Is Philippe Gilbert Doping?

[Scatto]

Like Nuyens joining Saxo Bank, getting a mental boost from Riis' presence and winning RVV

 

[Winterfold]

Some interesting arguments - but I am still able to find type of races/more intelligent tactics/other riders not peaking/team all on form and totally committed plausible enough for me to think he could be clean.

He's THE muscley puncheur - he will kick the Schlecks butts on short steeps dope or not.

When he is in the elite group on queen stage in a GT - then I will have to throw in the towel...

However, are OPL clean? Some truly heroic efforts at the front over the Ardennes week. Still possible IMO but I am more doubtful

 

[zigmeister]

It sure is suspicious how this guy so easily drops the best cyclist on the hardest part of the races, like Schlecks on the steep last portion of the climbs...then a few minutes later after finishing the race and doing an interview, it looks like he awoke from a 15 minute nap and looks as fresh as a daisy and wasn't on the bike for 5 hours busting his a-s-s like the rest of them.

 

[Benotti69]

It sure is suspicious how this guy so easily drops the best cyclist on the hardest part of the races, like Schlecks on the steep last portion of the climbs...then a few minutes later after finishing the race and doing an interview, it looks like he awoke from a 15 minute nap and looks as fresh as a daisy and wasn't on the bike for 5 hours busting his a-s-s like the rest of them.

yes and it was a monument. Anyone remember the photo of Lemond at the end of Paris Roubaix 1 year where he is sitting in the shower block on the ground still covered in the muck,dirt, grime and totally f****d.

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

yes and it was a monument. Anyone remember the photo of Lemond at the end of Paris Roubaix 1 year where he is sitting in the shower block on the ground still covered in the muck,dirt, grime and totally f****d.

I sure do...

Not only that, but I've been biding my time to comment on the general '***-kickingness' of the field this spring...

Sure, Gilbert's been a stud, but what about his team? I have never seen the 15km-to-go run-ins played as they have been this year. The majority are throwing it down like I've never seen before!

No more punch-ups that lead to something unique, but a few small moves that end up in a field-fueled frenzy for the last few km to go - the world's longest lead-outs with the same crew everyday...

If people are basing the 'blue train' of Disco being the dark days of doping in cycling, they'd better start asking everyone else what in the h*ll they've been doing.

Based on this spring, the sport's as subjectively dirty as it's ever been...

 

[La Vie Claire]

Gilbert and OP-Lotto are surely having a standout year. Coincidentally, this is the last year of Gilbert's contract and we learned today that Omega Pharma will not be renewing team sponsorship. I would say that's a decent size carrot for PG and the rest of the team to "train harder."

 

[Scatto]

That's not completely correct: Gilbert had a clause in his contract for a salary rise if he'd be nr. 1 on the protour ranking last year. He could've rightfully won RVV and LBL last year (third-third/fourth) and the WC last year - and even the year before when he was partly working for Evans. In all of these races, he was about as impressive as this year. And he won Lombardy for the second time in an amazing way. This year, luckily for him, he does indeed get the quadruple. How he became so good, I cannot tell, but it certainly wasn't overnight. Also, Lotto excelled before when they were built around McEwen and to some extent even with the underrated tour team for Cadel Evans. We didn't see a TTT this year yet, did we? In fact, JVDB's TT's have been much worse this far.

Another question though: why does Omega Pharma leave: here's a clinic logic:
- An little unknown team getting caught on doping doesn't harm your image
- Some successes make the team catch the eye, which is good for the image, target reached
- The now big and popular team's weaknesses (doped riders) become a risk for the company's image

 

[blackcat]

OPL have a suite of brands, even tho they are in Belge where the number one sport in cycling. As of a few years back, the company profits were in the range of about 30 million euro. You go thru the range of products that have significant turnover, badging the team for one year. After about 8 years starting with QS, u get to the point, where about 10% of profit, is a rediculous sum to pay out on some profile play. Obviously, not zero sum, cos a piece of that expense has been invested into marketing. But there comes a point, where this needs to be accountable to shareholders, even if the majority owner is a lowlands Euro trash cycling fan.

 

[Michele]

On an italian forum a guy, without naming the source but saying its involved with pro cycling, said that Gilbert would have a positive at last Liegi.
Donno if its a joke or what.

