Why are all Europeans so Fast?

[@albertbatfinder5240]

Euros are faster because of the metric system, obviously.

[@Apixdan]

😂😂

[@caperider1160]

This is a good one! I laughed so hard!

[@jochem1986]

1.607 times as fast!

[@LewisRawlinson30]

Love the metric system.

[@mrdopeshoes]

Love it!

[@tquest1]

Cycling is life in Belgium and Holland

[@emilenoterman9482]

Yes

[@brecht1043]

What is a car?

[@shredfreak83]

pretty much, most guys here are multi discipline aswell. Summer crit racers usually do some mtb/track/cx in winter and vica versa. It's always nice to see how well your winter/summer training progresses in a race rather then looking at data from your turbotrainer.

[@raivkka4313]

@Obama nick gur bin laden care joemama poop funni Speed skating?

[@raphaeltiziani7476]

and italy and spain and france

[@papagatorackspanner]

80kg is not so much for a Dutch person, he's probably nearly 3m tall.

[@kentcyclist5330]

Tell me about - when I go visit relatives over there I'm always astonished by how tall they bloody are - and healthy.

[@lucasebeling9739]

Im 201 cm and im quite “normal”

[@papagatorackspanner]

@@lucasebeling9739 it's surprising really, tall people use more resources (including medical services) and have shorter life expectancy. So nowadays, the advantages are limited. Yet we still breed taller and taller. Need something off the top shelf? Great. Fancy a career in basketball? Wonderful. Otherwise, look after your spine and get those suspicious lumps checked by a doctor.

[@michaelbujaki2462]

3m=9.8 feet.

[@papagatorackspanner]

@@michaelbujaki2462 wow! Although I already know how much 3m is. It's 3m.

[@comrade_youri2966]

Here in the Netherlands and Belgium there are a lot of families that have been in the sport for decades. This makes people very talented for American standards.

[@jshepard5840]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are a couple of guys named Cory and Justin Williams that would give you everything you could handle.

[@Texas_nc]

And yet here, the American smoked the Dutch field. And I would put Team L39ion from Los Angeles against any of these European teams.

[@TheYondaime008]

American chauvinism really knows no bounds haha

[@jshepard5840]

@@TheYondaime008 That's because we're the best at everything. It comes with the territory.

[@simonsimon8213]

@@Texas_nc legion are sandbaggers. They wouldnt stand a chance from the best amateurs from europe

[@militaryminedid2011]

Used to live in Italy where I raced granfondo's for a while. Competition was so strong. Going out for daily rides I used to see small children on road bikes. They would have their coach or parent behind them in a car yelling "Vai, Vai, Vai, Forza!". They start way young and it's very much a lifestyle from an early age.

[@hagenre8909]

exactly. Ive been racing bikes since im 6 years old and was in the national team so i did international races and belgium/italy was always super strong competition.In germany i was winning a lot of races and there i was lucky to be top 10 or top 5

[@shredfreak83]

plus the addition of bicycle highways. I can do an outdoor ftp test without meeting a single car, wich is a luxury very few americans have. And being in belgium i've noticed our cobbles utterly wreck americans (a lot more) then the locals.

[@claudinenathan6854]

@@dan2782 Don't make any sense though

[@sam2118]

@@shredfreak83 bicycle highways?

[@shredfreak83]

@@sam2118 9 to 15 feet wide asphalt (or in some cases paved but not that many) road for bicyles only. The same principle of an actual highway, connect major cities with with exits along the way. Pretty much perfect for outdoor tri/tt/ftp testing imho

[@samuelmundula2216]

I remember Jasper Verkuijl's video where he came to a Nor Cal road race & it was a noodle fest and he was so upset. I think they're just used to keeping the power on regardless of who's up the road

[@DickKnorr]

That's what I was going to say.

[@fiesta1679]

Yeah true, racing in Holland is always full gas theres always some riders who are willing to close the gaps down and people keep attacking

[@ruffrydazz2032]

There were other reasons for that though. It was a small field with 5 teams and all five teams had one guy in an early break so they just fucked off rest of the race. Dutch races have too many people for tactics like that to ever work.

[@NorCalCycling]

that's bad strategy. he was mad bc he missed the break

[@ericarnold1739]

@@NorCalCycling He didn't like missing the break but I think it was more that he came out to race. Doesn't matter if you're 5 mins behind the break, it is still more fun to compete rather than maintain Cat 5 group-ride pace and have no one pull through

[@Mitz500]

"are europeans faster than americans" americans: probaly not also americans: "I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda."

[@alanowa123]

let's be honest - we all have read that in his voice

[@policies8534]

Who else read this on his voice?

[@delzarfarman8399]

PiEn I swear ahahahahahahaha

[@Yourmom-sn7dq]

Also Asians :let me get an alive dog,an alive bat with extra dip,an alive squid with a large soda not tryna be mean but all people have their own thing btw this is just for fun ok guys don't get mad

[@Mitz500]

Karen I think you lost the meaning of my joke. My joke was about how Americans have a bad diet leading to bad physical performance. Not about a flu that was engineered by the Chinese government.

