Giro doping 2017

[May0maniac]

Re:

Disappointing that Gazprom haven't gone full nuclear on one stage. You'd be forgiven for thinking that they aren't even in the race.

I think they got scared after the Bardiani thing, Foliforov was really strong in the Giro del Trentino and showed nothing at the Giro.

 

[BullsFan22]

No massive attacks, no real long breakaway that succeeded (I may be wrong, it's been a long Giro!), everyone looking exhausted, the gaps are so tight with the top 6, and even 7-15 or so isn't a million minutes difference. The clinician in me says that the big boys are still doping, but perhaps being very careful, taking less and/or taking it less frequently. The pre-Giro busts of the two Italians probably scared off many of the teams and everyone is careful.

This thread has been fairly quiet, which is a pleasant surprise.

 

[lenric]

This week was very hard. With or without doping, it's perfectly normal for all of them to be toasted.

 

[klintE]

No massive attacks, no real long breakaway that succeeded (I may be wrong, it's been a long Giro!).

No, you didn't watch it

 

[Robert5091]

Recovery "meds" seem to be the key. G ITT-ing is the stand out WTF moment (TJ's turn around is second).

 

[Jancouver]

Re:

Recovery "meds" seem to be the key. G ITT-ing is the stand out WTF moment (TJ's turn around is second).

Nibali's comeback after the second day off was just awesome. The old dog went full *** to save the giro knowing the Italians got his back. Pure awesomeness

 

[staubsauger]

Ain't no polonium 101 for Gazprom at the 2017 Giro!

 

[melkemugg]

No massive attacks, no real long breakaway that succeeded (I may be wrong, it's been a long Giro!), everyone looking exhausted, the gaps are so tight with the top 6, and even 7-15 or so isn't a million minutes difference. The clinician in me says that the big boys are still doping, but perhaps being very careful, taking less and/or taking it less frequently. The pre-Giro busts of the two Italians probably scared off many of the teams and everyone is careful.

This thread has been fairly quiet, which is a pleasant surprise.

Carefully nods to this. I think the peeps in here that still think this edition was "full ***" just are triggered by the thought of a doped peloton, sits comfortable with that view and dont want to see it to change.

On the other side; if it is not about blood bags and steroids anymore, its probably about bending the rules, TUEs and grey areas i guess.

 

[The Hegelian]

I agree that nothing looked suss in this years Giro - and that's a big change from the previous few.

But the spring classics were about as full *** as classics can go.....so I wouldn't be making any hasty inferences about a clean(er) peloton.

 

[S2Sturges]

Re:

This week was very hard. With or without doping, it's perfectly normal for all of them to be toasted.

I kind of thought Landa's performance over those tough stages, especially stage 16 where he went solo for ages on the queen stage, stage 18 with TJ, hoovering up all the mountain points over the five climbs, then top step on stage 19 when he soloed off with around 15km to go were suss, given he did a fair amount with minimal teammates, and looked fresh as on the finish line... I think Sky got a bit of a pass because of the crash, otherwise given his form,I reckon Sky would have had the top two steps at the end in Milan.. GT being the other...

 

[luckyboy]

It's never going to be clean. Riders can still transfuse without getting caught and people know how to manage their values for the passport.

It's just a lot harder to find anything obviously 'off' in performances as a result - such as power numbers which mostly seem to be 'realistic'. Nobody is really going super nuclear and super obvious but you can still dope and seem realistic obviously.

 

[The Hegelian]

Re: Re:

This week was very hard. With or without doping, it's perfectly normal for all of them to be toasted.

I kind of thought Landa's performance over those tough stages, especially stage 16 where he went solo for ages on the queen stage, stage 18 with TJ, hoovering up all the mountain points over the five climbs, then top step on stage 19 when he soloed off with around 15km to go were suss, given he did a fair amount with minimal teammates, and looked fresh as on the finish line... I think Sky got a bit of a pass because of the crash, otherwise given his form,I reckon Sky would have had the top two steps at the end in Milan.. GT being the other...

Fair point. They were consecutive days off the front, through the hardest stages, doing an enormous amount of work. Climbing wise, he and TD were the two that one might raise an eyebrow over.

GT pulled out an incredible first tt too.

But I was expecting another huge Nibali resurrection - never came.

And I was expecting an unfathomable final tt surprise - never came.