 

[Lanark]

Sounds very reliable. Why would someone on the internet lie about having an inside source? That has probably never happened.

 

[boomcie]

Sounds very reliable. Why would someone on the internet lie about having an inside source? That has probably never happened.

It is also admirable that the guy releasing this story has a better network of sources than all the journalists in the world combined.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

On an italian forum a guy, without naming the source but saying its involved with pro cycling, said that Gilbert would have a positive at last Liegi.
Donno if its a joke or what.

Could you post a link?

 

[Mambo95]

Sounds very reliable. Why would someone on the internet lie about having an inside source? That has probably never happened.

It genuinely actually never happens. The guys that invented Google told me.

 

[hrotha]

It is also admirable that the guy releasing this story has a better network of sources than all the journalists in the world combined.

To be fair to this Italian Hog fellow, if it were true and a journalist knew about it they still wouldn't publish it unless they could confirm it from several sources. Sports journalists know all sorts of stuff they don't write about, even if they would be big news.

 

[boomcie]

To be fair to this Italian Hog fellow, if it were true and a journalist knew about it they still wouldn't publish it unless they could confirm it from several sources. Sports journalists know all sorts of stuff they don't write about, even if they would be big news.

Very true, but this news would be so big that I think at least someone would pop it like a ripe pimple.

 

[ChrisE]

Thought I would bump this.

When does it start getting ridiculous?

 

[Lanark]

Ronde van Vlaanderen (april 3rd) was the last race he started that he didn't win (not counting stages).

 

[roundabout]

It'll start getting ridiculous when he wins more than 4 Tour stages.

 

[ChrisE]

It'll start getting ridiculous when he wins more than 4 Tour stages.

Why is four the magic number? I wonder why he doesn't try to go for longer stage races like a PN.

Gilbert's results the last few years opens up a larger debate that is always tossed around in here; how do you know somebody is clean and how do you know if the peloton is cleaning up? When do you know the truth?
Is it possible he is clean in a cleaner peloton, and he is just that much better than the others? How can he ride so strong for so many months. Or, what is he on that allows him to dominate if you believe the the top pros are still doping?

 

[roundabout]

There are 4 uphill finishes of various difficulty in the Tour. Of course winning all of them is already a stretch but adding a stage on top of that somewhere else would be totally OTT.

And peloton maybe cleaning up, but not the team that employs an ex-Saunier Duval doc.

 

[gustienordic]

Based on the "type" of wins we're seeing, it reminds me of Thor at the World Championships, except much steeper finishes: Good positioning, with one very well-timed, powerful kick to finish everyone off.

Until I see a different "type" of win, I'll accept that he's a ferocious competitor whose maximizing his strengths at an age that makes perfect sense for his achievements.

I agree with this. It seems that like McEwan, Gilbert has become very good at finding the right spot to be at the right time. Unless Gilbert suddenly becomes top ten at the Tour, I don't think he is doping.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I'd like to believe its legit, but there have been so many unbelievable performances that have been thanks to a needle and syringe and to be honest I've no idea what a dominant 'clean' performance looks like so I couldn't say for certain.

 

[roundabout]

Tour top-10 is pretty abitrary. Mr. Potato Head was doping like no tomorrow and he was never a top-10 contender. Same with Kessler. Rebellin probably could have got more top tens in GTs but didn't want to and he had more of a climbing pedigree than Gilbert. So it's not that simple.

 

[Willy_Voet]

Like ChrisE and MJM, I have no idea what to make of Gilbert. He is either 1) a rider of enormous ability who is coming into the prime of his career (at a time when many riders are feeling the heat as a result of targeted testing), or 2) on some amazing program that enables him to wag his tongue at the testers.

His consistency is impressive regardless.

 

[hrotha]

Like ChrisE and MJM, I have no idea what to make of Gilbert. He is either 1) a rider of enormous ability who is coming into the prime of his career (at a time when many riders are feeling the heat as a result of targeted testing), or 2) on some amazing program that enables him to wag his tongue at the testers.

His consistency is impressive regardless.

I think what makes me more suspicious is that the whole of Lotto (except perhaps Greipel) is performing above expectations. If Van den Broeck improves significantly on his 2010 performance I doubt I'll be able to keep my cynical side from taking over.