[@vvandu]

More cyclist, more racers, better competition = faster racers

[@hagenre8909]

more dedicated training from younger age on, Lots of them start with 6-8 years old. That really makes a difference. Your muscles just grow to be suited to riding bikes. Ive been starting racing with 6 years old and was racing 10+ years and now even when i do a big break (1 year +) i can ride 90 km the first time with no problem and my muscles are never aching. The muscles just get tired but when i run in comparison after a big break the next day i can barely walk

[@PhysiKarlz]

It's the same for Judo too. I was starved of competitive level Judoka in Australia. I moved to Germany 3 years ago and when I take my judo team to visit another club (obviously not in the last few months), the selection of great fighters is incredible in comparison. Also lol on an unrelated note, I'm thinking of getting into road cycle racing but apparently 80kg is a "thick boi".What am I at 90 kg? The healthiest I can cut weight to is 86 kg.

[@PhysiKarlz]

@@omnipot2210 It's fairly obvious I'm describing a striking similarity between two very different sports I'm involved in. Euros dominate the sports world due to numbers of competitors and closely packed (times and locations) competitions. Saying "k" means you've missed that point and being rude about it.

[@PhysiKarlz]

@Steve King Good to hear!!

[@hagenre8909]

@@PhysiKarlz I was doing judo too since im 5 years old. 90kg is way too heavy for a road cyclist. Anything over 80kg is not beneficial, even when its straight and n the mountains your are totally fucked. Im 190cm and weigh 74kg, so im pretty skinny

[@NewPolishScientist]

Europeans are faster than Americans. Lance Armstrong: Hold my erythropoietin.

[@Jeff-fx7bh]

@nhgru yyb that is the joke...

[@Goriaas]

@nhgru yyb Yes but Armstrong was still one of the fastest. Everyone who finished top ~top30 in that era of Tour de France doped and got caught

[@GreysUES]

Well, there was also Greg LeMond

[@mishakac1283]

@@Goriaas This is American Lie. Check Danielle Nardello, Jose Azevedo, Haimar Zubeldia, Carlos Sastre and couple of others. I don't know if they were on peds but they never get caught, and they werent on some doctors list like Cadel Evans who never get cought but he was client of Michele Ferrari. Source: Wikipedia page about doping in TdF.

[@kohlrabenschwanz]

@@Goriaas hehe yes they needed a title for "best medical care"

[@JustOneRedSoloCup]

Thanks to Glen for submitting the footage; love the course, even as narrow as it looked... nice not having a big white moving truck parked at curbside à la Alviso lol. Great commentary, the best play-by-play strategy/race analysis around.

[@sebastianeiselt37]

Imagine going from MTB to driving in Circles.

[@matthiasreinger3753]

I am downhilling and mtb for years and started roadbiking last year. I love it. It's the feeling of speed and gliding. Just give it a try

[@ketmax2805]

@@matthiasreinger3753 The gliding feel is definitely good. But the fact that I have a belt sander right underneath scares the shit out of me

[@matthiasreinger3753]

@@ketmax2805 if you are scared from the so called belt sander never try downhilling xD

[@einar8019]

@@matthiasreinger3753 ive crashed both on the road and downhill id rather take the downhill crash(no hit a tree) since you have alot more protection with gloves, helmet, chestplate and dont get me started on cars

[@matthiasreinger3753]

@@einar8019 i really don't know which difficulty you mean but I would rather crash on the street than on a black North shore track :D

[@austinfreeman7995]

After living in Germany for 3 years, my conclusion is that most Europeans train alone, while Americans often train in large groups/lots of group rides. Europeans are tough for that reason.

[@thomasvan3786]

Here in Belgium, you see all kinds of cyclists. Some train alone, some train in groups with up to 50+ members. It's very common for amateurs to go cycling alone after work during the week and join a clubtraining on sundaymorning ...which usually ends with a couple af beers at the local bar.

[@austinfreeman7995]

@@thomasvan3786 I love Belgium so much. I went and rode the 180km route of the Ronde van Vlaanderen solo a few weeks ago, and finished off with my fair share of Kwaremont beer!

[@thomasvan3786]

@@austinfreeman7995 That's how it's done ;)

[@dudeonbike800]

Related observation. I was in Germany in January during a hard freeze. The damn trees were literally popsicles! Damn it was cold and ice was everywhere. In the morning going out for my coffee and baked goods, along pedaled all the local daily bike commuters. Were they dressed head to toe in winter gear? NOPE! Riding in their business clothes, suits and skirts and not even damn gloves! Fricking hard core, I tell ya! I was so impressed. Nothing fazed them. I'd have been in a survival suit and riding studded tires! (Then again, I'm a Californian, so I can be excused.)

