shorts, Hulk?

What brought this to my attention wasn't just the constant flop for the American's in the race but having one or two finishers each year and not really even getting a top 20 result.  Yet over this same span of time the Americans were a huge force in cycling.  Granted, we've found out they were fueled by about every possible pharmaceutical product this side of something strong enough to turn David Banner into the Incredible Hulk....so why would they skip this specific race?  If the US was killing it all year on the road and in the laboratory, why weren't they winning at the worlds as well?

One factor is the race is a one day event and as seen over the classics results during Lance's shameful reign the Americans weren't actually winning those races either.  But that isn't for lack of trying and effort.  Landis, Hamilton, Levi, George and Lance and all the favorites were riding Liege-Bastonge-Liege and similar classics where tour contenders always are in the mix.  No, the real trouble is, these guys were NOT even competing in the race for the Rainbow jersey, the world championships.  Look, to me and to the rest of the cycling world winning the World Championships is a huge deal and a career maker.  But it appears that with American riders, skipping the event is as easy as deciding whether to take part in a cold weather race in Nebraska or hit the beaches of Florida with the family.

AMERICAN MINDSET - OLYMPIC FACTOR

Yikes!

When I was growing up, the Olympics were huge to me as a sports fan and to most Americans it still is.  Back in the day we had Bruce Jenner on our box of Wheaties with his flowing hair and dolphin shorts giving house mom's a glimpse at his thighs while the kids poured their cereal.  Bruce won the decathlon in the 76 Olympics and became a house-hold name, only later getting into acting with a stint on C.H.I.P.S. and even today he’s on a reality show having married the Kardashian mom and the recipient of more facial surgery than a highly sought criminal in witness protection.  A great Olympic games could lead an American athlete to a big payday windfall while toiling in a mundane and non-mainstream sport as did happen to Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps (swimming), Eric Heiden (Speed Skating) and all those barely teenage girls in Gymnastics.  So it’s no surprise that an American cyclist would still see the Olympics as a big goal for their career and make a big deal about making the Olympic team.  Yet for some reason being crowned a World Champion in cycling seems to be the goal of neo-pros, lesser known riders and a few select sprinters or rouler’s.   Truly, this baffles me.  Perhaps it’s a trend derived during the height of the Armstrong reign and his ultra-focus on le Tour and the Tour alone where publicity and your image is paramount to simply beating the best and crowned "World Champion."

Kelly, Lemond and Konyshev took the Worlds Race seriously (1989)

USA CYCLING AT THE WORLDS
Greg LeMond won the World Championships as did Lance Armstrong.  But since Lance's win as a young pro in Norway, no substantial American threat has materialized for the World Championships.  Tyler Farrar has taken up the charge when the race suits a sprinter, but it’ll always be tough to go head to head with Mark Cavendish when Mark gets the services of Bradley Wiggins and David Millar for a lead-out.  Who does Tyler have in the waning 2 km to pilot him for the sprint?  Typically no one else on the American team is even left to help out.  If Chris Horner is in attendance, he'll be there without question, but it's not like he's the best for a sprint lead out (no offense Chris).

Sadly, no big threat of a win has ever materialized from the likes of Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde or Chris Horner.  Not even Tyler Hamilton or Floyd Landis ever gave the rainbow jersey a legitimate shot when they were considered Tour contenders – even if doped to the hilt.  

Of the five (5) medals the US has taken home for Worlds, three (3) are gold and two (2) are silver. Of those five medals, Lance has the one gold (1993) and Greg has the other four.  Greg always participated in the World Championships as a threat whereas Lance really was never a threat after his first victory in 1993.

WORLDS AND TOUR CONTENDERS
The rest of the world may also be as enamored with the Olympics as are the Americans, but they've also taken their World Championships quite seriously.  Now granted, winning Worlds is never an easy task, but your odds are much improved when you compete in the race rather than skip it altogether.  Since 1927, there have only been a handful of champions that successfully defended their titles the following year, and from just two countries - Belgium and Italy.

• Georges Ronsse (Belgium 1928-29)
• Rik Van Steenbergen (Belgium 1956-57)
• Rik Van Looy (Belgium 1960-61)
• Gianni Bugno (Italy 1991-92)
• Paolo Bettini (Italy 2006-07)

It appears from this list that if you are from Belgium and your name is Rik Van something, you stand a good chance as a repeat champion.  Belgium mothers should keep that in mind when naming their young boys.

