movingtarget said:
Blanco said:
Moser was a great rider however, with or without doping. Froome isn't.
And if Moser doped for his entire career.....................
The situation with Moser was in the context of his rivalry in the late 1970s with Saronni - by the early 1980s Moser was fading due to aging, and it seemed like he would be surpassed by Saronni, who was 6 years younger.
Then Moser had his "miracle year" of 1984 - with the Hour Record, the Giro, and Milan-Sanremo. Took it to a new level, because he was a pioneer of blood doping.
I wouldn't say, before 1983, Moser is known to have been "doping". At least I'm not aware of the evidence of any doping in particular, before Conconi ?
Moser was one of the greatest one-day racers, ever. Froome is not comparable, because Froome follows the formulaic model of targeting GTs using "train team" tactics - being pulled along in a predictable robotic routine. Froome was basically undistinguished before his "transformation", and would have been a failure in one-day races, which depend more on individuality
It's notable that most of the cyclists who have called for Froome's suspension are either retired, or are in cyclocross and therefore will never face Sky in road-racing. Tony Martin was pretty weak to call it a "scandal" and then back-pedal, he should have played his cards differently, it just shows how even big-name riders are made ineffectual. In a way, Nibali was the most outspoken by implying that he would have won the Vuelta had Froome not been doping.
Moser is eminent to the point that he has nothing to lose, by criticizing active riders.
And it's not like Moser came out and said Froome is a chump who will never be among the all-time greats, he just said that: given there is an agreement about certain doping limits, those standards should apply to Froome as well. The sub-text is that old-school Italian cycling world is irritated by this controversy