State of the Peloton 2024

[Nick2413]

It's almost 8 weeks after the Tour.

My point exactly, a few down weeks and a few real training weeks is essentially all there was.

 

[AmRacer]

My point exactly, a few down weeks and a few real training weeks is essentially all there was.

And 2 hard races and this week for final build up.

 

[Rob5091]

So does this mean that UCI's EPO doping test now works or will we get the full blown CAS appeal etc etc?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/je...years-after-epo-detected-in-anti-doping-test/

The UCI has suspended Australian-born Irish cyclist Jesse Ewart for three years, citing an anti-doping rule violation after an in competition doping control test came back positive for Erythropoietin (EPO), with the ineligibility period for the athlete running through to May 15, 2027.

Edit - add - so he was tested in January, provisionally suspended in May and now in September we hear he's suspended until May 2027. Quicker I suppose then Hessman's "problems" but Visma no doubt have more money for lawyers.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Shame he wasn't caught last year. Dude exists to mess with my conti team on pro-cycling manager.

 

[Rob5091]

Inspired by a certain Dr Iñigo San Millán, a look at the “carbolution” or how to stuff 120g carbs per hour down your system -
https://www.endureiq.com/blog/120-g...raze-a-deep-dive-into-physiology-and-research

However, when we increase carbohydrate ingestion above 90 grams per hour, the recent research tells us that we don’t get any further glycogen savings. All the extra exogenous carbohydrate oxidation simply displaces fat oxidation, meaning that we are burning through our glycogen stores at the same rate whether we’re ingesting carbohydrates at 90 or 120 grams per hour. In fact, research from back in 2018 suggested that increasing carbohydrate ingestion above 90 grams per hour not only fails to preserve glycogen, but may stimulate its breakdown . This, of course, is the precisely the opposite of what we are trying to achieve.

A recent Velo article proposed that a “carbolution” is behind the amazing recent performances we have seen in professional cycling.

The premise of the article is that higher carbohydrate intakes are driving increases in the power output of the peloton, and records on climbs and in the Classics. New formulations, or “rocket-science concoctions” like Maurten hydrogels and glucose-fructose mixtures are allowing cyclists to take on carbohydrate at rates of 120 grams per hour, or even higher, and that this is what’s behind improvements in performance.

Based on the evidence I’ve considered above, I think you might agree that this is a bit of a stretch. Sure, glucose-fructose mixtures are a useful means of allowing an athlete to increase carbohydrate ingestion rates during exercise to 90 grams per hour, but we’ve known about these drinks and their metabolic effects for ~20 years (5). We’ve also seen that there’s no need to go beyond 90 grams per hour, as doing so doesn’t further preserve glycogen and in fact might accelerate its use, and worsens performance.

 

[E_F_]

Man I'm really going to need the rest of the peloton to figure out something crazy for next season. Pogacar+UAE dominance is simply way too much for my love of the sport to bear. Please drop some anti-matter watt bombs!!!

 

[pastronef]

Man I'm really going to need the rest of the peloton to figure out something crazy for next season. Pogacar+UAE dominance is simply way too much for my love of the sport to bear. Please drop some anti-matter watt bombs!!!

well, Jumbo-Visma needs to go back to its crazy 2023 levels

 

[E_F_]

well, Jumbo-Visma needs to go back to its crazy 2023 levels

That'll be nowhere near enough, I'm afraid.

 

[pastronef]

