i'm quite interested in the "dangerous sports" clause. obviously, no contact sports and i can understand downhill skiing, but what about sports that while are not inherently dangerous, carry a high risk of death such as SCUBA or sky-diving?
I am an ex-Olympic athlete in the High Jump, 2004 and 2008. Some of the things you said happened to me. Decisions, training aspects, no dangerous sports "like cycling" 😂. I started cycling with more freedom after my high jump career. By now, I am free to do any sport without no much worry if I get hurt as I used to. Riding for fun. However, I still keep raising the bar even without planned training. I just have fun, make some climbs, strava challenges and small amateur competitions to challenge myself, and let some speed bikes behind with my MTB .
This video couldn't have come at a better time for me. I have been undecided about pursuing a pro career as a racing cyclist, it's taken a great deal of thought, on and off, for the last 40 years. Now I just need to figure out if I'd prefer being a guitarist for a leading stadium filling rock band or settle for the life of an astronaut.
Only being allowed to wear curtain kit. Once I snagged a good race result in a breakaway, lots of pictures, and my DS gave me a bollocking for wearing a Specialized Evade helmet instead of the team-issue SH+ one.
Lack of independence is a huge detriment to enjoying one's working life, and it's the main reason I never worked as a truck driver after I got licensed. I had envisioned picking up a load and planning how I would get it to its destination on time, enjoying the route I'd chosen...nah, not so much. Commercial drivers are given precise routings, timings, fuel stops, etc., and their progress, speed, even how fast they go around corners are constantly tracked. Sounds a lot like the life of a pro cyclist.
@@edwardstables5153 it sounds like they finished it and then learned. But this is like going to nursing school and then "discovering" that you can't be afraid of blood or needles
@@nk-dw2hm I got licensed because I wanted to and was considering buying a rig. What I learned while getting licensed about driving generally and about what truck drivers have to deal with specifically was well worth it even if I never earned a dime driving a truck. Everyone should have to spend time in the cab of a big rig before getting a standard license.
I plan my own routes . Always have and yes you are expected to drive safely as the largest vehicle on the road you have to drive to protect other road users .
I remember a rider from Cannondale Drapace saying team selection for a race, even a Grand Tour was purely based on who was fit. If weren't injured you were racing!
Hardest thing I had to do as a pro, was deciding to give up on my dreams cause I was not willing to dope. Fyi, this was 2003. I have no idea what is going on with regards to doping these days.
@@lf7481 Back in 2003, you could become a pro without doping, but you would just have been hanging off the back all day. I never raced to be just a number in the peloton, I raced to become the best and that was just not happening without doping back then. Nowadays, I have no idea what is happening behind the scenes anymore.
Another thing is to share room with team mates, everyday… and on top of that keep with your daily routine and discipline, not being able to do things that most people can do, like to go for a walk with friends at 23 in the evening. Day after day, until funny jokes are not funny anymore, sleeping time gets interrupted frequently, etc etc etc, and everything can be ruined in a matter of seconds in a panic attack. whoever want to become professional, will have to work on self discipline, control the behavior and temper, improve human relationships, exercise empathy, help others, control ego and arrogance specially being young, be humble and get surrounded by “the right people”, focus on getting the job done, having a check list , fight day after day, etc. It is like entrepreneurship, and simply Having a good engine is not enough. To work on Human relationships is very important, and those who have those qualities normally are the ones who get the contract. I got a panic attack before going to the first race, and screwed everything, I learned a very hard lesson, and I apply it into my personal life and professional career.
As a fan, the team aspect surprised me. I know cyclists are on teams, I just didn't know what they all did. Watching the Tour de France once a year the focus is always on the riders at the front of the race and not the work everyone else does to get them there and keep them there.
If you watch carefully you can see the team all bunched together helping the leader so as long as the team has a contender you do see them all at the front. But it must be really dispiriting to be told to work for the leader and sacrifice your own race if you feel great one day and you know the leader is not feeling great that day and instead of potentially contending a win you have to try carry your leader to the finish line.
My personal trainer is an ex-pro. Something that really surprised me is you have to wear gear by sponsors and they can be terrible for you, like shoes that cripple the feet. He said there’s no choice because they’re funding you even if it was detrimental to your performance as an athlete.
