Well, I wouldn't say that I know that "it all" (whatever it is we are seeing now) started with that TT... Just that it would make a lot of sense. Or at least that it was an early major example of things having changed.
In the current progress-averse world operating on a larger scale version of a used car salesman’s ethics, our best shot at
knowing something lies not in any official announcements and “confessions” (like Lance’s), but, rather, on using our own brains and the totality of our experience.
In the present case, that 2020 TDF final TT you mentioned really
does look like the beginning of the renaissance of systematic motor doping which led, after four years, to the ridiculous “annus mirabilis” we all have just witnessed, with one person winning 5 out 9 year’s big races (and, let us face it, he could’ve easily won Flanders as well had they chosen to field him in it, but, I guess, something had to be left for the future, as “he is still improving”)
while not trying hard at all. And it is the
same person who did that miraculous TT
besting specialists on the flat in the “coal miner” position. And that
truly miraculous TT (unless you are willing to make excuses and really stretch yourself doing so) was the beginning of equally miraculous – if you are willing to call a spade a spade, apologists’ singing notwithstanding – rise that saw him, along the way win Flanders, despite being a smallish skinny climber, and challenge for MSR previously considers a sprinters’ monument. And that rise, of course, culminated (but maybe not yet) in the ridiculously obscene – again, if you are willing to verbalize what you see, – 2024. Now, if one takes all things highlighted in this paragraph in their
totality, there is literally no other
rational explanation, except for
motor-doping.
Now take the whole story of Lance, who has to be called the first systematic motor doper -- and not so much a regular (chemical )doper/terrible person (yeah, right, that is his main fault) he was portrayed to be during his exposition theatric saga of a decade ago. So let us look at the total picture of Lance as a bike racer. He obviously was a puncheur In the Phil Gil mold, a relatively bulky guy with good explosive/anaerobic capacity but not good at all at long steady efforts (like 50k+ TTs of the era), leave alone high mountain climbing. So, naturally, he was never considered remotely capable of challenging for GT GC, just like Phil Jil, Sagan, or Matthew of the Pole. That was just not in his natural skill set, based on this natural talent. Recall that in his best pre-cancer year, he was even able to win Fleche Wallone (a single 3min climb race), just like Phil Gil in 2011. For both of them, that was right on the boundary of their natural talent: the Muur is just short enough for a larger puncheur in top form to make it to the end. But then came his “cancer” followed by a miraculous transformation from Saul to Paul which made him a top TDF contender, a not just a contender, but, for a period of time, a guaranteed winner. Almost overnight – and coming back from a ”near-terminal cancer”, no less – he transformed from a dud time-trialist like that (at around 3:15)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGPGm38wt5g
into someone regularly beating doped to the gills Ulrich who was essentially a second coming of Indurain. On top of that, he performed these TT feats sitting in a “coal miner” hunchback position remarkably similar to that displayed by ‘Pogi’ in 2020 TDF TT. Putting it in power terms, the Hunchback of Texas had to develop at least
50W more than doped Ulrich (a natural time trialist of Indurain caliber) in steady 1 hour power output. Are we willing to believe he did it essentially on the same doping that everyone else, including Ulrich himself, was using at the time? Formulated this way, the question takes on a mightily rhetorical flavor, doesn’t it? Indeed, just TTs alone, without even bringing high mountain climbing into the picture, should tell us enough for a fully rational (i.e. the one taking into account
everything we know about the result and the possible means of its achievement: it comes pretty handy that brushless/lipo technology and bike frames with large internal volume and low weight came into wide use just at that time) conclusion on the matter. Lance beating Ulrich in a long TT on only regular doping sounds as likely as, say, Phil Gil putting time into, for example, Tony Martin, in a flat 50k time trial.
Why was then the Lance expose show staged, with him even showing up on yellow TV shows, like “Oprah” shedding repentant tears in truly Hollywood-like fashion, with us all being fed that silly tale about a “bully” and a “terrible person”? That looked just like a cover-up, the main purpose of which was to prevent the true nature of Lancy’s TDF wins from being exposed. Apparently, the system was not tight enough (read: sufficiently monopolized) yet, and some kind of internal conflict made such unwanted exposure possible.
And, on top of everything just mentioned, we have a recent Guardian (where the writers hear all kinds in internal rumors, no doubt) article where the circus show nature of this pro cycling season is so thinly veiled that it shows right through. How much more
knowledge do we need or can realistically hope to obtain?
P.S. If one tries to look at the brighter side of all these developments, one could speculate a bit if the cycling show could still keep its entertainment value for more traditional and less simply minded fans, compared to the latest crop thereof. Imagine, several years later, the “superman” chapter gets old, motor usage becomes an open secret and takes on a truly wide-spread character. Then UCI could implicitly regulate it by, say, mandating an
upper limit on bike weights (10kg, for example) and limiting the number of bike changes in a race. Then we would be all in the “no holds barred” competition fueled by the “arms race” of teams to produce best and baddest “supercharged” bikes. Pedal pushing ability would still be very important at this maximum bike weight, make no mistake about that. So, the sport would not turn into some kind of a slow motorcycling. Then imagine 50+ km/h average GT speeds, 60km/h charges up the Poggio and 90km/h sprints. Think about the excitement thereof for the spectators. And imagine the trickle-down effect, with “UAE edition supercharged” cutting edge bikes being available for order via your LBS. How about prices exceeding that of an average car? Can’t you feel the rush already?
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