[@robert72292]

of course, but i give you and exemple; kazak riders are fast because they ride in group 3 to 6 but really fast, I do for exemple 120 to 180km 1500 to 3000meters climb at 32 to 36kmh alone . the kazak riders in group will be at 36 to 43kmh average. thats why they are fast as good riders in europe, because they ride in small group but fast. like that you can't be free wheel

[@schmoulblah]

hahaha since i moved to LA a few months ago i already had a few time ive been asked that question . one time coming back from work , stopped at the red light that guy came behind me ,out of breath and sweaty was like " gotcha! man , how do you do to be that fast? " or earlier this week , going to the beach with my 8 feet surfboard attached to my backpack , i passed these 3 guys in full kit of a local club that where like " dude , how can you keep that speed (a 35 kmh) with that ? " my fav answer is " because im belgian , being from the same country as Eddy Merckx give you an automatic bonus of 25 % of free speed. and the bike is red . red is faster :D " people are cool in California .

[@carlbot6227]

damn y'all are insane

[@kerrermanisNL]

@Tiesiog Merunas could have been me 😂 to/from Amsterdam/Alkmaar?

[@kira7683]

This is the first time I've been mildly engaged while watching a sports replay

[@jacobchambers3856]

“Glen is a big guy he’s 80kilos” wow didn’t realise i was considered a ‘big guy’ in cycling being 80kg hahaha

[@Verysuperinfamous]

It’s relative to the sport

[@adammillsindustries.]

I'm 70kg and at 20% body fat I'm a fat bastard. Relative to cycling.

[@jakecole7447]

@@adammillsindustries. 70 kg and 20 % body fat ? how tall are you, 160 cm ?

[@adammillsindustries.]

@@jakecole7447 5' 7"

[@nickschelvis2173]

Nils P he’s 57 cm aight

[@solitaryrefinement6787]

Why are all Europeans so Fast? Because they don't have 40 BMI's.

[@HerrBert91]

But the Mountain down?

[@DolleHengst]

@@HerrBert91 i think Europeans are a bit braver on average. Most road bike riders don't mind taking pretty big risks, doing speeds downhill that are illegal on any US roads/highways for cars. Plus, every European has health insurance, and if you crash bad in a European country, you always get taken to a hospital, receiving the best treatment possible, even if you're not from that country.

[@zahidimuhammadnasrulhaq8678]

@@DolleHengst true just happened to me

[@mathieumansire372]

weight has no effect on fall speed , aero has , what fall faster ? a 1gram pencil or a 5 kilogram dictionary?

[@mathieumansire372]

@Phil Weatherley thats exactly what IM saying !

[@BruceChastain]

Europeans take fitness more seriously. I remember when I first moved to Switzerland from the US, I was really surprised how slow I was at everything compared to even regular people.

[@levioord1357]

I raced here as wel i am 13 years old there where a crash in the corner before the climb and me and my friend crashed and whe managed to get back to the front and i got 10nt place!

[@pj9609]

Depends - while commuting in Berlin I used to race alot with my single speed at peaks around 35kph - to compensate the long traffic light phases. Here in The Netherlands I can easily go with the same average speed (23-26) on my folding bike while driving more relaxed, because the traffic lights just work :D Relaxed driving allows me to go on huge distances per day as well

[@erik_midtskogen]

Europeans, as a group, have a couple of advantages over 'Murrkins when it comes to racing. First, their infrastructure and culture is more supportive of using bicycles for transportation in addition to recreation and fitness. Basic fitness is built into their lifestyle. By contrast, in the U.S., the car (or the truck, actually) is viewed as the only legitimate form of transportation, and the typical American hasn't ridden a bicycle since the day they got their learner's permit. And so the talent pool is smaller here than over there. Second, U.S. Americans are forced to work longer hours than the people of any other OECD nation--and especially Europeans. The difference is on the order of seven hours a week. As you know, time in the saddle is important to a bike racer. With a "time-crunched" training schedule you can get "sort of fast" by focusing mostly on HIIT. But if you're training 8 hours a week, and you're racing against a bunch of guys that are training 15 hours a week...well, let's just say that you'd better have a high tolerance for pain.

[@silvermediastudio]

I think the infrastructure factor is spot on. Not sure about fitness; there is a strong fitness culture in the USA even among those who use a motor vehicle for daily commuting. Sure there's a lot of fatties too. But another aspect is geography... a lot of the USA is pretty flat. Lots of grades and beautiful terrain to train in Europe; while it does exist in USA, most people don't live near it and only travel to it on rare holiday. And maybe finally; there are a LOT of other sports in the USA that people prefer to cycling, whereas it's steeped in Euro culture. Americans generally prefer ball games and combat sports.