I always assumed sponsors might give you a few different options so you can pick what works for you so long as you stick with their brand. After all, if you're performing better they get better exposure. But I suppose if they are trying to promote a particular product they might not want you to be picking last year's model or something!
In the olden days you'd get riders having frames made by their local frame builder and then sprayed in team colours. And Sean Kelly painted puma logos onto his adidas shoes. Or was it the other way round ?
The thing I'm most interested in when watching GCN videos is WHERE exactly are they filming, because the scenery is stunning! Would be nice if that were in the info section for the video
That's the biggest question, I think. If you had the benefit of hindsight at the beginning of your career that you were never going to win much and will spend the vast majority of your time being a domestique for others, would you still go pro?
@@ruan13o Yes why not. Look like Yves Lampaert he's allways a domestique but wins the occasional race. Or when you're really good at hills and you participate in LBL and feel really good and are still with them at the last climb and you can ride a top 10-15 you can get some more freedom in other races. It's not that you're allways the workhorse and never get a chance. I can't compare it but like I said many times my first year as a kid from 13y old I rode against 14y Olds and still had top 5's in Benelux hill races and even top 10's in Italy, and 7th in GC in a stage race for only 2 days in Malmedy it was short tt, short sprintstage and the day afther a hill race I was in peloton in sprint stage, like number 30-40 in tt because first time on a tt bike in a race and on the hill race I was 4th so I was 7th overall. Still have those results somewhere on a paper. Then the second year I had a lot off inflammations but had still some decent results but then at the end off the season I went to a doctor and like 14 days afther I got the devastated result off Spondylitis Ankylosans. So yeah I still tried for another half year but it was not doable the disease was active now and caused me so much pain I had to quit and I had a lot off depressions and I never dealed with it the right way.. So yeah.. Now I'm 32 I finally gave it a place (have also finally the right meds) and am a cycling tourist now. Alsk I don't say I would be a pro but I certainly had the potential. My tests were extremely well, and as a first year rider even against international competition I rode top 10's in Italian races. So not bad I think. I allways wondered what if I didn't had that disease.. So yeah I would defenitly go pro. Even as a domestique and because hills were my thing I really wouldn't mind working for someone that's better. But like I said I don't know because everyone was very surprised that in my first year I had such good results. Even my own team manager. And even with the youth he's the one that picked the team that goes for example to Italy, and the others that have to ride local races here in Belgium. So I really don't know how it would've gone without the disease but since I was extremely motivated, and REALLY wanted it I guess I had a good chance. But I'll never know and that still hurts if I think about it too much. Because I wasn't a failure but had the worst luck. I rather was a failure actually then i would've been easier to give it a place So short answer YES
The most surprising thing I found out when I went pro, was that I wasn’t a pro at all. I just thought I was pro when all I did was buy a 2nd hand carbon frame, and an Amazon cycling jersey with logos on it.
You're either missing the aero socks or the barista basic training with your own grinder, portafilter machine and speciality coffee. You can still do it! :)
The paint spec on that Orbea is really well done. Thanks for the understanding of what it takes to be a pro. I don't think that many people realize what a commitment it is beyond the saddle.
The no dangerous sports makes sense. You can easily blow your knee out skiing. I feel for those pro riders that are just the work horses on the team; the ones whose job it is is to pull for the captain or pick up the pace to drop the other teams. These are the guys putting out all this work to only get dropped because they spent all their energy with 30k left in the race, while the captain or sprinter gets all the glory.
My understanding is almost every professional sports contract bars anything deemed dangerous. A few years ago, the Astros had a second basemen who broke his hand "washing his motorcycle".
Some of my friends that turned pro didn't care for the rigid lifestyle and low pay. Some refused to doped, so they left and returned to the amateur ranks. I never considered turning pro because I had a great job and enjoyed amateur racing. The pros showed up for some of our races for training. Good times.
Sad to say, but in my amateur days, one of the key factors that made one “groom-able” to turn pro was one’s openness to take “recovery-enabling” compounds as instructed by your coach or manager. I am so thankful that young cycling enthusiasts are no longer stricken off the list so early in the game…
My happy place is 4-5 mountain bike rides a week, 60-75 miles, two days of yoga, and three days of crossfit. I used to trail run 6-10+ hours a week but it wrecked my body and I was always hurting somewhere.
