What are the odds?

I just read that there will be a Pro purse at the NORBA events this year, and they're even gonna throw in UCI points too. As cool as it is that the pros will make some money for winning, the awarding of UCI points is HUGE! For anyone that saw the awesome documentary Off Road to Athens knows that it was the chasing of UCI points that created most of the drama in the film. To get a slot on the 2008 Olympic team, you need to amass lots of UCI pts. The highest point awards are still only available at the European World Cup events, which means a number of US pros will be heading to Europe over the next 2 years.

I think that chasing points is still the wrong way to go about the selection process. If someone who is very talented, even possibly the best rider that year, and they sustain an injury that keeps them out of the running for a couple months in the year/s preceding the Olympics, then they're gonna be way behind in the point race. So, that means that someone with less skill could make the team, just because they got more pts than others. There should be a couple of Olympic qualifier events, or, the coach of the team SELECTS the best riders for the team.
Personally, I'd like to see the Olympics go back to the days of all amateur athletes. That was a format that made the Olympics accessible to anyone, and offered much better competition...it left some room for surprises.
The point method that USA Cycling uses for team selection is a perfect example of making the Olympics inaccessible to most. If you're a privateer, then you're gonna have your hands full getting to all the NORBA races to gather those all important UCI pts, and the World Cup circuit? Fuhgetabouit...unless you're independently wealthy. Even a sponsored pro isn't assured of all the opportunities to gather the points. There aren't too many companies that are keen to pay for their riders to compete in Europe. Europe is hell and gone from a US company's target market.

At least the prize money and awarding of UCI points is a step in the right direction.