So apparently some riders started their own investigation. Targeted teams are the one we all would expect (DQS, Jumbo, Bahrain, UAE).
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So apparently some riders started their own investigation. Targeted teams are the one we all would expect (DQS, Jumbo, Bahrain, UAE).
Found the web version but don't have a sub to 'letemps'
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Au Tour de France des soupçons, les cyclistes enquêtent - Le Temps
A trois jours de l’arrivée finale, le maillot jaune Tadej Pogacar est visé par les doutes de certains rivaux. Quatre équipes créent le trouble, dont le Team Bahrain-Victorious, qui a été perquisitionné par les gendarmes français mercredi soir, dans les Pyrénéeswww.letemps.ch
Anyone run it through a translator?
im just here to enjoy the ride. Idk what they are on at the minute but for sure it's almost as good as the stuff they used from 95-2005
Paolo Slongo, ex-coach of Nibali for the best part of his career said: "They are riding at a level never seen before, in the first 10 stages it was as if there was no tomorrow".
DQS too.This quote reminds me of the thread "Cannondale getting dropped in clean cycling" here. It definitely looks like the three teams (UAE, Bahrain, and Jumbo) have an edge in their doping program
Fastest Tour de France editions (all >40 Kph) | #TDF2021
2005 | 41.654 Kph
2021 | 41.160
2017 | 40.995
2003 | 40.940
2006 | 40.784
2014 | 40.662
2019 | 40.575
2004 | 40.553
2013 | 40.542
2008 | 40.492
2009 | 40.315
1999 | 40.276
2018 | 40.206
2001 | 40.070
Comprehend this: Froome wouldn't have been allowed to start the TDF if he was still injured. If his injury was as bad as everyone (you believe) says it was, then he would've been forced to drop out of the race on stage 1. So, what you're seeing, imo, if the real Froome...and the real Thomas. Even though they are on separate teams now, and for what I know have different medical personnel attending to their needs, they both seem to be riding normal for them (normal= pre-transformations).
The pace of GTs is often dictated by random doomed breakaways as well. In my opinion, average speed is generally a meaningless metric.
All things being equal, the fastest Tours should have been the ones from the mid 90's. At least I don't see a reason why a field capable of records up climbs that are still standing today would be worse than the current group on any other terrain.
The fact that those Tours were slower suggests that there are factors other than just dope in play.
For peloton speed I do think a lot of it has to do with the overall professional organization of the teams being so much more powerful these days, collectively speaking. As well as bike technology. Deep rims, internal cables, etc all make for a faster average pace. I’m curious how the flat TT speeds compare from ‘95 to today. But we know the mountain speeds are much more similar.All things being equal, the fastest Tours should have been the ones from the mid 90's. At least I don't see a reason why a field capable of records up climbs that are still standing today would be worse than the current group on any other terrain.
The fact that those Tours were slower suggests that there are factors other than just dope in play.
I think a reason is, the fitness of average rider in today is far better than the average rider in 90s, hence the breakaways and domestiques ride faster through the stages. The GC riders only see the wind in 30-50kms in today's grand tours, which is quite insignificant in the overall picture.
People look at GC's average speeds because the data lines up with (and thus seems to reinforce) our expectations, but it's still mostly just noise and they shouldn't be used. Climbing times are not a perfect tool but they're subject to waaaay less variables than average speeds over three weeks and on wildly different parcourses.
It feels like 5-10 years ago we regularly had stage wins contested by groups of riders that got slower as the finish line approached (a sign of understandable fatigue). Obviously there were highly suspect performances during that period but I can distinctly remember actually laughing at some stage finishes as the poor suffering breakaway riders almost crawled to the line in a small bunch 'sprint' for the line.
Now we seem to be regularly getting one guy on GC or the breakaway managing to serenely dispatch their rivals (defying the laws of drafting and the psychological power of wheelsucking) and make it to the line alone without losing any speed (no obvious sign of fatigue).
All completely unscientific but I feel better when there are a group of riders near the finish who have been unable to shake each other off due to the power of drafting. My ill informed perception is that the proportion of riders getting a 'boost' has gone through the roof in the past two years, from maybe 1-5% of the field to 10%+.