I know this is off-topic again - but I feel if some sporting events are very worthy of mention - this is one - Maximum respect to US cyclist Tyler Hamilton.
He broke/fractured his collar bone on (the first day) Stage 1 of the TdF on July 6th and is not only STILL cycling, but WON A STAGE, yesterday!!!
A tough man among tough men in a tough race.
Respect.
He is from Massachusetts…so he must me tough…wait…Timothy Lane is from Reading…nix that.
Joke…joke…
ix-nay, on the Tim-snay…
respect to all who will have completed the TDF.these guys are very,very tough and are due alot of respect.a very tough sport and event!
Originally posted by X-Man
respect to all who will have completed the TDF.these guys are very,very tough and are due alot of respect.a very tough sport and event!
Lance Armstrong is mentally the tougest athlete on the planet today. Armstrong’s VO 2max has been measured at 88mls.kg.min… Compare that to the great Sebastian Coe who held the 800m record for years has a 82mls.kg.min and you know who the baddest boys on earth are, he he he he…
Originally posted by RickyHatton
Lance Armstrong is mentally the tougest athlete on the planet today.
Oh … that’s a big statement - I bet some one will take issue with that …
Originally posted by no23
Oh … that’s a big statement - I bet some one will take issue with that …
Oh bloody hell, don’t argue it is someone who can lift a weight and sprint quick. Millions can lift weights and thousands can sprint fast, but only a few can complete a 3 week tour.
Woods, Armstrong, Hamilton, Montana, Prefontaine, Jones, Greene, Indurain, Sampras, Radcliffe, Rice, Johnson, Nicklaus, Bird, Keane, Stynes, Borg, La Motta, Favor-Hamiliton, Pearce, Jordan, Kelly, McCullough …
Originally posted by no23
Woods, Armstrong, Hamilton, Montana, Prefontaine, Jones, Greene, Indurain, Sampras, Radcliffe, Rice, Johnson, Nicklaus, Bird, Keane, Stynes, Borg, La Motta, Favor-Hamiliton, Pearce, Jordan, Kelly, …
I was talking about todays Athletes…
Substitute both Woods and Nicklaus for Ben Hogan.
Miguel Indurain no longer rides, But True…
Sampras and Borg???.. My god, a Game of tennis compared to the Tour De France and the torture they put there bodies through everyday… Different plant, totally…
When Paula Radcliffe does 20 Marathons in 22 days, I’ll give her some props…
The others I don’t know…
Originally posted by RickyHatton
Sampras and Borg???.. My god, a Game of tennis compared to the Tour De France and the torture they put there bodies through everyday… Different plant, totally…
Certainly different sports - but true exponents of the term ‘mental toughness’
Originally posted by RickyHatton
When Paula Radcliffe does 20 Marathons in 22 days, I’ll give her some props…
Paula Radcliffe is probably one of the toughest runners, with one of the highest pain thresholds pound for pound - man OR woman - in the running game today … without doubt one of the toughest in the world today.
Originally posted by RickyHatton
The others I don’t know…
Sean Kelly - Mulitple Tour de France cyclist and multiple (most?)Green Jersey winner, recognised as one of the toughest TdF cyclists ever and current Eurosport commentator
Joe Montana - an on-the-field leader for the 49ers’, #16
Steve Prefontaine - very tough distance runner that sadly never grew up- simply known as ‘Pre’
Jerry Rice - NFL legend legendary trainer
Michael Johnson -
Larry Bird - never the best player ever and couldn’t jump, couldn’t run - but menatlly strong enough to be one good Bball player!
Roy Keane - mentally tough? - think so - Does cruciate, returns and following year is players and journalists player of the year, stands up to his national team Manager because training and equipment isn’t up to standard, gets kicked out of World Cup training camp, is the biggest soccer news story in Europe … and comes home and hides ? no - walks his dog! anyway - I wouldn’t tell him he’s not!
Jim Stynes - Brownlow medal winner and holder of AFL record for consectuive games, Hall of Fame inductee,
Jake La Motta - probably one of the truly toughest fighters - even without the help of a film - (I don’t think he ever hit the canvas(?)),
Stewart Pearce, Pyscho, breaks leg, comes back, takes vital penalty - misses, steps up again takes vital penalty - scores, breaks leg, comes back,
Michael Jordan - well ? I guess the referees just helped him
I think where talking about a different sort of mental toughness here. The top 3 toughest sporting events on earth have to be the Tour De France, Vuelta (Spain) and the Giro Italia (Italy) which are all 3 week cycling events. If your not a cyclist you don’t have any idea what these guys go through. Since Coe was supposed to have one of the largest lung capacity’s in Athletics history, Armstrong blows his away. The top cyclists from what I hear are the only athletes on earth who don’t have latic acid buildup in the body because of the thousands of KM’s they cover to condition there lower body.
All the top runners on earth have good Lungs but there legs couldn’t touch Lances or any top cyclists in terms of Strength Endurance. Its a totally different world. You feel the pain in the lungs and legs.
In my opinion Cyclists are the greatest athletes on earth, followed closely by World class boxers then marathon runners.
Remember Lance came back from Cancer to win the tougest endurance race of them all 4x and coming upto a record = 5th Tour and your throwing Stuart Peirce and Roy Keanes name around…
I am impressed with the depth of knowledge with cycling here funny to read it on a forum on sprinting.Amos
Paula does near enough 3-4 marathons a week via her training -that near enough ?
Originally posted by gloopzilla
Paula does near enough 3-4 marathons a week via her training -that near enough ?
Well that is pretty impressive, but these guys are doing 20 Marathans in 22 days (close enough). With all the major marathans being staged on flat terrain, Cycling up Mountain roads that skier’s use in the winter to reach 80-100MPH speeds it makes it all the more impressive.
Look at the cadence (revs) Lance is pushing up them mountains. He’s pushing his bodyweight, Weight of the bike, Wind etc and after 180KM of racing on 1 stage having gone over mountainous terrain already, he then hits another 15KM climb (Straight Up) and the guy is still spinning them gears like you would when your going for a fairly intense ride in the park.
Lance is da Bomb, Aight…, lol
ok - they r incredible -
I wouldn’t want to do it - I had enough of bikes when was a postman - damn saddles , damn dogs , etc etc
Gloop, Where in the UK you from?
Crawley Sussex - the deep south lol
Remember that tyler needed 11 caps on his teeth after grinding them down after…get this…breaking his arm in the gyro di italia…of couse he kept biking. That is one tough SOB…
also the guy that cut his arm off to live in Utah HAD to do that to keep going…Tyler WANTED to keep going.
That’s true Clemson - 11 caps - unbelievable …
Respect
Originally posted by gloopzilla
Paula does near enough 3-4 marathons a week via her training -that near enough ?
PR was doing 135 miles per week up to some of her recent marathons.
She trains 2xday, 6 days a week, which averages at 22.5 miles a day.