[@erik_midtskogen]

​@@silvermediastudio When you look at statistics, the U.S. stacks up rather poorly against most other countries in terms of basic fitness. I can speak from the perspective of a Norwegian-American, since I've lived in Norway, speak Norwegian fluently, and know the culture. Here in the U.S., at age 54, doctors scratch their heads in wonder that I'm not taking a fistful of medications for my bad cholesterol, my hypertension, and so on. They don't see that too often. Over in Norway, I'm just a normal guy, no more fit or healthy than the next one. We can speculate on the reasons for this, but my own experiences are that a car-based lifestyle and long workdays are America's biggest disadvantages, while plenty of free time and cultural acceptance of bicycles as legitimate daily transportation are Europe's biggest advantages. Cycling infrastructure in Norway? Meh...it's OK, I guess. It's maybe a little bit better than here. But I usually ride on the roads, even in Norway, for the same reason most serious cyclists do everywhere: obstacles, poor design, and slow-moving traffic that make it unsafe to ride much faster than a jogging pace on the designated trails for non-motorized transport. And in the U.S., the roads are often wider and have wider shoulders to ride on than in Norway. So the difference in infrastructure isn't a game-changer, in my view. I now live car-free in a small-ish city in Upstate New York (famous for its almost-year-round sucky weather). In terms of race fitness my choice of transportation really gives me a big advantage. Your base fitness determines how high you can peak during the race season, and base fitness is set by two things: training consistency and volume. Like many Europeans, I automatically get both consistency and at least a boost to my volume simply by living my life. There are plenty of times that I would probably just say "ah #&@! it" and jump in the car to go to work or get groceries if I had that option readily available. But once I've gone to all the trouble of suiting up for whatever weather I have to put up with, I'm usually happy to be out there, and I usually decide to take the long way, just to add volume. And as the base miles add up, so does the fitness and the potential to sharpen that base up into race fitness without the risk of overtraining. By contrast, if your training usually requires driving a car to a ride starting point or a gym somewhere and then doing a workout and then driving back home, you're just not likely to rack up 15 hours a week or more of training unless you're a total maniac or you don't work a full-time job. Even Zwift in the pain cave at home gets really stale at more than 10 hours a week.

[@BruceChastain]

a lot of truth. Also Europeans don't find upper body muscles as cool, they're more about "football" and more endurance sports.

[@erik_midtskogen]

@@BruceChastain I've always thought that the American fad for those huge, floppy "shorts" that go down to just above the ankle was driven by a need to cover up spindly little legs. Leg day in the gym is the toughest day, because your leg muscles are the biggest in the body. So in order to look tough (and over here appearances are everything) you get your arms and chest all puffy. And then you're cool. And you get lots of "chicks". 🙄 Hoo boy.

[@silvermediastudio]

@@BruceChastain Unless it's Strongman. The Nordic folks dominate ultimate strength sports.

[@rkan2]

Glenn... Who Glenn? Glenn Edelenbos - 22th in the 2019 Dutch National ITT Championships.. 4:21 from the winner, but then again the winner was Jos Van Emden :D

[@flickmybic7174]

Really enjoy your commentary man. Honestly wouldn't watch anything aside from the olympics and the occasional Tour de France here and there prior to quarantine. I've really gotten into cycling over the last 4-5 months or so. I'm a broke college kid, so obviously no real budget for a road bike... but I bought a $150 stationary. I've started putting money aside for my first road bike. Any suggestions anyone? Budget of around $1500-$2000. I've done a bit of a research, but so many damn options out there.

[@NorCalCycling]

aluminum frame with shimano 105

[@lucien_ssc6798]

I would recommend Planet X. I got an aero road bike from them with disc brakes, full carbon for £1600. It rides super fast and is also pretty good up hills.

[@The_R_Vid]

At that price range, the big brands all have similar offerings. I spent $2200 CAD for my first road bike 8 years ago. It works well for me still, over 15,000km later. After a couple years I upgraded the wheelset, which made a huge impact on the bike. Other upgrades have followed as budget permitted. Getting a proper bike fit in year 2 was also money extremely well spent.

[@lucien_ssc6798]

Arvid Anvik I did a lot of research for my road bike and its the only company that offered full carbon with disk brakes and sram rival for that price. The big brands would easily charge £2500 for that

[@lucien_ssc6798]

NorCal Cycling I guess thats the standard for most big brands, like a Specialized Allez Sport or similar

[@inferno4001]

I take any this kind of compliment I can get! (I'm Dutch, so thanks for noticing that we in Belgium and the Netherlands are the bomb! on a road bike). I mean, van Aert, van der Poel, Dumolin, mollema, kruijswijk.... Well, you get the picture....

[@Strom46]

I truly and profoundly don't give a damn about cycling, but I watched through this whole video and was really happy about it. And I'm sure I'm not alone. Great work!

[@tejjensen9402]

In Denmark, you see more and more racing bikes on the roads year after year and as some probably know, we have tailwinds on the roads and on the tracks in cycling in recent years. It's great to see one's favorite sport being performed so elegantly by a country with 5.8 million citizens.

[@jshepard5840]

Great video. I'd have a severe case of butt pucker racing that fast on that narrow path. Thanks for the footage Jeff.

[@whiteland9992]

Being dutch and a mountain biker, you def needs to be super strong. it's a long way to get to the alps :P

[@The_R_Vid]

Beautiful road to race on!

[@GreatAnubis]

I've been watching your videos for a while. I'm pleased watching another one. I'm a cyclist as well and I'm a bit jealous seeing so cool route you have there. Keep recording! Greetings from Poland.