That's so funny. When I stopped competitive triahtlon 25yrs ago as an olymian for the national team that's exactly what I missed the most too; the pain in the legs. :D
One trainer from Bora Hansgrohe once said in an german podcast, that his riders are doing ski mountaineering in Winter, which is much more dangerous (rocks, different kinds of groundavalanches...) than skiing itself
Personally, I am glad I am not that gifted a rider to ever consider turning pro. A wicked difficult life...trying to beat the top 150 cyclists on the planet. We all know how hard it is to beat the fastest guy in the town we live which everybody knows to be the fastest guy...impossible. But to beat the world? That is like beating Djokovic at tennis...impossible. Or...how about being the great Peter Sagan. World champion. A bike rider of extraordinary talent who will never win the greatest bike race of them all, the Tour de France. He's too heavy to be competitive in the mountain stages.
The no skiing thing is probably depending on the team. I know for a fact that Edvald Bassoon Hagen, Aleksander Kristoff and some of the other Norwegians use skiing as part of their training in the winter.
Agreed. Jumbo has old videos of training camps with cross-country skiing. Kuss specifically has done a competition or two for the same. I’m sure it depends on the team or contract.
Not really, the Announcers in USA are good about explaining this but the one thing I did not know I learned in 2021 is that Riders do now need to post the whole year in advance for UCI and even for vacations down to the exact town and where you will stop along the way. In 2021 One guy was caught in a town that has another town smashed to the other they did not tell him where he was going to be in the other town or that he even knew about the other town (true as in Mexico it barely shows up if at all on Google Maps) thus ban in big 3 Super Tours until 2022 and some of the other big events the race Director prevented the racer from competing like 2 days into of the Tour Flanders he had to drop out and a few tours like in USA and Australia also did not want him in as they used all rules they could.
Super video! Love this content. As a teacher in Canada, (retired now) people went on and on about Summer's off, so I appreciate the "lifting of the curtain "! Thanks Connor! I think it is telling that neither of our kids (I am married to a teacher) upon seeingthe true full spectrum of what the job entailed, chose the profession! When asked, they replied, "It's not worth it! " I am confirmed that pro cycling is the same!
Other than the riding and hoping the stuff your riding is ok, like look at Willie Smit, some of the stuff he's had isnt great yet if you get Di2 + say a specialized or canyon i guess you're happy!
The thing that surprised me the most about pro cyclists was how endemic blood doping and performance enhancing drugs are. It seems that whoever has the best undetectable drug for the race wins.
Actually, doping, performance enhancing, etc. are present in all other sports (beta-blocker for shooting is an example). The more the money, the more doping is present. I let you guess which one is probably the most affected :) However, the rules were different from one sport to another during a very long period of time. For instance, what Nadal were authorized to do at Roland Garros is prohibited in cycling. And today, the number of control in cycling is probably much bigger than in many sports much more renowned... So, we speak a lot about doping in cycling, which is normal when problem appears, but we almost never heard of doping in other sport which does not mean there is no problem but that problem is less looked for.
No dangerous sports is pretty standard for professionals in any sport. IIRC Josh Kronfeld had to get special dispensation from the All Blacks to go surfing.
Do not think the 70s Home pros had it so cushy.. Some horror stories.. Sticking own tubs on at night between stages etc . Deff no team buses etc.. Crappy digs etc..
The most shocking thing i have learned bout cycling, maybe not true, but people peeing and perhaps pooing on the bike, yuk! Anything fir a few seconds but not that, not that.
I liked hearing about the facts I never thought of about pro racing, but do all of these GCN videos always have to be so corny? Imagine you asked someone for some advice about something you truly cared about, and every time they gave you an answer they did something childish thinking they were being funny. Would you take that advice seriously, or would you maybe think the advice was probably like the advisor...silly and childish. I know you're trying to make these videos entertaining, but maybe a bit more adult and on topic and less Three Stooges.
I like Connor and all the gcn presenters. I am actually of English stock but even I have trouble understanding Connor's speech. As a professional video presenter could he please be encouraged to work on his diction and enunciation as his words tend to mumble and stumble into one another. I also find this exactly the same when he's presenting on the gcn tech show, not just outside when he's riding a bike. I understand the issue as I am a professional presenter working in a country different to my birth where accents are problematic for the locals. Keep up the great shows.
