Because as much as I/we want it to be, long course triathlon just isn’t that big of a deal. I can totally understand why he’d want a crack at something more significant. Given he already won all that at first attempt.
If he fails on Tour I’m not sure he’ll have any options but to return to long course. Ali Brownlee flirted with Xterra for a bit…he seems a bit listless.
What else is there?
Not that are competing at the highest levels of the sport. Sure, a bunch of recreational athletes do okay at a local / regional level, but damn few crossover athletes are racing at the high-end of the WT.
Then Blum is screwed. 
He’s won 1 IM WC (full distance). The sport is littered with 1x WC’s. He is a notch above that because of the Olympics, but not much. There is still a lot for him to accomplish in tri if he wants to.
My thinking was that the ITT is the closest road cycling discipline to what KB has been riding in Triathlons, so if he / his coaches really think he has a chance of being competitive, then he should be able to do a respectable time trial. If not, his dream of competing for a Tour win is even more farcical then I already think it is.
My last $0.02 on this topic. Will check back in 2 / 3 years on this thread when we will know for sure
I’m skeptical. Competing in a Grand Tour requires a world of unique skills and tactics beyond simply having a big engine or being good at other types of races. Also, over the past decade, the yellow jersey has been moving from seasoned riders in their 30s to young phenoms in their early 20s. Who knows what 18-20 year old is going to burst on the scene in the next year or two to teach Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Remco a few lessons?
With that said, I was skeptical when WVA came over from Cyclocross, too, and I was wrong. Turns out that the right rider with the right team can jump from the top of one discipline to the top of another discipline.
I’ll be watching with bated breath, but if I was his PR consultant, I’d tell him to lay off talking about the VO2Max and talk more about the new team he’s going to work with and new skills he’s going to develop.
Campy seems to go against the majority opinion:
“Kristian Blummenfelt is not to be messed with”: Tour de France stage winner backs 2020 Olympic triathlon champion’s plan to win Tour by 2028 and says he’ll “immediately claim his place” in peloton
Hmm. He’s down to race at IM Frankfurt, that’s in ten days time, so obviously having a crack at the IMWC 2024 in October.
Does that gel with prepping for the Tour? Maybe.
Primoz Roglic was a ski jumper before cycling.
Ritchie Port was a triathlete
Lace was a triathlete
Kristen Faulkner was a rower
Mike Woods was a runner
I’m sure I could google it and find more.
None of those are the examples you think they are.
I just get annoyed when disciplines of endurance sport somehow think they are gonna trade sides and be the next coming. Every mtb’er that was supposed to set the road world on fire didn’t. Marathoners suck at the professional two wheeled level. Tri-bois seem legit delusional about their capabilities. At least most roadies know they are a one trick pony.
Pretty great? He won the giro, and has 3 wins at the vuelta, as well as a few 2/3/4th at grand tours…
I feel like your standards are impossibly high for what defines a ‘good’ WT rider. For the record I don’t think he’ll win the yellow jersey, but he’ll be fun to watch and possibly be in the mix on some days.
Primoz’s only problem is a tendency to crash at inopportune times, and it hasn’t stopped him amassing 4 GT wins, 19 GT stage wins, a Monument, and a dozen or so major one week stage race wins. Not even sure it’s a bike handling issue, he seems fine going downhill fast and TTing fast. Just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in the peloton. Geraint Thomas had the same issue for much of his career despite having been a cyclist from a very young age.
If KB even achieved a fraction of Primoz’s palmares it would count as a huge success and vindicate his switch. I don’t believe he will, but do think that his coach coming into cycling could be interesting.
I think the primary difference between these examples and him is the age where they shifted sports
I’m firmly in the camp that this is an impossible dream, but I’m interested to see him try
Trying and failing is more interesting and arguably noble than just slowly fading away
You definitely could be correct about the age thing, however it seems like lots of athletes are making it to ~40 years old and still in the conversation (even if they aren’t GT winners).
I think he’s a freak athlete. He has a huge motor and the dedication/discipline to do the work. But the GC guys have freakishly high w/kg and he’ll never achieve that with his size. Given his lack of handling, he’ll never be a sprinter, so the best I think he could do is as a rolling terrain domestique. Seems unlikely to me he will be satisfied with that considering he’s near the top of his sport as a triathalete. A team may sign him, may even make him a leader, but that team almost certainly wouldn’t be competitive.
Alright, I was a little hard on Primoz. Tbh I really like him and consider him one of the best of this generation. I was more referring to his TdF career. The rest still stand.
Yeah that’s the point others made. The skills required KB will not have and will not have the time to acquire.
Standards are impossibly high? The guy (or his coach) said he was going to WIN the TdF in four years. So they are setting the standard here, not us.
Here are the ages when all these folks started cycling competitively (not necessarily first pro contract).
Roglic: 23
Porte: 21
Dopestrong: 21
Faulkner: 25
Woods: 26
Actually, I am also laughing about this: we have pointed out that there are some major obstacles in the way of his winning the Tour, and some people don’t seem to read or comprehend what they read. They keep fixating on his reported VO2max.
Not really.
His coach said they would go to the tour next year. Then the year after that they would target stage wins. And the year after that target the Tour.
So very different from your summary, imo.
Big kudos to his marketing team.
Anyone know what kind of numbers he is pushing around?
I did a quick search but did not see any believable numbers.
