Thanks for the link.
I tried to go back and find this graph earlier in this thread to see if I overlooked the caveat at the top of it "final climbs". For some reason I can't find it....that's a pretty big deal. If I overlooked this disclaimer at the beginning then I was off on a wrong track for about 20 pages here.
Since it is just the final climb, then I can admittedly back off a couple of things. It is impossible to tell if GL came back to the pack in 91 since power numbers are lower. Indurain obviously conserved in the mountains, and even moreso as the race went on and he got more comfortable. Not until 93 did Rominger push him the whole way. In 89 I believe GL won the last mountain stage and in 90 is when he and Indurain got away at I think La Plagne. He was obviously going full bore in both of those stages, while Indurain was probably cruising. So, this graph tells squat about whether Indurain was doped in 91 and 92 compared to GL in 89 and 90 per this graph. I originally concluded there is a chance he wasn't since his numbers were lower....
It also means nothing in terms of whether GL declined or the pack passed him. I will note that Mottet finished ahead of him and Hampsten finished right with him in 91, which could mean he lost it.
I'm not really sure what the whole point of that study is. The last climb of a tour can vary in intensity for a variety of reasons, and there are variables that cannot be taken into account like the posters pointed out. One in my mind is weight as I stated; I have lost many pounds during road races in the Tx heat so that could obviously skew numbers late in stages.
If somebody wants to compare one climb from year/year to prove increases in performance due to doping, it would seem they could choose one where the winner was obviously going full bore. LaPlagne/90, Val Lauron.91, Hautacam/96, Sestriere/99, etc. Not sure why this wasn't done because the other is useless IMO.
So, to all my friends in CN forums please go back to the GL worshipping. You will get little interference from me on this point from now on in terms of this graph reference.
I still think to "know" whether somebody does or doesn't do something from hearsay lack credibility, but to each his own. People don't know what others are capable of doing, or not doing.