@@SMlFFY85 not that I said even while presenting in the GCN SHOW. Ergo, while not cycling. I also pointed out that I like the presenters and I like Connor and this is just a suggestion. People need to stop being so sensitive.
Did any of these facts surprise you? Is there anything you thought would make it onto the list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!👇
I think number 2 isn't True anymore. These day's they race less to be as good as possible at every race.
If you have a good day and good legs.. Can the team say stay behind?
It must be great to have been a Pro 👍
How prevalent PED usage and blood doping is. How often did you engage in this
i'm quite interested in the "dangerous sports" clause. obviously, no contact sports and i can understand downhill skiing, but what about sports that while are not inherently dangerous, carry a high risk of death such as SCUBA or sky-diving?
I am an ex-Olympic athlete in the High Jump, 2004 and 2008. Some of the things you said happened to me. Decisions, training aspects, no dangerous sports "like cycling" 😂. I started cycling with more freedom after my high jump career. By now, I am free to do any sport without no much worry if I get hurt as I used to. Riding for fun. However, I still keep raising the bar even without planned training. I just have fun, make some climbs, strava challenges and small amateur competitions to challenge myself, and let some speed bikes behind with my MTB .
This video couldn't have come at a better time for me. I have been undecided about pursuing a pro career as a racing cyclist, it's taken a great deal of thought, on and off, for the last 40 years. Now I just need to figure out if I'd prefer being a guitarist for a leading stadium filling rock band or settle for the life of an astronaut.
My advice to you is to stay in school... so you have a back up plan 😄
Why not do all of those things?
Only being allowed to wear curtain kit.
Once I snagged a good race result in a breakaway, lots of pictures, and my DS gave me a bollocking for wearing a Specialized Evade helmet instead of the team-issue SH+ one.
Not wearing sponsor appropriate kit can land a pro in serious trouble!
Hard to complain if someone else is paying all the bills.
Lack of independence is a huge detriment to enjoying one's working life, and it's the main reason I never worked as a truck driver after I got licensed. I had envisioned picking up a load and planning how I would get it to its destination on time, enjoying the route I'd chosen...nah, not so much. Commercial drivers are given precise routings, timings, fuel stops, etc., and their progress, speed, even how fast they go around corners are constantly tracked. Sounds a lot like the life of a pro cyclist.
How did you manage to get licensed without learning anything about the job? You'd need to own your own truck for the lifestyle you're seeking
Sounds like they learnt about those details while getting licensed, and so never continued on with it.
@@edwardstables5153 it sounds like they finished it and then learned. But this is like going to nursing school and then "discovering" that you can't be afraid of blood or needles
@@nk-dw2hm I got licensed because I wanted to and was considering buying a rig. What I learned while getting licensed about driving generally and about what truck drivers have to deal with specifically was well worth it even if I never earned a dime driving a truck. Everyone should have to spend time in the cab of a big rig before getting a standard license.
I plan my own routes . Always have and yes you are expected to drive safely as the largest vehicle on the road you have to drive to protect other road users .
I remember a rider from Cannondale Drapace saying team selection for a race, even a Grand Tour was purely based on who was fit. If weren't injured you were racing!
Hardest thing I had to do as a pro, was deciding to give up on my dreams cause I was not willing to dope. Fyi, this was 2003. I have no idea what is going on with regards to doping these days.
So do you think you can become a Pro without doping?
@@lf7481 Back in 2003, you could become a pro without doping, but you would just have been hanging off the back all day. I never raced to be just a number in the peloton, I raced to become the best and that was just not happening without doping back then. Nowadays, I have no idea what is happening behind the scenes anymore.
@@antonlvdm Teams will never try to gain an unfair advantage over each other, and doping is just one aspect I guess
Another thing is to share room with team mates, everyday… and on top of that keep with your daily routine and discipline, not being able to do things that most people can do, like to go for a walk with friends at 23 in the evening. Day after day, until funny jokes are not funny anymore, sleeping time gets interrupted frequently, etc etc etc, and everything can be ruined in a matter of seconds in a panic attack. whoever want to become professional, will have to work on self discipline, control the behavior and temper, improve human relationships, exercise empathy, help others, control ego and arrogance specially being young, be humble and get surrounded by “the right people”, focus on getting the job done, having a check list , fight day after day, etc. It is like entrepreneurship, and simply Having a good engine is not enough. To work on Human relationships is very important, and those who have those qualities normally are the ones who get the contract. I got a panic attack before going to the first race, and screwed everything, I learned a very hard lesson, and I apply it into my personal life and professional career.
