Froome's Acceleration on the Bike ??

[red_flanders]

Finally some one is stating their doubts in clear terms.

Well no one is unbeatable! Every human performance has been bettered over time.

I am a glass half full guy as regards performances. Do you race? I know that if I lose weight I ride climbs faster and I know that other riders are faster than me. Are they on dope? No they have better physical and mental attributes.

How do you know what is possible? How do you know a 10% performance increase is not possible through balanced training and better mental skills?

I note you live in the USA but have you seen European pro riders in the flesh recently? They are scary thin and I would suggest small. Phil Liggett calling Jan Ulrich big has distorted peoples view on the size of riders in my view.

This is not to say that I don't think Brailford has managed Sky comments poorly plus I think Rob Hayles 50% suspension was very dodgy.

But watching someone on TV is not evidence of doping!

I think my comments state explicitly that I would expect human performance to increase over time. Gear has gotten lighter and more efficient, training and specialization are better, and some of the roads are much smoother than they were 20 or 30 years ago. So we should see performance increases.

What no one has explained is how we would see "clean" riders who have never approached the performance of riders using oxygen vector doping, all of a sudden equaling the times of full program riders from just a few of years ago. At least not to my satisfaction or frankly even close to it.

I watch about 3 days of the Tour of California every year, and get about 4 feet from a lot of european riders. Some of them are very thin, some not as much, but it's early season. Last Tour de France I watched in person was in '98 so it's been a while since I've seen them in person prepping for the big race. Yes, I used to race myself, but it's been a decade since I started having kids. Is it your contention that weight loss explains the differences? Why don't they lose power when they lose weight as happened...forever before the last few years? Very, very strange. We know there are drugs out there like AICAR. Does the advent of super skinny riders who don't lose power, and in fact gain power in many cases, not (at least) equally suggest a new kind of doping using drugs like this? I have not heard anyone attempt to explain how this phenomenon is occurring naturally, and of course you hear of people in the sport whispering (or speaking out loud) about these new drugs.

If the 10% number is close to accurate (I think it is but others may not) I can only say that no amount of "balanced training and mental skills" is going to make a 10% difference in any endurance sport at world class level. It has never happened without doping. If there is an explanation how this would all of a sudden be happening in cyclists I'd like to hear it. I don't know what "balanced training" is and I know that "mental skills" are not measurable. It sounds a bit comical to me to suggest this is how the top GT riders are doing things never done without doping.

In the case of Froome one must also consider that it is extremely unlikely that he is come kind of barometer for the limit of human performance. He was a mid-pack rider that his own coach put well down on the scale of performance in that well known graph. Now he's a world beater? It beggars belief.

 

[Benotti69]

Have you only started watching Pro cycling recently? Bruyneel has not driven a car for years! He managed the team and as he lives in London now I suspect he has done very well financially! Why will he rock the boat?

Bruyneel drove the car while Lance rode. See yoututbe and Armstrong's crash in ToC.

 

[Cycle Chic]

So the Motorised Bike is still an issue !!

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Frankie ANDREU ‏@FakieFrankie 17h
x ray of the bike behind podium for first finishers. I hope the uci know what they are looling for, it can be tiny.

 

[doperhopper]

So the Motorised Bike is still an issue !!

only when someone triggers the RPM passport limit of 200 rpm - there were plenty of comments today like "nice Froome impersonation by Nibbles" (insane pedalling near the finish)

 

[CycloAndy]

I'm surprised this was dismissed so readily. Especially as it appears apparent that this technology exists. Sky's big budget means the cost of downscaling previous attempts is entirely possible.

Here is my reasoning why I don't think it should have been dismissed so readily:
1) he wouldn't use it the whole stage just for 'that' attack.
2) the noise would be fairly low level compared to the noise of the crowd, helicopter and the camera bike.
3) he could easily use a normal bottle for the majority of the stage before switching to a 'battery' bottle prior to the vital moment.
4) He may also be doping and if so the additional 'moral' jump to adding a motor wouldn't be that big.
5) whilst high cadence pedalling may be very useful, it looks like there is no traction when he pedals, similarly to pedalling in a low gear going downhill.
6) Whilst the UCI may test for mechanical/electronic alterations, they may not check every bike on every stage and a switcheroo, or even removal of the motor, during the ensuing melee at the end of the stage is entirely possible to me.

 

[ralphbert]

I'm surprised this was dismissed so readily

Your tinfoil hat is too tight.

 

[ferryman]

Finally some one is stating their doubts in clear terms.

Well no one is unbeatable! Every human performance has been bettered over time.

I am a glass half full guy as regards performances. Do you race? I know that if I lose weight I ride climbs faster and I know that other riders are faster than me. Are they on dope? No they have better physical and mental attributes.

How do you know what is possible? How do you know a 10% performance increase is not possible through balanced training and better mental skills?

[B]I note you live in the USA but have you seen European pro riders in the flesh recently? They are scary thin and I would suggest small. [/B]Phil Liggett calling Jan Ulrich big has distorted peoples view on the size of riders in my view.

This is not to say that I don't think Brailford has managed Sky comments poorly plus I think Rob Hayles 50% suspension was very dodgy.

But watching someone on TV is not evidence of doping!

Thin yes but certainly not small (apart from Purito). And that's from seeing them close up twice this year in the Tour.

 

[CycloAndy]

Your tinfoil hat is too tight.

Thanks for your reasoned response...