I started reading the Clinic 11 years ago in 2013 in the autumn-winter after Froome's Tour win. I became a big Sky and Froome fan because of their haters and obsessed and angered folks on here and twitter. they took it personally. it was another kind of racism towards the white Kenyan, it was personal attacks at Froome, in and out of the races, it was a vitriol never again seen on these pages.
they are gone now. disappeared.
I've read almost every post of the Gianetti-Pogacar thread on here and the last few pages are even philosophical, quiet, comprehensible, normal discussion into many topics about types of doping, reasons, question marks, lines to cross, etc etc.
I am in awe of the normal and calm discussion, about a rider and a team that would leave the Sky train and Froome at many minutes in the crucial races/stages.
so I wonder all the hysterical antidopers on here were just anti-Sky, anti-Froome, "anyone-but-Sky" folks. I know, I've already written this before, but it really hits me how the core part of people on here, that did lead the "fight" against the evil Sky until 2019, have forgotten about doping now and new people have come and you can have a human, unangered, non-obsessive discussion with them.
maybe it was all about the flag. because Sky had Sir Dave and Freeman, ok yadda yadda, but UAE has Matxin and Gianetti but the 2013-2018 antidopers don't care, are not rattled anymore. don't even bother to post on here.

 

[Red Rick]

I started reading the Clinic 11 years ago in 2013 in the autumn-winter after Froome's Tour win. I became a big Sky and Froome fan because of their haters and obsessed and angered folks on here and twitter. they took it personally. it was another kind of racism towards the white Kenyan, it was personal attacks at Froome, in and out of the races, it was a vitriol never again seen on these pages.
they are gone now. disappeared.
I've read almost every post of the Gianetti-Pogacar thread on here and the last few pages are even philosophical, quiet, comprehensible, normal discussion into many topics about types of doping, reasons, question marks, lines to cross, etc etc.
I am in awe of the normal and calm discussion, about a rider and a team that would leave the Sky train and Froome at many minutes in the crucial races/stages.
so I wonder all the hysterical antidopers on here were just anti-Sky, anti-Froome, "anyone-but-Sky" folks. I know, I've already written this before, but it really hits me how the core part of people on here, that did lead the "fight" against the evil Sky until 2019, have forgotten about doping now and new people have come and you can have a human, unangered, non-obsessive discussion with them.
maybe it was all about the flag. because Sky had Sir Dave and Freeman, ok yadda yadda, but UAE has Matxin and Gianetti but the 2013-2018 antidopers don't care, are not rattled anymore. don't even bother to post on here.

It is because there is nobody in here defending Pogacar and saying hez cleanz

 

[pastronef]

It is because there is nobody in here defending Pogacar and saying hez cleanz

no, they are defending. users listing his results race by race as junior and U23, looking at his career trajectory and progression, talking about his talent, from that Algarve win, and California, etc, and talking about his defeats in 22-23 against Skeleton

 

[Froome]

It is because there is nobody in here defending Pogacar and saying hez cleanz

Irony right?

 

[Rob5091]

It is because there is nobody in here defending Pogacar and saying hez cleanz

Well, we did have the Mighty Mou ...

 

[glassmoon]

Even Ganna with whole Ineos can't reel those UAE Colnagos back... constant 40s again...

 

[peterfin]

no, they are defending. users listing his results race by race as junior and U23, looking at his career trajectory and progression, talking about his talent, from that Algarve win, and California, etc, and talking about his defeats in 22-23 against Skeleton

Maybe it is because we are talking about a guy who is almost universally liked or at least respected? There is a huge contrast between our rational analysis or for some their gut feeling and what most of us want to believe. We want to believe we are watching a clean sport where potentially the greatest cyclists of all-time (Merckx exluded) battle against each other. We want to live in the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era of cycling. For us it's Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Mvdp ... all with their individual strengths. Now we have one guy making a huge, unexplainable leap. There is no anti-Pogacar movement. We start to understand that we are watching again something artificial.

 

[topcat]

I started reading the Clinic 11 years ago in 2013 in the autumn-winter after Froome's Tour win. I became a big Sky and Froome fan because of their haters and obsessed and angered folks on here and twitter. they took it personally. it was another kind of racism towards the white Kenyan, it was personal attacks at Froome, in and out of the races, it was a vitriol never again seen on these pages.
they are gone now. disappeared.
I've read almost every post of the Gianetti-Pogacar thread on here and the last few pages are even philosophical, quiet, comprehensible, normal discussion into many topics about types of doping, reasons, question marks, lines to cross, etc etc.
I am in awe of the normal and calm discussion, about a rider and a team that would leave the Sky train and Froome at many minutes in the crucial races/stages.
so I wonder all the hysterical antidopers on here were just anti-Sky, anti-Froome, "anyone-but-Sky" folks. I know, I've already written this before, but it really hits me how the core part of people on here, that did lead the "fight" against the evil Sky until 2019, have forgotten about doping now and new people have come and you can have a human, unangered, non-obsessive discussion with them.
maybe it was all about the flag. because Sky had Sir Dave and Freeman, ok yadda yadda, but UAE has Matxin and Gianetti but the 2013-2018 antidopers don't care, are not rattled anymore. don't even bother to post on here.