As a fan, the team aspect surprised me. I know cyclists are on teams, I just didn't know what they all did. Watching the Tour de France once a year the focus is always on the riders at the front of the race and not the work everyone else does to get them there and keep them there.
If you watch carefully you can see the team all bunched together helping the leader so as long as the team has a contender you do see them all at the front. But it must be really dispiriting to be told to work for the leader and sacrifice your own race if you feel great one day and you know the leader is not feeling great that day and instead of potentially contending a win you have to try carry your leader to the finish line.
Check out the film “Wonderful Losers, a different world”
Thanks Conor for teaching on this. Still do not know everything that goes on in a race, so many details.
My personal trainer is an ex-pro. Something that really surprised me is you have to wear gear by sponsors and they can be terrible for you, like shoes that cripple the feet. He said there’s no choice because they’re funding you even if it was detrimental to your performance as an athlete.
I always assumed sponsors might give you a few different options so you can pick what works for you so long as you stick with their brand. After all, if you're performing better they get better exposure. But I suppose if they are trying to promote a particular product they might not want you to be picking last year's model or something!
In the olden days you'd get riders having frames made by their local frame builder and then sprayed in team colours.
And Sean Kelly painted puma logos onto his adidas shoes. Or was it the other way round ?
@@leskennedy He did have his bike custom made. I presume it was in team colours.
@@ruan13o He never mentioned a choice but he said it could be really horrible. I’ll need to find out more.
The thing I'm most interested in when watching GCN videos is WHERE exactly are they filming, because the scenery is stunning! Would be nice if that were in the info section for the video
@Tamara Todorovic - I'm not local so not 100% sure but it looks like Bath in the Southwest of England.
Love the Manon cameo!🤣
most importantly: was it enjoyable or more stressful?
That's the biggest question, I think. If you had the benefit of hindsight at the beginning of your career that you were never going to win much and will spend the vast majority of your time being a domestique for others, would you still go pro?
@@ruan13o Yes why not. Look like Yves Lampaert he's allways a domestique but wins the occasional race. Or when you're really good at hills and you participate in LBL and feel really good and are still with them at the last climb and you can ride a top 10-15 you can get some more freedom in other races. It's not that you're allways the workhorse and never get a chance. I can't compare it but like I said many times my first year as a kid from 13y old I rode against 14y Olds and still had top 5's in Benelux hill races and even top 10's in Italy, and 7th in GC in a stage race for only 2 days in Malmedy it was short tt, short sprintstage and the day afther a hill race I was in peloton in sprint stage, like number 30-40 in tt because first time on a tt bike in a race and on the hill race I was 4th so I was 7th overall. Still have those results somewhere on a paper. Then the second year I had a lot off inflammations but had still some decent results but then at the end off the season I went to a doctor and like 14 days afther I got the devastated result off Spondylitis Ankylosans. So yeah I still tried for another half year but it was not doable the disease was active now and caused me so much pain I had to quit and I had a lot off depressions and I never dealed with it the right way.. So yeah.. Now I'm 32 I finally gave it a place (have also finally the right meds) and am a cycling tourist now. Alsk I don't say I would be a pro but I certainly had the potential. My tests were extremely well, and as a first year rider even against international competition I rode top 10's in Italian races. So not bad I think. I allways wondered what if I didn't had that disease..
So yeah I would defenitly go pro. Even as a domestique and because hills were my thing I really wouldn't mind working for someone that's better. But like I said I don't know because everyone was very surprised that in my first year I had such good results. Even my own team manager. And even with the youth he's the one that picked the team that goes for example to Italy, and the others that have to ride local races here in Belgium. So I really don't know how it would've gone without the disease but since I was extremely motivated, and REALLY wanted it I guess I had a good chance. But I'll never know and that still hurts if I think about it too much. Because I wasn't a failure but had the worst luck.
