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Obviously they respond differently to the programdel1962 said:So Phil was not as good at BMC unlike Greg, makes no sense to be, but I'm just a bot
del1962 said:So Phil was not as good at BMC unlike Greg, makes no sense to be, but I'm just a bot
del1962 said:So Phil was not as good at BMC unlike Greg, makes no sense to be, but I'm just a bot
The Hegelian said:meat puppet said:I sorta get the entertainment point of view argument that barring obvious excesses doping is good for the spectacle. Don't agree with it, but that is beside the point. But was Gilbert good for the spectacle yesterday? To me it was just a dull prolonged coronation, a vulgar display of power, like the cance and Boonen solos were.
If there were attacks left right and centre, with the situation evolving all the time, then fair play. Perhaps. Here we had one stud winching harder than groups of others for 60k. Or 95. The crashes alter not much.
That's exactly how I saw it too. Was actually super surprised to see so many on this forum rating it a 9 or a 10....I thought the race totally failed as a spectacle. Thought experiment: imagine if it was a Sky rider.
Maybe all-in-juiced-to-the-gills doping works better in GT's. The Mapei and Gewiss years were definitely not good for the spectacle of classics.
The Hegelian said:meat puppet said:I sorta get the entertainment point of view argument that barring obvious excesses doping is good for the spectacle. Don't agree with it, but that is beside the point. But was Gilbert good for the spectacle yesterday? To me it was just a dull prolonged coronation, a vulgar display of power, like the cance and Boonen solos were.
If there were attacks left right and centre, with the situation evolving all the time, then fair play. Perhaps. Here we had one stud winching harder than groups of others for 60k. Or 95. The crashes alter not much.
That's exactly how I saw it too. Was actually super surprised to see so many on this forum rating it a 9 or a 10....I thought the race totally failed as a spectacle. Thought experiment: imagine if it was a Sky rider.
Maybe all-in-juiced-to-the-gills doping works better in GT's. The Mapei and Gewiss years were definitely not good for the spectacle of classics.
And his ride was obviously not normal. Ibarguren makes wondersForever The Best said:Extremely strong. I think he would have won even if they hadn't gone all out from the Muur. He did what, paced the peloton before the Muur, made the split, worked a lot before Kwaremont and then just crushed Vanmarcke et al. Then he kept his pace all the way to Kwaremont and even though he slowed down in the end it was a ridiculous ride!
But boy, he is extremely entertaining to watch when he is on form. Today was why he is one of my favourite riders!
Yup, just popped up out of nowhere and had enough in the tank to follow GVA up the Paterberg. I assume he breezed past the chase group on the Kwaremont.proffate said:Also, did anyone see where the heck Terpstra came from? Did he just jump across from the main group on the Kwaremont/Paterberg? How big was that gap? Terpstra wasn't even in the intermediate chase with Greipel et al.
They obviously tried a new motor, probably not quite ready yet, hence the "mechanicals". But very strong when it works, see Terpstra and Gilbert.Gung Ho Gun said:Yup, just popped up out of nowhere and had enough in the tank to follow GVA up the Paterberg. I assume he breezed past the chase group on the Kwaremont.proffate said:Also, did anyone see where the heck Terpstra came from? Did he just jump across from the main group on the Kwaremont/Paterberg? How big was that gap? Terpstra wasn't even in the intermediate chase with Greipel et al.
Quickstep put two guys on the podium, with domestique Trentin narrowly missing the top 10, while Boonen, Stybar and Lampaert were defeated by mechanicals.
Valv.Piti said:So its obvious Phil didn't have that much motivation at BMC, I guess both to train but also dope. 70% doping, 30% training?
blackcat said:Peter, just p'raps you should not enter The Clinic. Think of it as some gestalt of Dark Web and Chatroulette!
I dont think an athlete who dopes is necessarily a bad character. I dont know them, so I cannot make a personal judgement. I think PEDs and doping is a value neutral matter. Bad people dont dope, good people dope, so said the poster 131313 who is a pro on a domestic team in America, and Tour of Gila in 2009 when Armstrong came back, on the Queen stage, Lance went backwards, and 131313 passed him up the climb on the queen stage, within 2 months, Lance came third in the Tour, beating Wiggins out of fourth and the podium spot. That would have been Garmin Sharp I think. not that it matters.
I am actually quite empathic to Wiggins and his life narrative. His old man was never a father and left the family when he was barely the baby out of his mothers womb. So he had to do it tough. But I can still laugh at the parts of Froome and Wiggins and this US Postal second iteration that is Sky. All the continental pros dope too, all the Frenchies do. Does not make them poor people. Like the Australians, South Africans, and New Zealanders. My metric is, if you are at the pointy end of the peloton in the selective races, you, prima facie, are charging on some enhancement pharmacy or technique.
Have a look at my last post, or second last post, in the Adam Hansen thread, that will be a better pov from where i am coming from.
but shur, you can think i am a cnut, but there is the possibility for a more enlightening appreciation
Zypherov said:So there is your answer to "Is Philippe Gilbert Doping"? You have to ask, would a guy who is doping skip the Paris-Roubaix to rest and recover? The answer is no.
Durden93 said:Obviously I believe Phil is doping, but it was at least a bit refreshing to see him struggling on the Paterberg. Wasn't as comical as some other performances.
GraftPunk said:I think some banhammers may have been used, but I'm not sure. Maybe an admin can elaborate (or not). But yeah, sniper springs to mind as a notable absentee.
Dan2016 said:The Clinic is a ghost town recently.
Where's everyone gone?
The answer is yes. The question is whether he dopes, not whether he is magical.Zypherov said:So there is your answer to "Is Philippe Gilbert Doping"? You have to ask, would a guy who is doping skip the Paris-Roubaix to rest and recover? The answer is no.
Yes, maybe he's skipping PR merely to rest and recover better, but that would still be a perfectly good reason to skip it while doping. Regardless, there's ample precedent of dopers skipping particular races specifically to avoid in-competition tests so that they can dope that much better for their next objective.Zypherov said:So there is your answer to "Is Philippe Gilbert Doping"? You have to ask, would a guy who is doping skip the Paris-Roubaix to rest and recover? The answer is no.