I am just as disgusted by Pogacar as I was about Froome.

 

[Froome]

I am just as disgusted by Pogacar as I was about Froome.

Froome was clean compared to Pogacar.

Besides that, in terms of personality, Pogacar is the tik tok armstrong.

He is a sneak, who does clown things when he sees a camara, and then at the same time, does arrogant things like this.

🎥 Controversy erupts as Evenepoel and Pogacar take jab at Roglic: "You shouldn't be afraid of him"

Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel have shown they ge

www.idlprocycling.com

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I am just as disgusted by Pogacar as I was about Froome.

Hate to say it because I really liked him, but at this point I am disgusted by Pog also. Last time I was happy he won was the Giro, after that things became laughably incredulous.

Edit: I think disgusted is a bit strong, I'm just really turned off by Pog now. If he's in a race (he'll probably win by miles) I disregard him, unless something drastically changes Pog is on my ignore list.

 

[zlev11]

I started reading the Clinic 11 years ago in 2013 in the autumn-winter after Froome's Tour win. I became a big Sky and Froome fan because of their haters and obsessed and angered folks on here and twitter. they took it personally. it was another kind of racism towards the white Kenyan, it was personal attacks at Froome, in and out of the races, it was a vitriol never again seen on these pages.
they are gone now. disappeared.
I've read almost every post of the Gianetti-Pogacar thread on here and the last few pages are even philosophical, quiet, comprehensible, normal discussion into many topics about types of doping, reasons, question marks, lines to cross, etc etc.
I am in awe of the normal and calm discussion, about a rider and a team that would leave the Sky train and Froome at many minutes in the crucial races/stages.
so I wonder all the hysterical antidopers on here were just anti-Sky, anti-Froome, "anyone-but-Sky" folks. I know, I've already written this before, but it really hits me how the core part of people on here, that did lead the "fight" against the evil Sky until 2019, have forgotten about doping now and new people have come and you can have a human, unangered, non-obsessive discussion with them.
maybe it was all about the flag. because Sky had Sir Dave and Freeman, ok yadda yadda, but UAE has Matxin and Gianetti but the 2013-2018 antidopers don't care, are not rattled anymore. don't even bother to post on here.

do you ever stop with this ***? sure, fine, the reaction to Froome is slightly different than the reaction to Pogacar. maybe it's because the way Froome looked on a bike was an insult to cycling? or because he turned from packfill to the best rider in the world randomly one day at age 27? or maybe it's because Team Sky suffocated the racing to the point of 'why even bother watching' for 7 years at the biggest stage races? but really, it's mostly because there aren't 19 different British Cycling Fans with no context of the sport defending him all day every day. that's why the reaction is different. everyone on here except 1 or 2 fanboys are in full agreement that Pogacar is doping. eventually the general public cycling fans are going to get bored of him solo'ing away for 80k all the time and turn on him, hopefully.

 

[Netserk]

I started reading the Clinic 11 years ago in 2013 in the autumn-winter after Froome's Tour win. I became a big Sky and Froome fan because of their haters and obsessed and angered folks on here and twitter. they took it personally. it was another kind of racism towards the white Kenyan, it was personal attacks at Froome, in and out of the races, it was a vitriol never again seen on these pages.

