Primož Roglič

[Rackham]

I love the fact the chain drop pretty much guaranteed clinical matters wouldn't be the number one talking point after the ITT, i.e. it was all about the drama.

The scenario was so perfect & so quintessentially Rogla. It unfolded in an unpredictable manner which money, science & watts cannot ever buy. Whereas had he smashed G Thomas by a minute without incident, whether fairly or not a lot of people would have jumped on the atypical "he's radioactive!" narrative bandwagon; as happened with Pog after La Planche in 2020.

Being a cycling champion is so difficult, i.e. a rider must be strong enough to win, but not too strong to the extent every victory invokes collective suspicion. I feel Rog fits superbly into this "zone" where he exists in a little world of his own which sits between "he's not strong enough" & "he's too strong".

 

[Cassirer]

I love the fact the chain drop pretty much guaranteed clinical matters wouldn't be the number one talking point after the ITT, i.e. it was all about the drama.

The scenario was so perfect & so quintessentially Rogla. It unfolded in an unpredictable manner which money, science & watts cannot ever buy. Whereas had he smashed G Thomas by a minute without incident, whether fairly or not a lot of people would have jumped on the atypical "he's radioactive!" narrative bandwagon; as happened with Pog after La Planche in 2020.

Being a cycling champion is so difficult, i.e. a rider must be strong enough to win, but not too strong to the extent every victory invokes collective suspicion. I feel Rog fits superbly into this "zone" where he exists in a little world of his own which sits between "he's not strong enough" & "he's too strong".

I think it's just not enough to warrant real clinic interest. We've seen much crazier stand out performances already this year (from the looks of it, no checking numbers), that roglic could beat thomas and almeida was to be expected beforehand. After being dropped he seemed to get better and better which aligns well with recovering from crashes. PDBF was a whole lot more WTF at the time, being the first time pog showed what he now more or less routinely does.

 

[iceblink]

I think it's just not enough to warrant real clinic interest. We've seen much crazier stand out performances already this year (from the looks of it, no checking numbers), that roglic could beat thomas and almeida was to be expected beforehand. After being dropped he seemed to get better and better which aligns well with recovering from crashes. PDBF was a whole lot more WTF at the time, being the first time pog showed what he now more or less routinely d

Wins Olympic Gold by +1 minute, wins Giro TT after mechanical by 40 seconds

34 years old in October.


The guy is dodgy as fanything

 

[Cassirer]

Wins Olympic Gold by +1 minute, wins Giro TT after mechanical by 40 seconds

34 years old in October.


The guy is dodgy as fanything

Like I said, Rog being faster than Thomas and Almeida up a steep mountain is not really that surprising (for most of us).

 

[Mayomaniac]

Wins Olympic Gold by +1 minute, wins Giro TT after mechanical by 40 seconds

34 years old in October.


The guy is dodgy as fanything

I agree, but still only the 3rd most dodgy guy on the team...

 

[Hugh Januss]

Wins Olympic Gold by +1 minute, wins Giro TT after mechanical by 40 seconds

34 years old in October.


The guy is dodgy as fanything

Not as dodgy as leading the Giro with 2 days to go at age 38!

 

[Red Rick]

The Olympic ITT is so overrated, the rest were just morons who couldn't do something as basic as pacing themselves right.

 

[pastronef]

Not as dodgy as leading the Giro with 2 days to go at age 38!

age 37 (same as as Peraud when he got also 2nd in a GT, TDF 2014), and getting beaten by the younger and more climber one

 

[Hugh Januss]

age 37 (same as as Peraud when he got also 2nd in a GT, TDF 2014), and getting beaten by the younger and more climber one

Oh yeah, my bad. He had a birthday in the last week of the Giro, I thought he went from 37 to 38 but you are right.

 

[topt]

Wins Olympic Gold by +1 minute, wins Giro TT after mechanical by 40 seconds

34 years old in October.


The guy is dodgy as fanything

he is dodgy but not the 37 year old that came second, got it

 

[Extinction]

The need for having access to "the best that money can buy," happens precisely in moments when you have to overcome a deficit or defend an advantage at the end of a GT. Even just to go for the stage win on a mountain like Lussari requires nuclear weapons. I wonder if the roadside tifosi sensed the radioactive glow as the frontrunners passed by?

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

So I was curious and read the first couple of pages in this thread. All of it was about how Rog was clearly mechanical doping. I got bored after the first 5 pages of it; what happened to that theory? Is mechanical doping as a theory no longer en vogue?

 

[Oldermanish]

Wins Olympic Gold by +1 minute, wins Giro TT after mechanical by 40 seconds

34 years old in October.


The guy is dodgy as fanything

As a Belgian? Seriously...we all should know to take speculation where it can air out clinically.

 

[pelotonIQ]

So I was curious and red the first couple of pages in this thread. All of it was about how Rog was clearly mechanical doping. I got bored after the first 5 pages of it; what happened to that theory? Is mechanical doping as a theory no longer en vogue?

I do remember reading that Roglic got his bike dismantled after a stage in TdF2021 to check for mechanical doping. I assume they do it routinely at random times.