I rather was a failure actually then i would've been easier to give it a place
So short answer
YES
Conor is always keeping it classy. 🤙
Conor is the classiest of all the GCN presenters. Sincere. The real deal.
“Suffering and getting dropped all the time” sounds like my group rides.
In my opinion, the GCN bike chain globe logo is a great graphic design.
thank you!
The most surprising thing I found out when I went pro, was that I wasn’t a pro at all. I just thought I was pro when all I did was buy a 2nd hand carbon frame, and an Amazon cycling jersey with logos on it.
You're either missing the aero socks or the barista basic training with your own grinder, portafilter machine and speciality coffee.
You can still do it! :)
@@ericb8985 I knew I wasn’t that far off, I’ll start working on those things now.
mine: 2nd hand bibs lmao
The height of your saddle from the frame is the height of my entire bike! 😎
The paint spec on that Orbea is really well done. Thanks for the understanding of what it takes to be a pro. I don't think that many people realize what a commitment it is beyond the saddle.
We're glad you liked Conor's bike! It's a bit of a love it or hate it design!
Conor’s bike is literally the best. Color and everything.
It has quite some noise out of the bearing 😅✌🏻
@@MFR03 and out of the paint job
It's kinda like everything of the color chart. 😁
Not the best color for me ... pink and orange ? No thanks !!!! Too bad for Orbea !
Reminds me of those clown vomit no-brand fixies we were playing around with when we were kids in the early-2010s
Gee Conor has come so far as a presenter. Really enjoy his content. I enjoy everyone to be fair though.
great video! really like insights into the weird world of pro cycling
Glad you enjoyed it!
The no dangerous sports makes sense. You can easily blow your knee out skiing. I feel for those pro riders that are just the work horses on the team; the ones whose job it is is to pull for the captain or pick up the pace to drop the other teams. These are the guys putting out all this work to only get dropped because they spent all their energy with 30k left in the race, while the captain or sprinter gets all the glory.
My understanding is almost every professional sports contract bars anything deemed dangerous. A few years ago, the Astros had a second basemen who broke his hand "washing his motorcycle".
the point is that cycling is a dangerous sport
Manon with the bullhorn! Classic!
Some of my friends that turned pro didn't care for the rigid lifestyle and low pay. Some refused to doped, so they left and returned to the amateur ranks. I never considered turning pro because I had a great job and enjoyed amateur racing. The pros showed up for some of our races for training. Good times.
Sad to say, but in my amateur days, one of the key factors that made one “groom-able” to turn pro was one’s openness to take “recovery-enabling” compounds as instructed by your coach or manager. I am so thankful that young cycling enthusiasts are no longer stricken off the list so early in the game…
My happy place is 4-5 mountain bike rides a week, 60-75 miles, two days of yoga, and three days of crossfit. I used to trail run 6-10+ hours a week but it wrecked my body and I was always hurting somewhere.
That's so funny. When I stopped competitive triahtlon 25yrs ago as an olymian for the national team that's exactly what I missed the most too; the pain in the legs. :D
A lot of retired Pros seem to pile on the weight after being used to eating as much as they are capable of during their Pro times.
I did, I wasnt a pro.
I started cycling, and my wife immediately started cooking more than ever. I hope she never goes back, though I don't ride as seriously anymore
Didn’t Conor have a weight problem too, for a while? I thought they did a segment of him getting back to fighting weight.
C'mon, Conor: that hair through your helmet: is that the Pogaçar fashion now? 😄
One trainer from Bora Hansgrohe once said in an german podcast, that his riders are doing ski mountaineering in Winter, which is much more dangerous (rocks, different kinds of groundavalanches...) than skiing itself
Ski touring on the slope like anton palzer does is a bit different ;)
@@driesvandenbroecke1697 Burghardt used to do offpist stuff also during his active time. Not the mist gnarly stuff, but still.
@@brunospasta it's not more dangerous than riding your bike down a mountain pass :)
Personally, I am glad I am not that gifted a rider to ever consider turning pro. A wicked difficult life...trying to beat the top 150 cyclists on the planet. We all know how hard it is to beat the fastest guy in the town we live which everybody knows to be the fastest guy...impossible. But to beat the world? That is like beating Djokovic at tennis...impossible.