Within the first month of when your account was created in 2011:

Page 12 - Cobo Talk Only

Page 12 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

forum.cyclingnews.com

In 2012, you were mostly active in Contador's thread and those related to Armstrong/USADA

A hidden gem also from 2012:

I am not defending SKY, but they could have done it in a safer way.

And you were also peddling "technically clean" explanations during the Tour in 2013:

found this on WeightWeenies forum


I bet Sky is on something, but its not illegal and probably not pharmacological and their edge comes from properly manipulating it.

 

[Tim Cahill]

They got him, they finally got Frederico , it's a sad day for the forum, a big favourite on here I know.

Frederico Figueiredo e Luís Gomes suspensos provisoriamente devido ao passaporte biológico

Dois ciclistas foram suspensos provisoriamente pela Autoridade Antidopagem de Portugal, estando a decorrer um inquérito disciplinar

www.diariocoimbra.pt

Frederico Figueiredo and Luís Gomes provisionally suspended due to biological passport​

Two cyclists have been provisionally suspended by the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority, with a disciplinary investigation underway
Cyclists Frederico Figueiredo, runner-up in the 2022 Tour, and Luís Gomes are preventively suspended due to anomalies in their biological passport, a source from the Portuguese Cycling Federation (FPC) confirmed to the Lusa news agency.
The same source indicated that the two cyclists were provisionally suspended by the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority, and a disciplinary investigation is underway.
Runner-up of the 2022 Tour, an edition in which he was also the 'king' of the mountains, and winner of the Grande Prémio Jornal de Notícias at the beginning of September, Frederico Figueiredo, 33 years old, is one of the main cyclists in the national peloton, having played a decisive role in the victory of the Russian Artem Nych in the last edition of the Tour of Portugal.
A leading climber in Portuguese cycling, the Sabgal-Anicolor rider won the Grande Prémio Joaquim Agostinho three times, having also climbed to the lowest place on the podium in the Volta a Portugal in 2020.
In addition to Figueiredo, Luís Gomes, another of the main names in the national cycling scene, was also preventively suspended due to irregularities in his biological passport.
The 30-year-old GI Group Holding-Simoldes-UDO rider has three stages of the Tour of Portugal under his belt, having also won the points classification in the 'queen' event of Portuguese cycling in 2020 and the mountain race a year earlier.
The two cases predate 2023, the year in which the protocol that extended the biological passport to all cyclists in the national peloton came into force, the same federative source indicated.

 

[Nick2413]

They got him, they finally got Frederico , it's a sad day for the forum, a big favourite on here I know.

Frederico Figueiredo e Luís Gomes suspensos provisoriamente devido ao passaporte biológico

Dois ciclistas foram suspensos provisoriamente pela Autoridade Antidopagem de Portugal, estando a decorrer um inquérito disciplinar

www.diariocoimbra.pt

All these guys with names ending in es, ez, el, or do just can’t control themselves when it comes to doping can they

 

[Froome]

All these guys with names ending in es, ez, el, or do just can’t control themselves when it comes to doping can they

If the name ends is "ez", the guy is spanish.

If the name ends in "es", probably is portuguese.

Lopes=portuguese
Lopez=spanish

 

[Mayomaniac]

They got him, they finally got Frederico , it's a sad day for the forum, a big favourite on here I know.

Frederico Figueiredo e Luís Gomes suspensos provisoriamente devido ao passaporte biológico

Dois ciclistas foram suspensos provisoriamente pela Autoridade Antidopagem de Portugal, estando a decorrer um inquérito disciplinar

www.diariocoimbra.pt

Nooo, not my buddy Freddy!

 

[Nick2413]

Hate to say it because I really liked him, but at this point I am disgusted by Pog also. Last time I was happy he won was the Giro, after that things became laughably incredulous.

Edit: I think disgusted is a bit strong, I'm just really turned off by Pog now. If he's in a race (he'll probably win by miles) I disregard him, unless something drastically changes Pog is on my ignore list.

For me the turning point was Flanders, I thought I wanted to see him pull it off but when it actually happened it gave me a visceral reaction of disgust. Not that the situation wasn’t already going too far prior to that.