Even as little as 300 ml of blood increases your performance in time trials. So in order to remove suspicion from blood doping we have to forbid being at altitude. Being a good GC is all about being good at time trials and being good at climbing. The pros take lots of supplements and some respond better than others- just as with doping. 39% respond positive to coffee before races, but not the rest. About half the population gets better with baking powder etc.
Doping questions aside, Tadej is more all-around talented than Lance. Don’t get me wrong, Lance was very good, but could you imagine Lance sprinting against MvdP for the win in Flanders? The only real comparison is Merckx.
Lance rode very few races. TDF, Amstel, few of the Classics.
He rode when the Yellow jersey controlled the pace. Tadej wants to win every race he enters
He is unrealistically good, enough for raising suspicion. He took Maillot jaune yesterday after two hard stages and is hard to think he's gonna lose it.
As I have said many times, elite athletes who run away from or ride away from other elite athletes like they are standing still worries me. If he is clean great. But I am still smarting from the late 90s early 2000s when every guy who did things that nobody else could do (by a large margin) got pinched (except Cancellara). I dont like that Hassan runs a last lap and half at full bore when everyone else has the limits of being human. WVArte and TP make me suspicious. But, I was happy to see them both suffer appropriately by stage 6 longest stage. If WVA stayed out there much longer I was very sus. TP had to turn himself inside out to win by a small margin, so there's that. The diff between the very elite should be miniscule IMO. genetic freaks all have access to same training principles.
1) how often they are tested and the risk of getting caught;
2) how all teams at the TdF level can afford access to information and resources to gain an advantage;
3) how few cyclists actually get busted despite random raids and such,
the only reasonable conclusion is that everyone’s on a more or less fair playing field, including the scenario where everyone is doping below the officially permitted levels as well as the scenario where everyone is illegally doping but somehow without actually getting caught.
1) how often they are tested and the risk of getting caught;
2) how all teams at the TdF level can afford access to information and resources to gain an advantage;
3) how few cyclists actually get busted despite random raids and such,
the only reasonable conclusion is that everyone’s on a more or less fair playing field, including the scenario where everyone is doping below the officially permitted levels as well as the scenario where everyone is illegally doping but somehow without actually getting caught.
good point but you discard the possibility that some are willing to dope while others are not
1) how often they are tested and the risk of getting caught;
2) how all teams at the TdF level can afford access to information and resources to gain an advantage;
3) how few cyclists actually get busted despite random raids and such,
the only reasonable conclusion is that everyone’s on a more or less fair playing field, including the scenario where everyone is doping below the officially permitted levels as well as the scenario where everyone is illegally doping but somehow without actually getting caught.
good point but you discard the possibility that some are willing to dope while others are not
Oh but I’d still call it a “fair” playing field because of #2 even if they voluntarily choose not to, analogous to a runner choosing to not use super shoes (not saying super shoes are like doping).
He just shipped almost 3 minutes on stage with Col du Galibier and Col du Granon (both ~40min cols) combination. Frankly, the way he was looking at the end and the fact that he was passed by Gaudu, Thomas or A. Yates, that cannot be anything else but bonk. Maybe (possibly even likely) he would have lost some time to Vingegaard on ascents as long as these, but 3 minutes is definitely bonk.
Wow - what a stage! Wonder how Tadej will bounce back tomorrow.
Back in the good old days, you'd just slap a testosterone patch on your sack, take a nap and come back and crush it the next day - not sure if you can get away with that these days.
He just shipped almost 3 minutes on stage with Col du Galibier and Col du Granon (both ~40min cols) combination. Frankly, the way he was looking at the end and the fact that he was passed by Gaudu, Thomas or A. Yates, that cannot be anything else but bonk. Maybe (possibly even likely) he would have lost some time to Vingegaard on ascents as long as these, but 3 minutes is definitely bonk.
Wow, yes, looks like he was just soundly defeated on strength in today’s stage. No fall or any mechanical, was there?
Wow - what a stage! Wonder how Tadej will bounce back tomorrow.
Back in the good old days, you'd just slap a testosterone patch on your sack, take a nap and come back and crush it the next day - not sure if you can get away with that these days.
Don't worry, his team will think of something to get him back on top!
Wow, yes, looks like he was just soundly defeated on strength in today’s stage. No fall or any mechanical, was there?
Btw, Vingegaard pulled something like this off last year too with a smaller lead, but his lead of over 2 minutes today is going to be not easy for Pog to claw back.
He just shipped almost 3 minutes on stage with Col du Galibier and Col du Granon (both ~40min cols) combination. Frankly, the way he was looking at the end and the fact that he was passed by Gaudu, Thomas or A. Yates, that cannot be anything else but bonk. Maybe (possibly even likely) he would have lost some time to Vingegaard on ascents as long as these, but 3 minutes is definitely bonk.
Wow, yes, looks like he was just soundly defeated on strength in today’s stage. No fall or any mechanical, was there?
No. He was isolated, they pulled cars from the gap behind because Wout was pulling everyone up, and Roglich kept going. Pogacar drove for some reason, and finally cracked with 5K to go. Vingo had been sitting on his wheel all day.
Wow - what a stage! Wonder how Tadej will bounce back tomorrow.
Back in the good old days, you'd just slap a testosterone patch on your sack, take a nap and come back and crush it the next day - not sure if you can get away with that these days.
Don't worry, his team will think of something to get him back on top!
One of Salazar's creams with a massage should do the trick!
He just shipped almost 3 minutes on stage with Col du Galibier and Col du Granon (both ~40min cols) combination. Frankly, the way he was looking at the end and the fact that he was passed by Gaudu, Thomas or A. Yates, that cannot be anything else but bonk. Maybe (possibly even likely) he would have lost some time to Vingegaard on ascents as long as these, but 3 minutes is definitely bonk.
Wow, yes, looks like he was just soundly defeated on strength in today’s stage. No fall or any mechanical, was there?
It's very likely Pogacar has covid given most of his teammates have already got it this past week.
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