Or...how about being the great Peter Sagan. World champion. A bike rider of extraordinary talent who will never win the greatest bike race of them all, the Tour de France. He's too heavy to be competitive in the mountain stages.
The no skiing thing is probably depending on the team.
I know for a fact that Edvald Bassoon Hagen, Aleksander Kristoff and some of the other Norwegians use skiing as part of their training in the winter.
I wonder if they are doing cross-country ("Nordic") skiing, though? That's excellent cardio workout, and it's not dangerous like downhill skiing.
@@nathanhelfinstine4922 Edvald is doing cross country skiing. The other ones i don’t know. But i would guess the same for them.
Agreed. Jumbo has old videos of training camps with cross-country skiing. Kuss specifically has done a competition or two for the same. I’m sure it depends on the team or contract.
Baloney. There’s no downhill skiers who are pro cyclists
Many cyclists cross country ski in off season
Eg Greg Lemond
@@paulsolon6229 No one has written that anyone does downhill skiing.
Learn to read, then comment.
Not really, the Announcers in USA are good about explaining this but the one thing I did not know I learned in 2021 is that Riders do now need to post the whole year in advance for UCI and even for vacations down to the exact town and where you will stop along the way. In 2021 One guy was caught in a town that has another town smashed to the other they did not tell him where he was going to be in the other town or that he even knew about the other town (true as in Mexico it barely shows up if at all on Google Maps) thus ban in big 3 Super Tours until 2022 and some of the other big events the race Director prevented the racer from competing like 2 days into of the Tour Flanders he had to drop out and a few tours like in USA and Australia also did not want him in as they used all rules they could.
Not allowed to ski, but you can go down a mountain on 25mm tires going 110km.
Crashes - no comment about crashes and recovery and the support, or lack of support, in place from the team for serious injuries.
Thanks Conor...DS Manon can be tough , eh ?
Super video! Love this content. As a teacher in Canada, (retired now) people went on and on about Summer's off, so I appreciate the "lifting of the curtain "! Thanks Connor! I think it is telling that neither of our kids (I am married to a teacher) upon seeingthe true full spectrum of what the job entailed, chose the profession! When asked, they replied, "It's not worth it! " I am confirmed that pro cycling is the same!
Not being allowed to go skiing but you are supposed to go down descents at 100kph on wet roads with rim brakes. That makes total sense.
No skiing but does that apply to all skiing or only downhill, and is XC ok?
Other than the riding and hoping the stuff your riding is ok, like look at Willie Smit, some of the stuff he's had isnt great yet if you get Di2 + say a specialized or canyon i guess you're happy!
"Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true (Oooh)"
- Vienna by Billy Joel
What about dopers? What about sponsors? What about the treatment of professionals? What was it like to retire?
The thing that surprised me the most about pro cyclists was how endemic blood doping and performance enhancing drugs are. It seems that whoever has the best undetectable drug for the race wins.
You surprised by that?? You must be new.. lol
Oh Poggie :)
BRUUHHH 💀💀💀
@@yrnseventh some of us thought things got better after all the Lance stuff, and are only recently realizing there was no "clean up"
Actually, doping, performance enhancing, etc. are present in all other sports (beta-blocker for shooting is an example). The more the money, the more doping is present. I let you guess which one is probably the most affected :) However, the rules were different from one sport to another during a very long period of time. For instance, what Nadal were authorized to do at Roland Garros is prohibited in cycling. And today, the number of control in cycling is probably much bigger than in many sports much more renowned... So, we speak a lot about doping in cycling, which is normal when problem appears, but we almost never heard of doping in other sport which does not mean there is no problem but that problem is less looked for.
Conor do you have any urges to try sking now your not under contract?
The most surprising thing that happened to me when I decided to turn pro was that no pro team would sign me....
No dangerous sports is pretty standard for professionals in any sport. IIRC Josh Kronfeld had to get special dispensation from the All Blacks to go surfing.
Deffo seen Sagan skiing
I'm 16, do you think it's to late to start cycling and maybe find a club?
Did being a pro make you happy?
Hehe MVDP did the black lines on the MTB
Rider in 90s/early 2000:
Most surprising: All the injections, blood transfusions, shady doctors...
X-D
I'm disabled, it takes me a few miles to ride rest to build up couple miles non stop, this noral?
