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State of the peloton 2021

Page 13 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Getting all the good feelz from the feel-good stories in the peloton these days. Cav's got it again, the yellow Jersey gives vdP wings and it's all about grandpa, TP is just such a likeable phenomenon with fun hair and he's nice, Ala wins the first stage for the home crowd.

All the feelz. No doping, just heart :rolleyes:
 
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Getting all the good feelz from the feel-good stories in the peloton these days. Cav's got it again, the yellow Jersey gives vdP wings and it's all about grandpa, TP is just such a likeable phenomenon with fun hair and he's nice, Ala wins the first stage for the home crowd.

All the feelz. No doping, just heart :rolleyes:
if you were writting a script how to commercially come out of pandemic this would be it, all the boxes checked, all thats left is throwing a bone to Ineos
 
I wonder how long this current era will endure? Every era of mega-performers with scripted miracles & tears of joy (with Watts which could power mega cities) has always come to an abrupt, ugly end.

DQS are the new Festina, Alpecin are following their footsteps & UAE have the new Lance. It even seems like SkyIneos aka the US Postal of the 2010's can't even compete.

It's the wild wild west in this Tour.

Getting all the good feelz from the feel-good stories in the peloton these days. Cav's got it again, the yellow Jersey gives vdP wings and it's all about grandpa, TP is just such a likeable phenomenon with fun hair and he's nice, Ala wins the first stage for the home crowd.

All the feelz. No doping, just heart :rolleyes:

We're just missing a cancer survivor dropping Olano like he's a sack of garbage in a TT to complete the emotional Hollywood script. How history repeats itself (including media fawning over impossible performances & the use of emotion as a masking agent) is always a sight to behold.
 
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I wonder how long this current era will endure? Every era of mega-performers with scripted miracles & tears of joy (with Watts which could power mega cities) has always come to an abrupt, ugly end.

DQS are the new Festina, Alpecin are following their footsteps & UAE have the new Lance. It even seems like SkyIneos aka the US Postal of the 2010's can't even compete.

It's the wild wild west in this Tour.



We're just missing a cancer survivor dropping Olano like he's a sack of garbage in a TT to complete the emotional Hollywood script. How history repeats itself (including media fawning over impossible performances & the use of emotion as a masking agent) is always a sight to behold.
Well, we could have someone recovering from a recent collarbone break to win an Olympic medal ... not quite the same, but you can only work with what you're given!

I would not write Ineos off just yet, they've won their fair share this year, including one GT.
 
Well, we could have someone recovering from a recent collarbone break to win an Olympic medal ... not quite the same, but you can only work with what you're given!

I would not write Ineos off just yet, they've won their fair share this year, including one GT.

I'm thinking about this specific Tour in particular with regards to Ineos. I mean sure, in the Giro they had Ganna & Martinez really pushing the suspension of disbelief, but here, things seem subdued. It could just be a temporary thing of course & they'll reach their usual heights over the coming two weeks.

Honestly though, this peloton seems to have a non-negligible advantage over the peloton from a few years ago: public adoration. I'm seeing the majority of posts on social media, forums & news articles (+ commentary from media professionals) express nothing but adulation & support for the current stars.

Just look at anyone who suggests Cav's miracle comeback is a bit over-the-top & not believable, i.e. kaboom, they get bombarded with downvotes. And it's not just Cav either, it's all of these guys (except the ones people don't like for personal reasons), i.e. they're popular, loved & get a huge amount of support from the public.

Good luck to anyone in this environment who wants to burst some bubbles. As I said previously, this is 1997 all over again (i.e. when France was collectively blinded by their love for Virenque, Festina was allowed to get away with daylight robbery... until they weren't).
 
I'm mostly watching out for old records to be shattered and how the public will react. Peyresourde last year made quite some waves but there were a couple of good explanations (early in the race, easy stage, lots of tailwind) and Vino/Mayo 2003 was already a watered down peleton compared to the unchecked EPO era of the 90s.
Mont Ventoux and Luz Ardiden gonna be interesting but on the other hand it's still not the sort of magnitude that a Pantani record on e.g. Alpe d'huez has, so maybe people will just shrug it off?

I kind of wonder if the route planners are sort of nervously keeping in mind what climbs they might avoid for the time being? I noticed they didn't pick Arcalis this time being in Andorra, would've been interesting if someone came close to Ullrichs 1997 time trialing show up there.
 
I'm mostly watching out for old records to be shattered and how the public will react. Peyresourde last year made quite some waves but there were a couple of good explanations (early in the race, easy stage, lots of tailwind) and Vino/Mayo 2003 was already a watered down peleton compared to the unchecked EPO era of the 90s.
Mont Ventoux and Luz Ardiden gonna be interesting but on the other hand it's still not the sort of magnitude that a Pantani record on e.g. Alpe d'huez has, so maybe people will just shrug it off?

I kind of wonder if the route planners are sort of nervously keeping in mind what climbs they might avoid for the time being? I noticed they didn't pick Arcalis this time being in Andorra, would've been interesting if someone came close to Ullrichs 1997 time trialing show up there.

For quite a few years now I believe we've seen supersonic riders lift their foot off the gas towards the end of a climb or during a TT to make their performance seem believable. I also think we've seen riders fake a bad day & lose some time deliberately.

