monkeyblossom wrote:
When you listen to some of the cyclists like Andreu or Lemond, they say that suddenly in the late 80s and early 90s everybody just started to ride a lot faster. There was a real shift in the tempo - and as they tell the story they went "WTF?" and started doping like everybody else. Doping wasn't new but it was suddenly much more systematic and effective.
So... look at distance running in the last 6-7 years. Especially on the marathon times have gotten a lot faster, and every new talent coming out of Kenya or Ethiopia seems to be a 2:06 guy right out of the gate. And look at the American performances from 5K and up. Those times had well and truly stagnated and now they're moving again with Solinsky, Ritz, Hall, etc.
So what do you think?
Interesting comment from Lemond re today's cyclists riding faster, in that Lemond's final day time trial when he beat Fignon is still one of the fastest ever.
Lemond, by the way, has been after Armstrong (and others) for years. Greg will be watching 60 Minutes tonight- that's for sure.
It's all hard to figure out who's clean and who's not, given cycling's extended doping history.
One thing for sure: If you took away Armstrong's seven Tours and gave them to the 2nd place guys, you'd probably be giving most, if not all of them, to someone who doped.