You mean you have to ride short and rest before you can ride faster and longer? That is called warming up
Hahahahahaha ooooh the first one was so hilarious hahaha oooh skööön typ :D
The video missed the crashes, the injuries, the recoveries, the doubt, the return to form
Then The next crash....
No more cafe stops or rides with your buddies either during the season.
Here's the big question for Conor...did you get dropped as a pro as much as Ollie gets dropped as an amateur??? 🤣
Should have said I have to buy my own bike!
The only reason I aint becoming pro because i might want to go skiing some day
Anyone who watches pro cycle racing for a while would know those things.
Conor, has been months! please stop the clicking sound of your bike!! (2:15)
Alexandra Park 👍
0:55 No need to be too modest. You can still talk while grinding up that hill.... :-)
Are you always racing due to the fact that the salary isn’t large enough
No, due to the fact his energy level is so high he would explode if there was no racing!
No, it's because the contract requires it. Why wouldn't it? Your job is to ride in races, so that's what you do.
@@rangersmith4652 ok, thx mate
Groupies?
I don't really know any surprises about being a pro Conor as I've never been one! Ha
Did you have to ride a bike, use components, wear kit or the logos of sponsors that you had strong dislike of?
Pretty much every pro has to use what's given to them without complaint
@@gcn That's why I asked.
@@gcn Unless you take off or disguise the sponsors' logos, usually for things like wheels or stems.
@@ecuadorthree what's to dislike about a stem though ?
Do not think the 70s Home pros had it so cushy.. Some horror stories.. Sticking own tubs on at night between stages etc . Deff no team buses etc.. Crappy digs etc..
Some of these rules sound like they were invented by Karen at the homeowners association meeting!
Lol
No dangerous side sports. LOL!! Road cycling has to be one of the most dangerous sports for both racing and training.
The most shocking thing i have learned bout cycling, maybe not true, but people peeing and perhaps pooing on the bike, yuk! Anything fir a few seconds but not that, not that.
"we have a new sponsor and everyone will now be wearing these crappy, heavy, un-ventilated and aero-dragging helmets"
3.43: ah yes nice tips from Pogacar yes. #mustbe(h)airo
Up Next: Things Learned as a GCN presenter.
Ha! The only way your allowed to hurt yourself is by bike crash!....
This was a while ago eh? 😅
Yeah, all those things are why I never went pro.
What? No cross country skiing as well? That's not dangerous, maybe just boring :D
How creaky is that bike!!!
No dangerous sports other than cycling xd
It's definitely not the easiest of jobs.
No dangerous sport... Be a downhill MTB rider, danger is the job 😁
My Sister is a PRO.....
No wait
That is a different type of PRO
Did you expect the drugs?
Boring boring boring
I liked hearing about the facts I never thought of about pro racing, but do all of these GCN videos always have to be so corny? Imagine you asked someone for some advice about something you truly cared about, and every time they gave you an answer they did something childish thinking they were being funny. Would you take that advice seriously, or would you maybe think the advice was probably like the advisor...silly and childish. I know you're trying to make these videos entertaining, but maybe a bit more adult and on topic and less Three Stooges.
First!!!!
Did anyone ask?
congrats bro!, i know how it feels
This comment thread represents all the internet has: hatters and lovers. LOL
I like Connor and all the gcn presenters. I am actually of English stock but even I have trouble understanding Connor's speech. As a professional video presenter could he please be encouraged to work on his diction and enunciation as his words tend to mumble and stumble into one another. I also find this exactly the same when he's presenting on the gcn tech show, not just outside when he's riding a bike. I understand the issue as I am a professional presenter working in a country different to my birth where accents are problematic for the locals. Keep up the great shows.
american here. i can understand conor perfectly well.
I’m American and I have no trouble understanding him.
@@zevrobins905 Thanks, but I wasn't really interested in your opinion. I was making mine.
He's talking whilst cycling, give him a break.
@@SMlFFY85 not that I said even while presenting in the GCN SHOW. Ergo, while not cycling. I also pointed out that I like the presenters and I like Connor and this is just a suggestion. People need to stop being so sensitive.
Conor, I am a professional ski instructor in Colorado. If you ever want to learn to ski, call me. Ride, Ski to the level of your smile. ⛰🚴♂️😃🏔⛷😃