Evans winning a brutal stage of the Giro as World Champion (2009)

Nice info, but what's the point?  It's hard to compare those who successfully defended their Tour de France title with the newly redacted drug related offenses.  But a quick glance shows approximately 17 riders defending their title since the inception of the event.  While the Worlds Race and the Tour are not on par for the number of years holding the event, 17 is far more than the 5 listed above.  It doesn't help that Lance wasn't a factor for the Worlds in those years he was winning the tour 7 times.

Those that win the Grand tours are also poised to be world champions by virtue of their standard of fitness and desire for winning.  So who won the Tour and also managed a rainbow jersey during their career?  Wait no longer, here is the list for the modern era:

• Cadel Evans - 2009 Mendriso
• Lance Armstrong - 1993 Olso (not a "tour contender" at this point)
• Greg Lemond - 1989 Chambery
• Stephen Roche - 1987 Vilach (triple crown this year: Giro, Tour and Worlds)
• Greg Lemond - 1983 Altenrhein
• Bernard Hinault - 1980 Sallanches
• Joop Zoetemelk - 1985 - Giavera del Montello
• Eddy Merckx - 1967, 71, & 74

What about those that were Tour contenders (without a Tour victory) but did get a Rainbow Jersey?

See above, Plus

• Abraham Olano – 1995 – Duitama (Won Vuelta, podium in Giro and 4th 97 TDF)
• Luc Leblanc – 1994 – Agrigento (4th, 5th and 6th TDF)
• Gianni Bugno – 1991,92  - Stuttgart/Benidorm (1990 Giro, 2nd in 91 TDF and 3rd in 92)
• Freddy Maertens – 1981 – Brno (Vuelta 77' and loads of victories all season in his career)
• Giuseppe Saronni – 1982 – Goodwood (79’ Giro) 
• Claude Criquilelion 1984 – Barcelona (best TDF – 5th 86)

Last Tour winner while wearing the Rainbow Jersey (1990)

Greg Lemond is also the last person to get the top spot on the podium in Paris while simultaneously being the current World Champion with his last impressive win in 1990.

There is a plausible but not realistic factor that the Rainbow Jersey just brings about a 'curse' and the year you spend wearing it will be a bad year.  For many this is true, but the jersey is not the problem.  However, at times a winner of the Rainbow jersey isn't really what you would consider "World Championship Material," at least not yet.  When the race boasts successive years of winners like Claude Criquielion, Joop Zoetemelk, Moreno Argentin, Stephen Roche and suddenly there follows Maurizio Fonderiest.... do you really think Fonderiest was expecting to have a year full of results following his World Title when he had no previous professional wins?  In fact, Fonderiest didn't have a win again until 1993 with his breakout of 7 wins (suspicious).

But the truth is he lucked into his World title when Claude and Steve Bauer decided to do battle on the right barrier in the sprint leaving Fondriest with Gold rather than his inevitable "overly exceeding his expectations" result of Bronze (as seen here or below).  Could this be the reason Lance avoided the World Championships after he started winning the Tour - to avoid a "curse" of wearing the jersey?  Eh hem,... not likely.

THE DOPING FACTOR IS NULL - IT'S A MINDSET
This whole post is concerned with showing the relation between a World Champion and a Tour Contender and having the absolute best riders contesting the World Championships for each country.  Something happens when a cyclist starts winning the Tour and his vision about the status of the Worlds Race.  To me it's degrading a supreme event like the World Championships and especially when the winner wears the special "Rainbow Jersey" all season long.  So for this writing, I'm including Lance and all the other dopers in the argument and using their statistics because for me, contesting the Worlds should be one of the great monuments of the cycling season and deciding whether to skip it or not shouldn't even be considered if you want the cycling world to take you seriously.  At the time Lance and the others were winning, we didn't know for sure they were cheating and they still decided not to participate.  I just hope the new crop of American cyclists won't take this lackluster approach when planning out their season and goals.

There is some hope however.  In the recent years I've seen the likes of Cadel Evans, Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish all win the Rainbow Jersey and go on to have a great year and especially gutty performances while showing the Jersey well during the Tour de France.  Maybe this will inspire the top Americans as well and soon we can claim World Domination again.