[@ridewithgae1467]

In Italy kids start to go on bike very early and there are a great bike's culture

[@lomilomi3535]

Raced the Milan San Remo granfondo in Italy last year. 300k.... speed was ridiculous, The first 100k was pretty much full gas to split the field.. Some serious talent over there. Everyone is really passionate.

[@looee___]

Jeff man... keep the videos coming one of my fav channels of KZbin right now!!

[@bradbianco]

I didn't spot many (if any) disc brakes. So they're faster and impervious to aggressive marketing as well. Impressive!

[@tomgarner5965]

Brakes*

[@bradbianco]

@@tomgarner5965 thank you Tom

[@michaelbujaki2462]

Also, drivers in Europe know how to drive, so being able to stop in 5' is a little less important.

[@iFireender]

@@michaelbujaki2462 Uh. You know, racing's a bit different, but for your daily commute you *absolutely* want disc brakes. Why go for weaker brakes? Disc brakes are *so* much safer.

[@Tyrion-ks6rp]

​@@iFireender Not the First time i heard train in disc an Race on Rim. Can you Fürther explain?

[@2003SIF]

I haven’t cycled in years (for sport) this brings back exhilarating memories!

[@alexdoessports]

We learn to ride bikes and swim when we are 3 or 4 years old 😁

[@lpt2606]

is that only in europe?

[@lenmc8833]

everyone learns to swim and ride a bike at 3 or 4

[@johnnyvssuper732]

I’m sure you’ve heard this about 1 million times but I will repeat it I love your commentary...! I can think of one additional to your already popular channel... I’d like to hear commentary from the winning riders after the race... 💪🤙👍

[@2WheelsGood.01]

I think a big part is the willingness to take more risks thanks to their healthcare system. At least for me, that was a HUGE factor in deciding to quit crits in SoCal.

[@HardtechnoVictim]

heritage, more people cycling equals more possible talent, just numbers

[@3mtech]

Probably more cyclists in California than Holland

[@oschoa]

thanks for making content bro. and thanks to the folks who send in their races.

[@jordandupont7430]

I can't imagine having a 400 + watt FTP that's just bonkers to me. Good race

[@Velodictorian]

W/kg is where it's at. Though 4.4 w/kg is pretty stellar, it was Glen's tactics that won him the race

[@Kippcom]

@@Velodictorian it's not so much about watts/kg in flat courses like that

[@jordandupont7430]

@@Velodictorian wait where did you get 4.4? The guy is supposedly 80 kg and clearly has an FTP of 400 or more that's more than 5 per kg

[@jordanmeanes4464]

@@Velodictorian Maybe on Zwift, not in the real world.

[@Velodictorian]

@@jordandupont7430 At 30 sec in, Jeff says "he avg'd 350 w for an hr." That's basically an FTP test. Sure it could be more. Stop being pedantic

[@chocol8milkman750]

80kg is a "big boy"??? No wonder I can't hold pace pushing 95kg... I need to slim down in order to compete.

[@maxanderson2925]

Yeah I’m about 80kg and I’m the biggest boi that’s competitive ish in my area by a long shot.

[@PhysiKarlz]

I'm 90 kg fit and 86 with weight cut. I think holding pace is fine, it's the acceleration. I'm wondering how oversized my quads needs to be to be able to compete. I want to start racing next year btw

[@tonygSDWR]

@chocol8milkman I know! That big boy comment kinda hurt.

[@ericarnold1739]

Peter Sagan is 78 kg, Fabian Cancellara is even heavier at 82, there is a lot of ways to be successful, just need to figure out what works for you

[@benglover6019]

@@PhysiKarlz I'm 5'10 82kg and lean,I come from a rugby background, holding pace took me some time, accelerating and putting power down has never been an issue. if you want to work on accelerating work on you being dynamic off the bike - dynamic squats, sled push, weighted box jumps etc

[@Alan_Hans__]

I would dearly love to have somewhere to ride that is that protected from the wind. I would say with the trees, buildings and fences etc that were around there the wind would barely be noticed.

[@Goriaas]

1:58 Haha Endurance sports are the only where 80kg is considered a big-boy

[@rafaelrandom500]

*laughs in strongmen*

[@svenolschewski2200]

Nope, in Bouldering and Gymnastics too

[@Adamski94]

Karting :)

[@Samosayummyyay]

@@svenolschewski2200 Yeah. Those are sports that are about efficiency. Having the most strength and endurance at the lowest possible bodyweight = highest efficiency.

[@vfnt]

I think it’s super interesting that 80kg is considered a big boy in cycling. That’s normal weight for rowers in small boats (1 and 2 person boats) the bigger boats (4 and 8) have way heavier rowers. 90-100kg average at 2m tall.

[@Iron_Shepherd]

Thanks for the great videos, Jeff! They keep me inspired on the trainer all winter long up here in the Great White North. Cheers from Canada, eh.

[@CritWhit]

Would’ve been nice to see the final build and the Winner walk away with the bike (even some pictures versus just the thumbnail). Regardless, this was really cool seeing someone actually win their DREAM BIKE!!! Thx for sharing!!!

