State of the Peloton 2024

[Rob5091]

New season. No racing so far but thought I'd open the thread in advance. So, what are the expectations?

That was 2023, now it's 2024 ...

 

[AmRacer]

Getting those hard miles.

 

[Rob5091]

So, now Tramadol should be a thing of the past (stop laughing at the back!) and we await more on Visma's Hessman and Superman Lopez.
It is an Olympic year so maybe we'll see more doping stories this year.

 

[Rob5091]

So if you've had long Covid, then don't plan on doing Paris-Roubaix -
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...should-avoid-intense-exercise-say-researchers

Now experts say they have evidence that biological changes are to blame, such as severe muscle damage, mitochondrial problems and the presence of microclots in the body.

“It’s really confirming that there is something inside the body going wrong with the disease,” said Dr Rob Wüst, an author of the study at VU University Amsterdam.
... The results reveal that while there was considerable variation between patients, on average, people with long Covid had a lower exercise capacity than healthy participants.

When the researchers analysed the biopsies taken before exercise, they found that those with long Covid had a greater proportion of white fibres in their muscles than healthy participants. These fibres have fewer power-producing structures, known as mitochondria, within their cells, and fewer capillaries.

The team also found signs that the mitochondria in people with long Covid did not work as well as they did in healthy participants.

Also Eli Iserbyt and Tom "Pidders" Pidcock have both gone down with an "illness". Is it the same thing or will we never know? Probably the latter.

 

[Rob5091]

Apparently the latest buzzword is "durability" - UAE Team Emirates’ performance coordinator Jeroen Swart told Velo.
https://velo.outsideonline.com/road...y-is-the-new-must-know-metric-in-pro-cycling/

“It’s basically an indicator of how hard they can go after five, six hours. And that’s what you want to know about when it comes to winning races.” A rider’s capacity to turn huge watts after hours of leg-sapping racing – their durability – is what helps them be the first over the line at the Paris-Roubaix velodrome or the summit finish of a Tour de France “Queen stage.”

Ok, when was the last time a Tour stage lasted 5 hours, any stage?

 

[kingjr]

Stage 17 in 2021? Won by Pogacar ahead of Vingegaard, incidentally.

 

[Rob5091]

Stage 17 in 2021? Won by Pogacar ahead of Vingegaard, incidentally.

5 hours 3 minutes and 31 seconds the winning time for 178.4 km - but 120 km were flat so no "Queen Stage" exactly.

 

[Rob5091]

Reading about the pre-TDU criterium makes me wonder if the guys are getting 120g carbs /H and ketones etc then it's going to be a fast and furious 2024 -
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/the-down-under-classic-the-best-race-that-youve-never-watched

 

[Rob5091]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ke...credibility-warns-totalenergies-team-manager/

Team TotalEnergies team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau has called on the UCI to ban ketones and so end the debate about their risks and benefits. Bernaudeau believes a clear stance on the use of ketones can boost professional cycling’s credibility.

Gonna be hard to ban something that the body produces naturally. At the moment it seems teams are using them to turbo boost recovery and "durability".

 

[Salvarani]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ke...credibility-warns-totalenergies-team-manager/

Gonna be hard to ban something that the body produces naturally. At the moment it seems teams are using them to turbo boost recovery and "durability".

How much research has been made on how it affects the heart and so on? A bigger intake of it.

Just a thought I got from that and that there has been a peculiar number of cases about riders with heart conditions in the past couple of years.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ke...credibility-warns-totalenergies-team-manager/

Gonna be hard to ban something that the body produces naturally. At the moment it seems teams are using them to turbo boost recovery and "durability".

Doping usually involves substances that the body produces naturally though.

 

[Izzyeviel]

At what point does Welsford get his own thread?

 

[theyoungest]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ke...credibility-warns-totalenergies-team-manager/

Gonna be hard to ban something that the body produces naturally. At the moment it seems teams are using them to turbo boost recovery and "durability".

I love the French obsession with ketones. No product is bad for cycling's credibility. It's people hammering on about how bad a product is. Maybe someone should inform these worried Frenchmen that Vingegaard doesn't even take them. So whatever it is that makes him win these Tours... it's not ketones.

 

[Hugh Januss]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ke...credibility-warns-totalenergies-team-manager/

Gonna be hard to ban something that the body produces naturally.

Like EPO?

 

[Rob5091]

Like EPO?

A certain American won a few Tours before they came up with a test. I said it would be hard not impossible.

 

[rghysens]

At what point does Welsford get his own thread?

When he beats philipsen on a regular basis.

 

[Ripper]

I wonder if we will learn anything new this year.

I was chuckling this week, remembering how some people tried to justify what was basically mainlining Ventolin as something that could not possibly be performance enhancing

 

[Rob5091]

Well, if you had Victor Campenaerts and mitrochondria on your clinic bingo card, you're a winner!
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ngegaard-have-the-best-developed-mitochondria

"Here I get closer to the aerobic threshold. It is claimed that this is a more efficient training. If you ride close to that zone more often, it stimulates the production of mitochondria," he explains. Hence, he believes that his changes throughout the winter may lead to a boost for the upcoming year, "And the riders who win the most races nowadays, such as Pogacar and Vingegaard, have the best developed mitochondria. In that respect, this should lead to top results.”

 

[Mayomaniac]

Well, if you had Victor Campenaerts and mitrochondria on your clinic bingo card, you're a winner!
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ngegaard-have-the-best-developed-mitochondria

Next on the bingo card:
"nanomachines, son!"

 

[Rob5091]

It'll be interesting to see if UAE continue with the "cramping" after Pogacar at il Lombardia and McNulty on Mallorca. (when was the last time Vingegaard got cramps?)

 

[theyoungest]

It'll be interesting to see if UAE continue with the "cramping" after Pogacar at il Lombardia and McNulty on Mallorca. (when was the last time Vingegaard got cramps?)

What's your point?

 

[Rob5091]

What's your point?

My point was with all the science and money at UAE, it's a bit odd that their riders get cramp (ok, first day for McNulty but it's something I think is worth noting for later in the season)

Talking of the peloton, a great start in Mallorca with a winner from a 100 km plus break (in a sprint) and a 19 year old doing 46 km/h over 181 km. "Durability" in buckets, I say!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Next on the bingo card:
"nanomachines, son!"

Patrick Lefevere seeing Remco's Vuelta GC ambitions go up in smoke...

 

[hulkgogan]

https://www.galaxus.ch/en/page/forget-doping-how-autologous-blood-therapy-combats-osteoarthritis-30566

So Q36.5 Pro Cycling's team doctor is an expert in and runs a practice where he does autologous blood therapy for punters? Like, lol. Optics, guys.

 

[hrotha]

"Blood doping isn't an issue because if I injected anything without reporting it I'd be breaking the rules" is an insane take which tells me anything I need to know about this doctor and his stance on doping