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Cancellara motorized attacks?

Jun 1, 2010
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I´ve been looking with lot of interest the latest claim that Cancellara used a motorized bike in the spring classic.

Just before heard all of this, I watched Cancellara´s attack on the Kapelmuur and was shocked by his power and specially the candence his used on the occasion. Mean, he rode with such an incredible cadence over that cobles still seated on the bike that Boonen looked like an amateur, and of course we know, Boonen was surely the second strongest guy there. That´s why I got so shocked with his move.

Afterwards I heard the story of the motorized doping and also saw the Cassani´s video showing a motorized bike. Now, every time I think about it, I get more and more suspicious about Cancellara´s feat. But the fact is: we´ll probrably never know the truth...
 
Jun 19, 2009
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christianpetrin said:
I´ve been looking with lot of interest the latest claim that Cancellara used a motorized bike in the spring classic.

Just before heard all of this, I watched Cancellara´s attack on the Kapelmuur and was shocked by his power and specially the candence his used on the occasion. Mean, he rode with such an incredible cadence over that cobles still seated on the bike that Boonen looked like an amateur, and of course we know, Boonen was surely the second strongest guy there. That´s why I got so shocked with his move.

Afterwards I heard the story of the motorized doping and also saw the Cassani´s video showing a motorized bike. Now, every time I think about it, I get more and more suspicious about Cancellara´s feat. But the fact is: we´ll probrably never know the truth...

If a rider of Cancellara's stature was willing to do something that cheesy the sport would be over, period. This motorized bike thing leaves too big a trail behind it as opposed to doping and I doubt it would be used by any notable rider.
 
I have serious doubts about Cancellara's performance at Flanders and Roubaix. I have seen a lot of races, but I can't remember a rider doing something like that in the classics. The guy absolutely dropped Boonen like a stone.

The Cassani video raises a lot of questions. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but those two Cancellara performances just don't smell right.
 
Jun 19, 2009
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Moose McKnuckles said:
I have serious doubts about Cancellara's performance at Flanders and Roubaix. I have seen a lot of races, but I can't remember a rider doing something like that in the classics. The guy absolutely dropped Boonen like a stone.

The Cassani video raises a lot of questions. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but those two Cancellara performances just don't smell right.

No doubt about the performances but too many people would know about his bike.
 
Apr 19, 2009
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"If a rider of Cancellara's stature was willing to do something that cheesy the sport would be over, period. This motorized bike thing leaves too big a trail behind it as opposed to doping and I doubt it would be used by any notable rider."

Agreed, this would be the end.

I recall quite a few FC performances where he rode away from quality fields. The 08 TDF Stage 3, 08 Milan San Remo. I seriously doubt this would be used by anyone in the pro peloton.
 
Jul 22, 2009
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Moose McKnuckles said:
I have serious doubts about Cancellara's performance at Flanders and Roubaix. I have seen a lot of races, but I can't remember a rider doing something like that in the classics. The guy absolutely dropped Boonen like a stone.

The Cassani video raises a lot of questions. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but those two Cancellara performances just don't smell right.

Too funny. Just don't step too far off the path again, ok?
 
Feb 27, 2010
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The Sheep said:
The Boonen of 2010 would have been dropped by the Boonen of 2005 and 2006. Boonen just didn't have it this year.

+1

Commentators on Serbian Eurosport noticed something interesting during Ronde van Vlaanderen when Boonen and Cancelara broke away. There was significant difference in skin tan between them two. Look at the footages and you will see that Cancelara has a darker skin tan. It does not have to mean anything, but it could imply that Cancelara had better training conditions up to that point:), and remember that this winter in Europe was very cold and windy.


On the other side, Fabian did change his bike on both Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris Roubaix with no apparent reason.:D
 
The incredible cadence differential, and speed differential, at the Ronde, is because Tom ****'d up and went up in the completely wrong gear.

At Roubaix, he attacked when Boonen was picking his nose, and there was no organised chase whatsoever.

If he cheated, it was with needles, not motors.
 
Dec 18, 2009
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Wait wait.

Wasn't this described as something you would use early in the race for like the first 100k to conserve energy. Then do the old switcheroo and ride a little bit fresher the rest of the way?

Yet people are discussing if Cancellara was plowing away on this wonder bike in the finales, riding them all the way to the line?


Isn't that a bit of a disconnect? Anyway, I find this rather absurd. The notion that you could ride hours on end literally rubbing shoulders with 5 other riders at a time in the peloton and no one noticing the whine of an electric engine is too much. Also, that setup has to be heavy, I doubt you'd use it for breaking away from packs where you need top speed, not a lazy ride at comfortable speed.
 