[@buddhahat]

Great win and excellent footage, thanks to the NorCal fans sending in their races it's a blast to watch 👍👍

[@bpetersson5024]

as usual, great commentary, and for those who are thinking about racing crits in the US, learn from these vids... its generally recognized that if you want to be a top road cyclist, you have to go to Europe before high u r 18, and the same goes for soccer; basketball is the other way around, for the same reasons...

[@cyrielvaningelgem5180]

Hi Jeff I'm 12 years old and I started racing. The thing is, they are the same age, but they are allready in puberty. It's like impossible to stay with the peloton, they're all alot stronger and a lot taller (like 30cm). Any tips so I maybe can race with the group? Cyriel

[@hiddenrob6289]

Lets be honest we all love cycling videos this is just what I need to get it going the blood I love it. I always watch these before I go out and get my body moving. I love when I always watch one of these, and then put up my heavy playlist I love like Delta Parole and then I just go haaaaard!!!! Tactic hasnt let me down yet.

[@rich.trails]

The hardest race I was in was as a junior at Tour de l'abitibi. There were a few top level US guys, but most of us from the states were pack fodder or simply had no business being there. Lots of Euro teams. That circuit race in town was ridiculous. The road races were okay since it was flat, as long as you stayed in the pack, remember going 46mph on junior gears in the group, nothing of note happening just a tailwind probably.

[@TropicalMBA]

Having lived in Europe (Spain) for over 3 years and spent time in racing circles there and in the USA (Austin, TX), some observations: 1) Cycling attracts a lot more of the top pool of athletes and it attracts them younger, whereas top athletes in the USA likely to be doing anything but cycling seriously in their teens and 2) That culture of regular training and riding has remarkable trickle down effects even to amateur group rides, I've noticed that the average good racer in the US have similar training schedule / #'s to a good club rider in Spain. A few factors is Europeans seem to make more time for it (a lot of American club rides built around busy schedules). Perhaps a smaller factor but for me it plays a role, it's a lot easier to spend a great deal of time on your bike when the roads/drivers are good for it. Very few places in the US that can complete with European roads, so that's inspiring in itself. It's like any sport if you've got better training facilities you're going to get better athletes.

[@theoriginaldimi]

Dan Andrews Yeah, I think more Europeans are interested in cycling because it is more popular over here. There’s a larger talent pool of cyclists, just like there’s a larger talent pool in the US for baseball or football (handegg). Top European talents go into soccer or cycling, not into baseball or football, which are fringe sports in most European countries.

[@mikelboudica5389]

theoriginaldimi Football a fringe European sport? FOOT BALL.

[@theoriginaldimi]

Polymathstudios Obviously football as in American football, smartass. I even added “handegg”.

[@sethvanwieringen215]

Awesome to see the local course here! It is a really fun course to race at!

[@dctriathlon2012]

This rides are Just clubs rides what you’re considering in USA like a cat 4/5 But probably this group ride can perform in USA cat 1/2 350 watts average

[@kookamunga2458]

Depends on the style whether it's down hill on a mountain bike or cycle cross . The west coast of Canada and the US have some of the best mountain bikers .

[@Jeroen_K]

I would love to see you analyse footage of a Dutch beach race, preferably one with crosswinds. Can anyone send him that? It's probably a niche no one has heard of, but it's a big sport in the western part of the Netherlands. Imagine drop bar bikes with big tires and echelon riding on ever changing surfaces... The fields are huge and a lot of Dutch road pro's participate.

[@Videos-sobre-punhos-e-rodas]

Cycling is one of the most popular sports here in Europe, and we ride since we were children. I don't know how the situation is in America though.

[@Keyboardbeatz]

This course looks wild, love it

[@valensi1988]

In italy it's almost impossible to drive around on a sunny day because of the amount of bycicles on every road, yet roads are not as nice as in the Netherlands or Belgium. We love cycling so much, it's in our veins, I used to watch Tour De France and Giro D'Italia with my grandfather when I was just 4-5 years old. There are so many amateur and professional teams in every region, it's probably the second most practiced sport after soccer. I guess it's just a tradition we have.

[@drewd9985]

