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State of the Peloton 2024

Page 32 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Somehow have the feeling, that something strange happened during the Covid years. Was it the one year without any meaningful testing outside of competitions? Maybe that freedom opened the doors to try out some new methods.
Its not only in cycling, but in athletics you have 400m hurdles race, that was completely nuts (Tokyo Olympics), and the crazy Marathon WR.
Marathon is all about the shoes.
 
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Somehow have the feeling, that something strange happened during the Covid years. Was it the one year without any meaningful testing outside of competitions? Maybe that freedom opened the doors to try out some new methods.
Its not only in cycling, but in athletics you have 400m hurdles race, that was completely nuts (Tokyo Olympics), and the crazy Marathon WR.
Lots of top level marathon/distance guys are getting done at the moment but it's just for the usual stuff, think Kipruto was rEPO. Loads of Kenyan scapegoats, the Colombia of running.

Ingebrigtsen is who you want to watch out for, I know he's middle distance but he's on some of that Scandinavian good s*it that is doing the rounds at the moment given the times he's posting.
 
Loads of top level marathon/distance guys are getting done at the moment but it's just for the usual stuff, think Kipruto was rEPO.

Ingebrigtsen is who you want to watch out for, I know he's middle distance but he's on some of that Scandinavian good s*it that is doing the rounds at the moment given the times he's posting.
Norwegian, not Scandinavian.
Hm, Jonas is Scandinavian too. 🤔
 
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Nicely put about the climbing time today -
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/a...vingegaard-tadej-pogacar-win-stage-15-cycling
After the stage finished, it was reported Pogacar had climbed Plateau de Beille in 39min 41sec, compared to the late Marco Pantani’s winning time in 1998’s scandal-riddled “Festina Tour”, of 43min 20sec.
Today's parcours of nearly 198 km over 4 cat 1's and the HC climb finish were raced at an average speed of 37.78 km/h (according to PCS), add in the hot weather and it's a remarkable feat. 104 guys came in over 40 minutes after the winner plus 1 OTL & 1 DNF.
Pogacar's winning time was remarkable, but a man who was apparently so ill, can match him for most of the day, raises more then eyebrows.
 
Lots of top level marathon/distance guys are getting done at the moment but it's just for the usual stuff, think Kipruto was rEPO. Loads of Kenyan scapegoats, the Colombia of running.

Ingebrigtsen is who you want to watch out for, I know he's middle distance but he's on some of that Scandinavian good s*it that is doing the rounds at the moment given the times he's posting.
Quiet as kept Sweden runners are getting better and better as well. Both sprinters and distance runners.

Still far behind the very best... but lost track (hah) about how many national records been broken this season. Long-standing ones. Almost every distance, I am not kidding.
 
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Somehow have the feeling, that something strange happened during the Covid years. Was it the one year without any meaningful testing outside of competitions? Maybe that freedom opened the doors to try out some new methods.
Its not only in cycling, but in athletics you have 400m hurdles race, that was completely nuts (Tokyo Olympics), and the crazy Marathon WR.
Australian swimming trails for Olympics was thermonuclear. I fear what the top nations have in Paris soon
 
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No one can claim "Aero gains" or "nutrition" for the final climb times ... you have to put the power down to climb that fast that long. Nutrition fuels the engine, but the engine has to make the power.
 
Lots of top level marathon/distance guys are getting done at the moment but it's just for the usual stuff, think Kipruto was rEPO. Loads of Kenyan scapegoats, the Colombia of running.

Ingebrigtsen is who you want to watch out for, I know he's middle distance but he's on some of that Scandinavian good s*it that is doing the rounds at the moment given the times he's posting.
Norwegian method

Triathlon fun

Nothing to see here. All good. Just get analytical about your stool
 
Jonas on that TT pushed the limits of my belief that guys were maybe cleanish.

But today, after yesterday? With the stage being so similar to the stage that Pantani set the record on? But raced harder?

Yeh... the required watts/kg to do that and the V02 max guys have to have?

I mean, it is just not realistic is it?

Look at guys like Bardet and Bernal... these are two of the guys who were the best climbers in the world 5 years ago. Look at S.Yates, Carapaz and Hindley and Mas.

They have not actually got any worse in terms of the times they are putting up really vs ~2-3 years ago. Some have even improved. But there are a few teams whose entire teams are just all improving at a level that does not seem normal given age curves, the fact V02 max doesn't improve over age, and they are not shedding pound after pound to improve their watts/kg. How are these VAMs possible?

Even as a kid during Armstrong I was one of the kids in high school who would not wear a yellow wristband because, well, speaking to my dad at the time? It was too good to be true given what we knew... and this is making some of the things back then look human.
 
Landa is a good yardstick, considering he's been a top climber for a long time, keeping his level comparable to the top climbers the wole time. Somehow he's gained climbing form that would have buried Froome at 34yo and no real change in body shape without gaining ground on the absolute best

yeah this is really interesting to think about. if you go back to when he almost podiumed the Tour, on his best climbs he was probably close to a full 1w/kg lower than he was today, yet he is 4 minutes down the road. and he was 7 years younger. it shows just how potent whatever these guys are taking is. they are putting out absolutely huge watts.
 
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yeah this is really interesting to think about. if you go back to when he almost podiumed the Tour, on his best climbs he was probably close a full 1w/kg lower than he was today, yet he is 4 minutes down the road. and he was 7 years younger. it shows just how potent whatever these guys are taking is. they are putting out absolutely huge watts.
Derek Gee is the one that is completely absurd to me
 
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