Re: Re:
Do all teams and all riders use power meters? I'm expecting so in the WT but maybe not further down the ranks. Does that mean they are exempt? How do you tell the difference between a purposeful switching off or the unit shutting down? Are riders going to have victories taken away because their Garmin/SRM etc. fails? what about spikes and drops? I don't use a power meter so I have no idea how long these last but I do know they are prevalent.
Why is taking a bottle on the flat less important? Does that mean if this had been a flat sprint stage and a rider had done what Demare was accused of it would be fine? I don't see why it's any different.
I'm not against the idea, but the usual use of sticky bottles in the way Demare is accused of is to rejoin the back of the main bunch when you drop off for some unforeseen reason (mechanical, crash, bidon delivery etc.) which is why it isn't really policed. If someone does it where it is likely to affect the result you'd think a camera would mostly likely catch it. I'm just not sure the extra scrutiny would bare fruit and the UCI commissaires struggle enough already to enforce all the rules fairly, this just seems massively open to interpretation.
DFA123 said:King Boonen said:DFA123 said:Couldn't the commisaires just make it a requirement that they can view the power data of any rider after the race? Perhaps even check every winner, or every rider to finish in the top three, or anytime there is suspicion or an accusation. It would be pretty obvious if they have obtained a significant advantage, and riders would soon stop doing it if they knew that they would almost certainly be punished retrospectively.
You'll need GPS data as well and you'll need to know if they were drafting/taking a bottle etc. If drafting you'll need to know if the had no other choice as in some situations the riders get stuck in the cars and have to just sit there. Then you might find teams stop using power meters or stop recording the data ("my Garmin turned itself off! Had to wait until after the climb to restart it") and so on.
His speed and cadence data is up on Strava and nothing looks odd, with no actual evidence it's hard to take the accusations seriously. Some of the comments on there are disgraceful.
Sure, it wouldn't be foolproof, but it would certainly highlight any blatant cheating. If a rider accelerates rapidly on an uphill section with no increase in power it would be a pretty obvious red flag. Taking a sticky bottle on the flat isn't so important anyway, unless they do a Nibali - which again would show up pretty clearly on a power file.
If the availability of the power file was part of the conditions to enter the race, then switching it off could result in disciplinary action.
It would be difficult to enforce any sanctions in marginal cases, but would still be a deterrant against blatant cheating, which there doesn't seem to be at the moment.
Do all teams and all riders use power meters? I'm expecting so in the WT but maybe not further down the ranks. Does that mean they are exempt? How do you tell the difference between a purposeful switching off or the unit shutting down? Are riders going to have victories taken away because their Garmin/SRM etc. fails? what about spikes and drops? I don't use a power meter so I have no idea how long these last but I do know they are prevalent.
Why is taking a bottle on the flat less important? Does that mean if this had been a flat sprint stage and a rider had done what Demare was accused of it would be fine? I don't see why it's any different.
I'm not against the idea, but the usual use of sticky bottles in the way Demare is accused of is to rejoin the back of the main bunch when you drop off for some unforeseen reason (mechanical, crash, bidon delivery etc.) which is why it isn't really policed. If someone does it where it is likely to affect the result you'd think a camera would mostly likely catch it. I'm just not sure the extra scrutiny would bare fruit and the UCI commissaires struggle enough already to enforce all the rules fairly, this just seems massively open to interpretation.