The 1990's were sort of quaint with super-juiced idiots going full gas attempting to beat every record in existence to prove their superhuman credentials, but now? Nah, I think some of these guys (& their sporting directors) have grown a sneaky-brain & know when to lift off the pedals in the name of public relations & still get the end result they want. Soft pedalling on a 10% climb is the mark of a real Jedi master of the pharmaceutical arts.

Except Mark Padun of course, i.e. a man who clearly hasn't learned how to control his newfound powers yet.
 
For quite a few years now I believe we've seen supersonic riders lift their foot off the gas towards the end of a climb or during a TT to make their performance seem believable. I also think we've seen riders fake a bad day & lose some time deliberately.

The 1990's were sort of quaint with super-juiced idiots going full gas attempting to beat every record in existence to prove their superhuman credentials, but now? Nah, I think some of these guys (& their sporting directors) have grown a sneaky-brain & know when to lift off the pedals in the name of public relations & still get the end result they want. Soft pedalling on a 10% climb is the mark of a real Jedi master of the pharmaceutical arts.

Except Mark Padun of course, i.e. a man who clearly hasn't learned how to control his newfound powers yet.

I don't know. Doesn't look like much holding back to me at the moment. Everyone is doing it quite openly and not caring in my opinion. Okay, maybe Pogacar could do even more and only does what's necessary. But the others... and I guess they even have to, because the competition is stiff. Holding back would mean losing for most of them.
 
I don't know. Doesn't look like much holding back to me at the moment. Everyone is doing it quite openly and not caring in my opinion. Okay, maybe Pogacar could do even more and only does what's necessary. But the others... and I guess they even have to, because the competition is stiff. Holding back would mean losing for most of them.

I'm specifically thinking about the "supersonic riders" category.

It started with Froome IMO all those years ago when he started doing an unnatural looking yo-yo on the Alpe D'Huez in his 2013 Tour (including theatrically waving his hand in the air calling for his car), which was used as evidence of Froome's clean riding (no kidding, that was the narrative at the time, i.e. "look how clean he is, he suffers!"). He was never once in difficulty but the public relations machine was in full-swing showing his "human side".

And just yesterday we had Pogacar lifting his foot of the gas at the end of the TT (for real) & then unconvincingly saying "I really wanted the yellow jersey!".

I'm just numb to this stuff by now. I mean you're right, i.e. a load of riders (the majority even) go full gas, but there's the breed of Dragon Ball Z characters who can do whatever they want, whenever they want & still win.
 
I don't know. Doesn't look like much holding back to me at the moment. Everyone is doing it quite openly and not caring in my opinion. Okay, maybe Pogacar could do even more and only does what's necessary. But the others... and I guess they even have to, because the competition is stiff. Holding back would mean losing for most of them.
He looked like he just completed a Sunday aftrnoon 15 leisurely miles on a bike path yesterday, at the finish.
 
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All the personal interest stories actually make me watch less, not more. I know, I know. I'm a total weirdo, I watch sports to see them play the game, not to hear about what they've overcome to be on the field...like that D in Intro Sociology that made them academically ineligible.
 
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I'll admit it: I'm guilty of enjoying this.

It's a great era of cycling for sure, if this forum isn't an issue - and I've said it before, but we know absolutely NOTHING. 20 years ago everyone who wanted to know knew.

It is completely unbelievable that it's all kosher, two CX champions are leading the Tour, go into a break on a mid-mountain stage and take minutes off the genuine GC guys - wtf? They won't win, but who the *** knows anymore? TTers lead their captains over the highest mountains, wrecked sprinters get resurrected, 20-year-olds ride seasoned rouleurs off their wheels, champions come out of nowhere, climbing times are faster than ever. Is it real? Racing is more exciting than any time I remember, and I started watching somewhat seriously in the Armstrong years.

I do enjoy it too.
 
I don't know what is real. Cycling is still cleaner than in the 90s, but it might be less clean now than 5-7 years ago. I don't know what to believe anymore, but the racing is really fun.

Define what 'cleaner' means. they take less? or they take something that has less effect. I believe doping in cycling is just the same as it was in the old days. but the products and the effect of the products differ.
We had a peak in the 90s with EPO and the no limits. Which gave the highest performance increase, but I don't think there were more cyclist using forbidden or performance enhancing drugs compared to the 70 or 80s.
We all consider the Lance years as high dope years, but they were battling with the same products from the 90s, but with a different approach and with limits. (no more Mr 60%). But transformation from the 90s, with Mr 60% are only possible with doping. From donky to one of the best racer in the world... Lance was similar, but he was already a talented rider. We recently had the praying mantis on a bike which started winning GT after being dropped by the peleton on a cat 5 mountain and not holding wheels since joining the pro 5 year earlier.. it is not a possible transformation without doping.
Now we have many talented youngsters coming up, but after joining the profs they start riding at speeds from the doping years. Either means cycling has never had such talented people... and the last 30 years were filled with donkeys that performed due to dope.... or it just means doping is still highly relevant.
 
1. Can I please have Froome back?

2. I am a *** idiot for not betting all my worldly and otherworldy belongings on Pogacar to win the Tour the moment it was announced he signed a contract through 2026.

3. Now we get to watch journalists, analysts and pundits spin this into something believable

4. If I wanted comedy, I'd just watch midget basketbal
 
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