By Arnold Schurman
  

  It wasn't all that long ago when a noted critic predicted that pro teams would be scouting for the next generation of riders while they were still in their cribs. It hasn't exactly come to that yet, but with teams throughout OCM starting to expand more time and effort on their scouting networks, it has become imperative that the finest talents are spotted early so that they can be nurtured carefully into the lean mean machines that grace the international racing circuit.
  
  One such talent has been none other then the highly touted Andrew Levante. The 15 year old has been in scintilating form in the amateur ranks, drawing comparisons to a young Elias Márquez. Strong on the climb and devastating on the straight, experts believe that he could be so much more. It will be at least two more seasons before any of the big cycling teams can offer Levante pro terms, but that hasn't stopped the scouts from raving about the kid from Altona.
  
  While much ado is made of the talents of the young Aussie schoolboy, it would possibly be prudent to recall the case of Matro Volonte, just two seasons ago.
  
  The highly rated Volonte was first spotted as a 23 year old in his hometown of Choluteca, Honduras. The premier scouts touted him as a once in a generation rider, raving about his elite stamina and astounding burst of power in the saddle. Signed to pro terms by Costa Rican outfit Equipo Easy On, not many would have predicted anything but a bright and glittering career for the Honduran rider.
  
  I met Volonte just last week, in the capital Tegucigalpa. I had phoned him up upon arriving in the country and we had agreed to meet for a drink. His distinctive tanned complexion names him a local but I have no trouble recognising him as he arrives at the bar.
  
  The years have been kind to Volonte, his trademark stubble still frames his chiselled

jaw and the deep baritone is familiar. He has mellowed somewhat though, no longer the proud and flashy youngster he once was. We order our beers and he tells me he has married his high school sweetheart and they have settled down just outside the city.
  
  I ask him if he still follows the races and he cocks an eyebrow at me. The horses yes, he laughs, not so much the cycling. His time with Equipo Easy On seems like an age ago. The memories are still fresh though, as he regales me with anecdotes from when he first started out. If you had met him for the first time then, you might have been forgiven for thinking that his career had been a fruitful one.
  
  The race to sign him had been a grueling one, but the day Equipo Easy On announced that they had got their man, the Matro Volonte media circus went into overdrive. Things got off to a rocky start after reports of a rumoured bust up between Volonte and elder riders within the team. It was rumoured that not everyone was enamoured with the perceived arrogance from the next big thing. The brash young rider didn't do himself any favours with a magazine interview where he dismissed the doubters as "pig headed jealous have-beens".
  
  His first season in Equipo Easy On was uneventful in a racing sense, but was marred by a serious knee injury that limited his involvement with the team in the later stages. The injury was serious enough for the team to delist him and send him for rehabilitation in Germany.
  
  However, the injury cleared up sufficiently for Equipo Easy On to offer him new terms towards the end of Season 9. The future was still bright for Volonte, though cracks were starting to appear. Race experts warned that his unorthodox riding stance was exerting an unhealty amount of stress on his back and meant that he would not be able to carry on for long.
  
  Indeed, team doctors were consulted as Volonte started to complain of back spasms following races. The spasms were so debilitating that Volonte would be bedridden for days after a race. His racing suffered as a result and his

efforts during raceday dropped noticeably.
  
  Things came to a head at the Robeaux Classic, where Volonte suffered a very public breakdown halfway through the race. "Not my finest moment," he admits. "Something just snapped and I couldn't go on anymore."
  
  Stumbling over a pothole in the road and nearly swerving into a crowd of spectators, the Honduran took of his helmet and swore angrily at them. He then proceeded to kick his bike and refused to go on anymore, sitting at the side of the road as race organisers scrambled to guide the other cyclists safely past the new obstruction.
  
  Finally coaxed back onto his bike by team officials, Matro Volonte rode out an uneventful last few kilometres to the finish line, arriving in an unheralded 68th place. He never rode for the team in a competitive race again.
  
  These days, Volonte sells bike parts in a small repair shop in the city. Asked to reflect on his career as a whole and the lessons it offers a new generation of riders, he gives a languid shrug before stating that perhaps the youth of our day should "take things a little slower".
  
  "When you're young, all you can think of is the money and the fame. And the girls of course.
  
  "Then when it's all gone in an instant, you start to realise too late that it wasn't all that important after all."
  
  He still gets recognised on the street back in Honduras. You get the feeling that the smile he flashes constantly hides a world of hurt and perhaps regret. He can't go back but he's slowly learning to move on. "Some people never even make the grade in the first place you know, at least I had a shot at the big time."
  
  These are wise words, words that Andrew Levante and other young riders of his generation would do well to heed.
  
  Arnold Schurman is a former Essex and Germany Tour runner up and is often named among the legends of the OCM Tour. He is currently working as a pundit for the Dodge Racing Channel.