How has no one commented on Nate not knowing who Filippo Ganna is?

[HLaB]

Somewhere near Brazil

[Bbt67]

Oh Mexico.

[Bbt67]

@IvyAudrain

Following Men’s World Tour cycling at this point has landed on my priority list somewhere between… riding in the rain, and catching up with people from high school. Interest level: small but not enough to actually do it.

Fair enough if we are talking about personal hobbies, maybe a bit different if you have a job that is connected with cyclists, serious or off the couch.

[mailman]

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for someone with no interest in Men’s World Tour cycling to not know the name of any cyclists, even if they work in training. It’s not like we particularly know how Ganna trains.

It’s slightly more surprising for someone who does have an interest in professional road racing to not know the name of one of the biggest talents. Again though, it’s not a necessity of running a cycling company to follow the sport, and I think it just shows that there hasn’t been time to follow any of the racing. Ganna is a rapidly rising star on the road who you’d hear about by accident if paying attention to road cycling. It’ll be interesting to see if he can follow the Cancellara path and become a one day racer, or if his shear size will predicate that he is limited to ripping people’s legs off and setting Time Trial records.

[RJones07]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not following men’s WT road cycling even if you work in the cycling industry, and especially if your specialty is something other than road. It’s not like knowing who Ganna is impacts their product in any way.

[G650]

I’m assuming @Nate_Pearson heard about Ganna from this year’s Giro which sort of begs the question of whether he watched last years Giro?

[ibcoleman]

@AJS914

The fact is that most people, especially in the US, don’t know professional cyclists. I’d bet that most people in the US wouldn’t even remember Greg Lemond, our greatest US pro cyclist. Probably more will remember Armstrong since he is more recent.

I think a lot of US cyclists, even most roadies, kind of slowly lost interest in the WT peloton after the period 1999-2006.

[G650]

I think the people interested then weren’t actually interested.

[bclarkson]

I also think that knowing the current flavor of the month in the pro peloton is not necessary for being good at your cycling-related job.

[ibcoleman]

@G650

I think the people interested then weren’t actually interested.

I don’t know, the folks I ride with used to talk about and follow WT cycling a lot. Younger folks don’t seem to have picked it up much. IME, the way to avoid disillusionment is to understand exactly what WT cycling is and has been.

[G650]

@ibcoleman

I don’t know, the folks I ride with used to talk about and follow WT cycling a lot . Younger folks don’t seem to have picked it up much. IME, the way to avoid disillusionment is to understand exactly what WT cycling is and has been.

Yeah, that doesn’t mean they were actually interested in WT racing. They were just playing along, whether they knew it or not.

I paid much less attention to cycling during that era than before or after.

[ibcoleman]

@G650

Yeah, that doesn’t mean they were actually interested in WT racing.

Not to be contrary, but I think a lot of folks stopped following WT cycling in the mid-00s because it became apparent it was rife with doping, and that there were “protected” teams and riders who operated on a different set of rules than the rest. In the sense that that was WT racing, you’re right, they weren’t interested.

If it was clear at all that that wasn’t the case today, I’d imagine they’d probably come back to it, but maybe not.

[G650]

Oh I don’t disagree on that. My point was there were a lot of people there for the cult of personality and not the cycling, whether subconsciously or not

[pykeylou]

Why is this even a topic? I don’t know who that dude is either, obviously not enough to entertain me or make me a stronger rider.