@NorCal Cycling If you can get a rider to send you footage of this race, you will see a whole other world. I would love to hear your commentary (Even better I'd love it for you guys to race it one day and give your view). www.wielerrondezierikzee.nl/ There's a short video on the webpage. Narrow roads between buildings, hay bales on bollards, racing on old-bricks (slippery), new bricks (grippier, located along the exposed port section), cornering on cobbles (under the medieval gate), offset entrance-exit on a crossroads between buildings at the end of the start-finish uphill, a narrow chicane on bricks in the final 200 metres and an uphill sprint on old-bricks past spectators sitting in restaurants. Here is a view from the lead motorbike - kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6LVXp9_ZZmAraM Dutch racing is notoriously fast - I would say it is a combination of the shorter length races, the excellent road surfaces, the lack of proper hills (in many places) and the drive that comes from riders who are tall, big-ring rouleurs. German racing was fast, but they conducted a lot of criteriums - then racing there died a bit after the big EPO scandals and Team Telekom folded and is only recently getting back up to its former level. Belgian racing is strong and hard, which, considering the roads and conditions is also fast - they do more kermis races (100-120km on circuits between 4 and 14km in length and not that many criteriums). For the Netherlands, this race was quick, but not a particularly fast race. Team representation was low for a full-on race. I think that this was because the Dutch run a different 'Interclub' competition category to other countries. In the Netherlands, Interclubs are local races organised between local clubs as a step-up to harder amateur racing. In Belgium and France, for example, Interclubs are run at either UCI 1.6 or 1.5 and are usually races around 170-180km... and are run at similar speeds to what was shown here and are basically an amateur level of pro racing - winning these can take you pro. In many seasons racing in Europe, I never raced a criterium shorter than 70km and speeds were high - on smoother, flowing courses, up to 50kmh average for a whole race. Can you believe they even do a Derny Race around the Zierikzee criterium course - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaSrd6OGdpJ7lZY (you get a better view of the road surfaces from this video taken from multiple locations around the course).

[@iscart]

Can you give us a 'How to' on what stuff to get so that we can send in footage like this? Everything from cameras, powermeters, to programs and stuff? Would very much like to record my future races, and also use the footage for a trainer(s) to analyze see how I can improve, but also just to see like how much Watts you do when etc

[@NorCalCycling]

I made a video about making overlays check out my channel. If you want to send in footage submit the raw clips from your camera and your data file to [e-mail]

[@silvermediastudio]

@@NorCalCycling Could you do a video about some of the more subtle aspects that a new-comer would be good to learn? Some examples... the elbow flick, what it means in different contexts, or at one point you said he was checking the gap. Where to look and how to safely & effectively ride on the wheel and utilize the draft. Perhaps some things to look for in different riders' styles to get clues about their strengths and weaknesses while formulating your strategy. Other oddities, habits, signals, insider knowledge. I'm sure some of this nuance is spread throughout your channel, might be a decent compilation for a tutorial video though. Cheers!

[@leonmozambique533]

Bruh I watched this entire thing and never been on a racing bike in my life

[@w4yland3r27]

Just started racing and 350 watts? Welp, back to my Costco hotdog ....

[@ruffrydazz2032]

Just started road racing. Sounds like this guy raced XC MTB.

[@jesuisFORTIO]

competition starts sooner, very competitive races from very young age

[@bobrong9645]

I'm European and I'm quite sure I'm pretty slow on a bike (well, I'm much faster these days, but that's probably due to me riding an e-bike).

[@taunaengus4978]

Practice-practice-practice...natural talent-natural talent-natural talent (mental and physical)...if you don't have it, you do something else, over there and here too. I rode and raced for a while with a guy who was an awesome athlete but he couldn't handle the pressure of bicycle racing, he went back to running and did well.

[@johanstam4188]

Worth mentioning that this is on a dedicated, closed racing circuit, this is not a public road.

[@dant8940]

Interclubs at least in Belgium are basically the highest level of amateur racing with fields up to like 200 riders. Usually the races over there are full gas way more often than here in the US from my experience

[@jasonhowes6431]

It’s to beat the rain and cold weather 😂

[@JBDazen]

As a Dutch guy I can tell you that this is not your typical Dutch race environment. Looks great, I want to find that loop!

[@Freakschwimmer]

yea, it's definitely missing the Grasklinkers :D

[@iberiksoderblom]

Cycling is in general very competitive in Europe and we have many bikes !

[@OtesOtesOtes]

good video i enjoyed the content well raced

[@GlobalTrailGuide]

As a pretty skilled American Enduro racer living in Italy... I can't relate enough to your title 😂 just got whooped by some locals in a race last weekend

[@ceazy1861]

I like how no one has disc brakes

[@chrisko6439]

No power and money wasted :-)

[@chrisclark7181]

Van Aert just won 3 big races in 10 days miraculously with rim brakes...

[@123-j4e]

Why do they have saddle bags? It’s a short race so a puncture would be a game ender. It seems completely unnecessary..? Am I wrong?

[@Labobinebleue]

No numbers, not a race

[@Strift104]

Probably don't fancy walking their bike to the finish line if they puncture.

[@tijnweerd1523]

We ride to the race from our homes.... so its not for the race but for the home-race km's

[@T3rr0rw0ut]

LOL I was watching this video and thought huh I know this!! it's Oldenzaal Netherlands (hulsbeek)

[@Unix_Based]

Belgium and the Netherlands are cycling sport nations. So the competition there is very high, which rises the level also. We have some hotspots in Germany too, like Cologne and Berlin. As an amteur, you can't go more than two races in a row, without having some professional cyclist being in the race also. It was very common during the nineties, that Erik Zabel, Jan Ullruch and others raced in Berlin. If you wanted to have a chance, you had to ramp up your training, stamina and power.

