2013 Cleanest Peloton Ever

[DirtyWorks]

If a mediocre rider like Froome is able to become so dominant through doping, isn't it a positive sign that the peloton is getting much cleaner?

No. Armstrong was definitely a mediocre rider that was a super-responder to whatever doping cocktail he was using.

A positive sign the peloton is cleaner is Watts/Kilo ratio coming down generally below a Hinault/Lemond. The sharp end of grand tours is nowhere near that. One day races is a different thing.

 

[Galic Ho]

Porte played the game today...

And today he put the best part of a minute into his former team leader Alberto Contador in the first ITT.

Total reverse of the 2011 final ITT. Sign of cleaner times no doubt.

 

[buckle]

Wrong ...

I reckon DB was told by CP that you either rein in Porte or I will.

Well, I got that wrong!

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

If a mediocre rider like Froome is able to become so dominant through doping, isn't it a positive sign that the peloton is getting much cleaner?

If you are a clean rider, you still are getting our hat handed to you, and there is little positive about that.

 

[leon7766]

I think the results this year are good for cycling

 

[TheBean]

I was thinking today how funny it would be for Wiggins to go Landis, but I don't think he has the strength of character to do it.

Had Landis been offered a job with Shack, he wouldn't have said a thing. Same for Tyler. Shortly after each of them said they wanted back on board, then being told to go away, is when each of them became outspoken. They were tight-lipped until it would no longer cost them opportunity or money to open up. Then they wrote books and made money that way, instead.

Landis is a complete liar, cheater, and profiteer. If he had such strength of character he would never have doped in the first place or sought to be a team-mate on Shack.

Lance, himself, says his return from retirement and not bringing along people "in the know" to ride for his team is what caused them to turn and sing.

I'm glad all of those guys are now out of the picture. The whole lot of them were a stain on cycling and America's place in the sport.

 

[TheBean]

Wiggins has no reason to rat anyone out, IMO.

He won the tour with Froome's help. That - and the Olympic Gold - were the perfect end to his career.

If he rats on Froome, he is also ratting on the team that delivered him a TdF victory with amazing support. He wold be casting aspersions on the very program that brought him success.

I hope Wiggins is enjoying himself with his family this July and looking back on a career that has a list of accomplishments quite worthy of satisfaction.

 

[DirtyWorks]

...I'm glad all of those guys are now out of the picture. The whole lot of them were a stain on cycling and America's place in the sport.

America's place in the sport is in the hands of Thom Wiesel. Look at the list of Americans from the Armstrong sports fraud. All Thom's hard work, as was the USPS doping. Meanwhile, the clean guys mostly ride domestic at very, very low wages after a trip or two to Europe.

You might want to ask USAC why they didn't open a case on Levi Leipheimer for a lifetime ban. The USADA confession was infraction #2. They pretend on the Facingbook they can't open cases.

Per the first post of this thread, part of the fundamental problem in cycling is well above the rider.

 

[Benotti69]

Wiggins has no reason to rat anyone out, IMO.

He won the tour with Froome's help. That - and the Olympic Gold - were the perfect end to his career.

If he rats on Froome, he is also ratting on the team that delivered him a TdF victory with amazing support. He wold be casting aspersions on the very program that brought him success.

I hope Wiggins is enjoying himself with his family this July and looking back on a career that has a list of accomplishments quite worthy of satisfaction.

He might for the same reasons sane people would, a conscience.

 

[Miburo]

If a mediocre rider like Froome is able to become so dominant through doping, isn't it a positive sign that the peloton is getting much cleaner?

Armstrong suddenly became a GT-winner when he came back from cancer and he crushed everyone.

So no not really.

 

[hrotha]

He might for the same reasons sane people would, a conscience.

He would need to become a disgraced cyclist (TM) first, presumably. No one has been as much of a hero as to spill the beans unless they had taken a fall first.

 

[Cookster15]

I note Valverde seems to be having his best TDF ever - even TTing quite well today.

We saw some fall in Valverde's form relative to the competition when he came back from the ban - but now he seems better than ever - at least compared with almost everyone else who is a GT contender.

Not sure this bodes well for a cleaner Peloton any more then Froome's performance

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Armstrong suddenly became a GT-winner when he came back from cancer and he crushed everyone.

So no not really.

Armstrong was already a top rider before he had cancer though, albeit in one day races. Froome could barely sit on a bike before he started doping in 2011.

 

[roundabout]

He would need to become a disgraced cyclist (TM) first, presumably. No one has been as much of a hero as to spill the beans unless they had taken a fall first.

Maybe he will have a Chiotti moment.

 

[kingjr]

I note Valverde seems to be having his best TDF ever - even TTing quite well today.

We saw some fall in Valverde's form relative to the competition when he came back from the ban - but now he seems better than ever - at least compared with almost everyone else who is a GT contender.

Not sure this bodes well for a cleaner Peloton any more then Froome's performance

Don't agree with that conclusion. Valverde has been winning races literally since always, he is regarded as one of the most talented riders around. Him being successful riding clean in a cleaner field wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

[sniper]

He would need to become a disgraced cyclist (TM) first, presumably. No one has been as much of a hero as to spill the beans unless they had taken a fall first.

True of course, though tennis offers some weird counter examples:

Del Potro recently spilled the beans on himself live on BBC, repeatedly speaking about "magic pills" his doctor gave him which made him play the best tennis he had ever played.

on a slightly more serious note, Agassi spilled the beans on his long-term meth abuse and positive test.

 

[weeniebeenie]

He would need to become a disgraced cyclist (TM) first, presumably. No one has been as much of a hero as to spill the beans unless they had taken a fall first.

Zabriskie, Vande Velde, Danielson?

 

[hrotha]

Zabriskie, Vande Velde, Danielson?

Not the same thing at all. They had been, for all intents and purposes, busted, and they could only choose whether to go down gently or to kick and fight and lose even more.

Now Chiotti is a different story.

 

[The Hitch]

He might for the same reasons sane people would, a conscience.

The guy who went after Landis even though he knew Landis was telling the truth?

Anyway, its very easy to justify things like this with - my kids.

He is not going to put his kids through that. And all that extra money also helps.

 

[Benotti69]

He would need to become a disgraced cyclist (TM) first, presumably. No one has been as much of a hero as to spill the beans unless they had taken a fall first.

While Stephen Swart didn't win a GT he did clear his conscience.

 

[Benotti69]

The guy who went after Landis even though he knew Landis was telling the truth?

Anyway, its very easy to justify things like this with - my kids.

He is not going to put his kids through that. And all that extra money also helps.

Wiggins is the weak link at Sky, we saw that at the Giro.

I can see him spilling whether to clear a conscience or for other pyscological reasons, it will be of no great surprise if it and when it happens.

 

[sniper]

Two Riis customers kicking Dan's ***?
Froome doing 6,3 w/kg? Unrepentant doper Valverde following closely? Astana & Katusha riders close to top 10? Yet, no signs of frustration in Camp Garmin.

My legs weren't great today, but that's normal after 11 days of racing. I'm happy
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/one-day-at-a-time-for-daniel-martin-at-the-tour-de-france

 

[DirtyWorks]

Armstrong was already a top rider before he had cancer though, albeit in one day races.

You are conveniently forgetting he was doping with Carmichael since his time as a Junior. Then as a Pro, doping under Och.

It wasn't Ferrari's skillful work, but it was doping.

 

[The Hitch]

I can see him spilling whether to clear a conscience or for other pyscological reasons, it will be of no great surprise if it and when it happens.

If you think that then you are an absolute idiot.

 

[pmcg76]

If you think that then you are an absolute idiot.

Was that ever in doubt