the sceptic said:Lets assume for a second that marginal gains is in fact real and that it can make clean rider faster than dopers, and that team sky were the first to discover this. These are 3 separate assumptions
Well then, what is the logical thing to do? Any sane person will come up with the correct answer here. You keep it to yourself. Keep what to yourself? 'Marginal Gains' as such is nothing more than the application of common business improvement techniques to sporting performance. Go into any bookshop or library and there'll be a shelf full of books on these topics
But sky didn't do this, they talked about it to anyone who were willing to listen. They gave away the secret to every other team in pro cycling. Why would they spend so much time and money developing this huge advantage for then just to give it away for free to everyone else? Doesnt make any sense.
Can't have it both ways - demand to know how a team improves in order to determine that they aren't cheating, but when you get an answer say it can't be true as if it was they wouldn't have told you about it
Lets take it one step further then. If you still believe in unicorns at this point you have to ask yourself still with the unicorns?
Now that the cat is out of the bag, surely the other teams will start using marginal gains too. Maybe yes maybe no. Maybe they're as sceptical as you are and don't see the benefits. Or don't have the budget/resources to implement in full. Or believe what they're doing already is just fine. Where a clever team can derive an advantage is by cherry picking the best of what a marginal gains team may have done
But then, what will happen when dopers start using it? Surely the combination of doping + marginal gains will be superior to only marginal gains. Of course. Doping doesn't mean you can't improve your performance in other ways
10 characters