Mechanical doping almost never happens at WT level, if you get caught its game over whereas regular doping can be hidden and managed.

 

[BR2]

Mechanical doping is mostly a fantasy and a distraction.

 

[Bonimenier]

Mechanical doping is mostly a fantasy and a distraction.

Femke Van den Driessche disagrees.

 

[pastronef]

Femke Van den Driessche disagrees.

Floyd Landis disagrees too.

if he also had this stick to throw to Lance, be sure he's have spilled the beans on that too.
alcoholic, suicidal, poor, leaving alone in a cabin, nothing to lose, forgotten. bang!
nothing, zero, zilch.
not a broken bikes with wires after a crash in all these years, not a pissed off/ sacked soigneur/mechanic at least hinting at something, nothing

 

[BR2]

Femke Van den Driessche disagrees.

She's the reason I said mostly and not entirely.

 

[Oldermanish]

Femke Van den Driessche disagrees.

Yeah, but her handlers (Dad, I think) commissioned that bike. They all stand as archetypical idiot cheats in the sport. No proTour team would risk losing sponsor dollars to introduce a motorized or sketchy bike. Bike sponsorship is one of the few reliable sponsor budgets in the sport. Everyone involved would have careers destroyed.

 

[Riek s]

Yeah, but her handlers (Dad, I think) commissioned that bike. They all stand as archetypical idiot cheats in the sport. No proTour team would risk losing sponsor dollars to introduce a motorized or sketchy bike. Bike sponsorship is one of the few reliable sponsor budgets in the sport. Everyone involved would have careers destroyed.

Isn't it all about the money and the interaction with the "bike checkers".
We know that doping has been rampaging under the nose and with approval of the anti-doping agencies. (Armstrong for instance. Heck even his cancer was only found in a later stage because his strange blood values were attributed to doping, so ok, and not due to sickness).
So why would it be different with the potential of motorized bikes. (all it takes is a 5W for 30min help to win or loose a GT). I don't know if that would change a thing for bike sponsorship, don't think the manufacturer suffers under that.

 

[Oldermanish]

Isn't it all about the money and the interaction with the "bike checkers".
We know that doping has been rampaging under the nose and with approval of the anti-doping agencies. (Armstrong for instance. Heck even his cancer was only found in a later stage because his strange blood values were attributed to doping, so ok, and not due to sickness).
So why would it be different with the potential of motorized bikes. (all it takes is a 5W for 30min help to win or loose a GT). I don't know if that would change a thing for bike sponsorship, don't think the manufacturer suffers under that.

As you said, "I don't know."
A rider caught doping is immediately dropped from a team. Problem solved and the wholesale Armstrong team doping would seem to be a thing of the past. Individuals cheating need to be skilled or they'll get caught. Not all, but some.
A sponsor bike used in cheating means the team, bike sponsor and likely all riders will not work again. Much higher risk.

 

[Riek s]

As you said, "I don't know."
A rider caught doping is immediately dropped from a team. Problem solved and the wholesale Armstrong team doping would seem to be a thing of the past. Individuals cheating need to be skilled or they'll get caught. Not all, but some.
A sponsor bike used in cheating means the team, bike sponsor and likely all riders will not work again. Much higher risk.

you are right. Wilier is not being used anymore in the peleton since 2016 due to it.

Which teams are riding with Wilier Triestina?

Groupama - FDJ, Astana Qazaqstan Team and Epronex - Hungary Cycling Team are riding with this brand. Wilier Triestina was founded in 1906.

www.procyclingstats.com

(seems they had more success after )

 

[pastronef]

you are right. Wilier is not being used anymore in the peleton since 2016 due to it.

Which teams are riding with Wilier Triestina?

Groupama - FDJ, Astana Qazaqstan Team and Epronex - Hungary Cycling Team are riding with this brand. Wilier Triestina was founded in 1906.

www.procyclingstats.com

(seems they had more success after )

he meant MOTOR-cheating

 

[zlev11]

Floyd Landis disagrees too.

if he also had this stick to throw to Lance, be sure he's have spilled the beans on that too.
alcoholic, suicidal, poor, leaving alone in a cabin, nothing to lose, forgotten. bang!
nothing, zero, zilch.
not a broken bikes with wires after a crash in all these years, not a pissed off/ sacked soigneur/mechanic at least hinting at something, nothing

i'm sure if Lance actually had a motor he would've never let anyone other than Johan and maybe a mechanic know about it. and pay the mechanic handsomely to never say anything about it.

(ftr i dont think he did, i dont think the technology was there for it during his time. but IMO motors were definitely used to win big races and not just Cancellara)

 

[zlev11]

Yeah, but her handlers (Dad, I think) commissioned that bike. They all stand as archetypical idiot cheats in the sport. No proTour team would risk losing sponsor dollars to introduce a motorized or sketchy bike. Bike sponsorship is one of the few reliable sponsor budgets in the sport. Everyone involved would have careers destroyed.

or look at it this way. could the UCI stand the risk of actually catching someone (publicly) with motors at a big race? that would look just as bad for them and make the whole sport look farcical. if anyone has ever actually been caught in the pro peloton then it would've been quickly swept under the rug with possibly some kind of silent ban.