Ran into World Tour Pro on ride today

[KJMUNC]

Was rolling up PCH today with the team on a group ride....cruising along in the high 20mph range and a guy on a TT bike absolutely blows past us...like "holy crap I thought it was a motorcycle" fast. We both get caught at a light and I notice despite his all-black kit he has Dutch Nat'l champ stripes and an Ineos Kask helmet on.....turns out it was Dylan van Baarle.

He took off like a friggin rocket when the light turned green and was gone from sight very quickly....not easy considering the flat nature of PCH.

Checked his Strava and all his recent rides are in/around LA....guess he's spending time here rather than his Monaco home this winter.

Was just shocking to see his speed relative to a group that was already cruising along at a pretty high tempo.

Mucho respect for how fast he is....especially for a big dude (6'2")

[kmla320]

Yes, us mere mortals can only dream!

[ultraman6970]

6.2 is like the average in holland and probably the guys is lighter than you think aswell. THe 1st time I saw european profesionals was in a hour record attempt by gregor braun, he was in bolivia and then he went down to chile to try the record which he couldnt get beaten. Curiously there's no information about that night what so ever anywhere in the internet but maybe somebody mentioning he ended up in bolivia at some point due to a girl or something. Back the in the day there was a hour record in profesionals and amateur, the italian that did a try the night before beat the amateur hour record, which he did. DOnt ask, dont remember the name. BTW Braun did a few km more than the italian rider. 1985 maybe.

1st time I see somebody in the track looking like a machine of pedaling, my jaw was just on the floor. Never thought the difference was going to be so much compared with panamerican level or even with the amateur italian guy.

The 2nd rider I remember was Pavel Tonkov, saw him climbing in the andes in a local tour (2 weeks I think), was like a motorcycle going uphill. I believe he was ready to go pro by then but man, was just bonkers to see him going uphill.

So i just imagine how fast that dutch rider could have been going :) Is a nice experience to see how high martian level the guys can get.

[fa63]

Joey Rosskopf (rides for CCC) has shown up a couple times on this year's Atlanta Airport Ride (he is from Atlanta; I think he is back home for the holidays). A couple weeks ago, he closed a massive gap at upwards of 30 mph and I am pretty sure he was still nose breathing. They are on a different level altogether.

[KJMUNC]

Joey Rosskopf (rides for CCC) has shown up a couple times on this year's Atlanta Airport Ride (he is from Atlanta; I think he is back home for the holidays). A couple weeks ago, he closed a massive gap at upwards of 30 mph and I am pretty sure he was still mouth breathing. They are on a different level altogether.

Ah the Airport Ride! Used to love the extended 75mi version for winter training. John Murphy was just a teenager and used to join us and still beat all the local pros :-)

[azrider]

I always enjoy hearing these stories of just how good or freakish Pro Tour riders are.

The only thing close I would have is local phenom Brandon McNulty sitting on front of local group ride setting tempo and breathing out of his nose while everyone else is literally dying.

Pro tour dudes are freaks for sure.....(meant in the most complimentary way)

[FlashUNC]

World class is described as such for a reason.

[KJMUNC]

World class is described as such for a reason.
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