[@judechamberlain7580]

I did a uci race in Belgium for under 17s and averaged 26 miles an hour for two hours

[@aaronmcdevitt1166]

Guess they aren't fast yet when they're still kids lol

[@axdemax4725]

@@aaronmcdevitt1166 26 miles an hour not fast? Remember that he is talking about U17, these are boys of 15-16 years old.

[@OtesOtesOtes]

4:53 understandable confusion, in the netherlands they're dutch, finnish are from finland.

[@sunshinecycling]

The guy in 2nd went to the right...so he got no crosswind draft advantage anyway. So the winner wouldn't have gained anything by being to the left in this case. Had the guy in 2nd gone to the left, he may have gotten just enough of an advantage (depending on how much crosswind there was between all those trees) to sneak by. I'm guessing there is too much tree coverage blocking the wind, to have the wind have much of an impact.

[@rianv6266]

I want to cycle in this speed but for commuting

[@MultigrainKevinOs]

Jesus that is like racing on a bike path, terrifying.

[@andrehof7876]

no traffic though it is cosed off circuit...

[@MicrowavedHamster]

Can you add information about where exactly the race is, and the European level? I'm European and your channel makes me want to get into racing; having more info like that would make it easier.

[@gln666]

Ties, almost every local club has some sort of weekly trainingrace or interclub. Some have closed circuits, some race on industrial roads. This particulary one in Oldenzaal, "hulsbeek"

[@amneziaxeaster-gaming382]

You should put the percentage of uphill and downhill

[@Chunky246]

Mountain biking gives you a good engine :)

[@dudeonbike800]

And once Europe embraced mountain bike racing, they dominated. No surprise.

[@laustudie]

Im 34, i got a driver licence but do not own a car. Netherlands is a small country there is really no need to have a car. Good parents here let their kids cycle to school and a lot of people continue to ride their bikes once they are done with school and go to work.

[@dudeonbike800]

Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" also answers this question in a general statistical way. It's a great read and I highly recommend it. It's a shame we impose one arbitrary cut-off date to youth sports for age classification. We shoot ourselves in the feet by effectively eliminating 2/3 of our athletic talent pool. So stupid. Changing this factor alone would improve our national athletic performance on a huge scale.

[@matthieumoussaoui294]

Good content!

[@emilenoterman9482]

Of course his strategy is so great! He watches your videos!

[@Ssenefo]

*Don’t know why I’m watching this but deep down this is something we all wanted to see somehow.*

[@dfvallejosc]

There is a good amount of great cyclist here in Colombia, too. The world is not only Europe or USA

[@alanowa123]

"Glen is a big boy, he's 80kg" >me, a 130kg *CHONK* well...

[@clouster75]

depends on your height (BMI). 130kg is okay if you are 2.5m tall.

[@alanowa123]

@@clouster75 well, im not. But when i was fitter and a little ripped my bmi was still high. Bmi is not good indicator of fitness

[@alexicalie]

PiEn dude if you are 130kg you need to go on a diet immediately

[@alanowa123]

@@alexicalie i don't need to do anything ;)

[@abuckeye26]

Not that I like the guy at all, but DurianRider received some flack when he said the likes of L3gion and other top name American crit riders and clubs would do nothing in European races but I think it's fairly accurate

[@Matt28NJ]

I think it depends on *what* kind of Euro races they would do; the Euros don't do a whole lotta handlebar banging crits like us 'Muricans do. In a crit? Sure, I'd take the LA boys to be competitive.

[@Julian-wf6om]

@@Matt28NJ Mweh watch some more Dutch crits

[@mitchellsteindler]

@@Matt28NJ they invented banging handlebars. However I think they would do just fine in a crit. And cory would do just fine in a road race.

[@5PercentTint]

say what you want but why throw teams under the bus when they are helping get more people into the field? Kenyans come to the USA every year and blow out all of our running road races. different regions, different styles, different skills, different competition.

[@Ih8GoogleandApple]

When USA cycling put together a development team for Tour of CA the Williams names were considered but for obvious reasons they didn’t make the squad. As soon as they hit a category 3 climb they would be off the back surfing the caravan just trying to avoid the specter of the 🧹 wagon

[@jakerowell7363]

I race in Britain and everyone is fairly insane 👌

[@quantumadmin]

He's a big boy at 80kg. Checks scale : 82kg Checks ftp:310 🥺

[@andymiller3889]

I'm right there with you. My FTP is 307 and I was 84.65 kilos this morning.

[@OtesOtesOtes]

6:57 there's a greater potential difference in speed to create a gap. i'd argue that acceleration has a linear difficulty. it's a challenge to accelerate from stillness because of inertia and it's tough to accelerate from a high speed because you're already close to your top speed.

[@lloydhlavac6807]

He won by over a bike length, leading out the sprint, and it's not like the guy in 2nd was moving up on him, so I wouldn't exactly say "he almost lost it there at the end."

[@ToquzOghuzKhaganatekhan]

My life started to back to normal side day by day 🤗

[@desmondyap5391]

Wow that watts is off the charts.

[@aliounendayziga8669]

Jef when are doing a belgium kermesse

[@oasisd347]

holy shit glenn was like a train from the spectators view