Jun 2, 2010
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usedtobefast said:
FC is very strong. this "motor" thing is just silly.

true however speculation of mechanical doping is understandable considering FC had bike changes shortly before the critical moments of both the tour of flanders and paris roubaix, switching from his srm equiped bike to one with standard (or perhaps not?) crank/bottom bracket. the tour of flanders change was caught on TV footage, but there was no footage of the roubaix change (however he started the race with an srm and not long after arenberg was on his spare).

I hope for the sake of the sport that the idea of mechanical doping is as far fetched as it sounds. but when something appears too good too be true its human nature to ask questions.
 
Aug 6, 2009
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Zerak-Tul said:
Wait wait.

Wasn't this described as something you would use early in the race for like the first 100k to conserve energy. Then do the old switcheroo and ride a little bit fresher the rest of the way?

Yet people are discussing if Cancellara was plowing away on this wonder bike in the finales, riding them all the way to the line?


Isn't that a bit of a disconnect? Anyway, I find this rather absurd. The notion that you could ride hours on end literally rubbing shoulders with 5 other riders at a time in the peloton and no one noticing the whine of an electric engine is too much. Also, that setup has to be heavy, I doubt you'd use it for breaking away from packs where you need top speed, not a lazy ride at comfortable speed.
There's little point in using it early in the race. Whether you're pedalling at 100 W or 200 W makes little difference to how tired you are if you're a top level pro. Whether you can put out 500 W or 600 W in your attack in the finale makes a lot of difference though. Also there's a lot of noise from spectators at certain points which could drown out the sound.

That being said there's no evidence that Cancellara or any other rider has ever used such a device. I'd like to see some before I jump to conclusions.
 
Jun 2, 2010
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why cant anyone explain the strange hand movements? you can CLEARLY see him tapping something underneath the sram red shifter, where there should not be anything ! look at the schematics of that shifter.

another thing, people are acting like if he did use something it was an off the shelf gruber device. dont you think a pro race team would have fabricated something slightly better than the average consumer can buy? come on now. so lets see some more footage of other pro riders pulling away from another sitting on their saddle while their competitor is huffing and puffing.
 
Jun 19, 2009
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yeti_cx said:
why cant anyone explain the strange hand movements? you can CLEARLY see him tapping something underneath the sram red shifter, where there should not be anything ! look at the schematics of that shifter.

another thing, people are acting like if he did use something it was an off the shelf gruber device. dont you think a pro race team would have fabricated something slightly better than the average consumer can buy? come on now. so lets see some more footage of other pro riders pulling away from another sitting on their saddle while their competitor is huffing and puffing.

You guys are all simply nuts and not very f*cking bright about it either. Any motor capable of assisting an already 700 to 1000 watt effort could not be concealed on a bike. Folks that have viewed the alleged "doped bike" noted it operated in the 100 watt range. You cannot simply add those "watts" onto a sudden human effort.
 
Oct 16, 2009
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Michele said:
Cyclismag is reporting the time that it took to Cancellara to climb the last part of the Muur.

They say that it took 23-24 seconds to Boonen, same as Devolder in 2009 and Nuyens/Boonen in 2008.
Cancellara did 19 seconds.
Yup. He basically got a 5 second gap in 20 seconds. People said Boonen ****ed up by standing and sitting, standing and sitting going up the Muur, but I think he was sprinting for dear life trying to hold on to Cancellara's wheel. He also said he was riding at 55 km/h behind Cancellara to catch him after the climb, yet Cancellara put well over a minute into him over the last 15 K.

Both Flanders and Roubaix were Usain Bolt like performances--just so unreal they're hard to explain even with PEDs.
 
yeti_cx said:
why cant anyone explain the strange hand movements? you can CLEARLY see him tapping something underneath the sram red shifter, where there should not be anything ! look at the schematics of that shifter.

another thing, people are acting like if he did use something it was an off the shelf gruber device. dont you think a pro race team would have fabricated something slightly better than the average consumer can buy? come on now. so lets see some more footage of other pro riders pulling away from another sitting on their saddle while their competitor is huffing and puffing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJNLMYpr2TM

Oh wait, still Cancellara...he's always been sprinting while sitting, it's just his style I guess. Unless you suggest that he's been using this motor for several years. Jan Ullrich is also an example of a rider who often accelerated while seated. It's not all that weird.
 
Aug 18, 2009
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I'm just not buying this yet. Come on, it's not as if Cancellara's some mug. Is it that suspicious that the time trial world champion (by a mile) should put out huge watts while in the saddle?
 

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