Drafting and Coasting wrote:
Sub 4 miler Woods switched to cycling and won a bronze medal in the World Championships. Fact.
No Tour rider has ever switched from cycling and run a sub 4 mile. Fact.
(or a sub 2:25 marathon, or a sub 30 10K, or a marathon faster than the best middle school little girl.)
Running at an elite level is infinitely harder than riding the TDF. Running at an elite middle school girl level is harder than the TDF. Fact.
This, and many posts in the thread, are incredibly misinformed. As someone mentioned above, there's a lot of jokers on here who think they can kick @ass on a bike because they run sub-16 and torch local roadies "when they go for a ride."
Cycling (at the Grand Tour level) is a sport that takes years, usually 5-10, to build up the ability and strength and skillset to succeed in. This is much more akin to marathon racing for westerners than T&F - you dont see 18-20y/o running sub: 2:20, let alone 2:10 in the West.
In pro cycling, you don't have 18-20y/o showing up on the scene and competing after a couple years of training like in T&F. Additionally, it's idiotic and unfair to compare a retired pro cyclist dabbling in running to a 18y/o who peaked at a very different sport then transitioned to an activity that was likely a better fit for their ageing body. A pro cyclist who spent 10-20+ yrs only cycling and then did casual running/racing, after retiring, "only" to run X:XX time in their 30s-40s is irrelevant.
The truth is that some top-end mid-distance guys could, with 3-5+ years of serious, dedicated training and racing, potentially rise to the top ranks and maybe race in a Grand Tour successfully.