State of the Peloton 2026

[Rob5091]

1st of Jan and the flag has dropped on 2026.

Will we see more ABP busts, more crazy speeds and will Rozman be at the Tour?

 

[pastronef]

1st of Jan and the flag has dropped on 2026.

Will we see more ABP busts, more crazy speeds and will Rozman be at the Tour?

have you thought about him while making the toast to 2026?

 

[Cookster15]

Will we see more ABP busts

That is my wish. But I am not hopeful. Small fish only.

 

[Rob5091]

have you thought about him while making the toast to 2026?

Rozman is still on the Ineos website as "head carer" so he's still around.

 

[yaco]

I don't want more ABP cases because I have doubts about the science behind the results. If you have money behind you then you can beat an ABP result, so the relevant authorities only go after small time riders who dont have resources to fight the charge.

 

[Rob5091]

Something seems to have changed with the ABP as if they are catching guys like Lazkano then something's afoot. Lazkano has n't even got a team contract now so he'll have to pay for everything himself.

 

[Rob5091]

Has Yatesy (S) been popped? If he has, we'll never know now.

 

[pastronef]

Has Yatesy (S) been popped? If he has, we'll never know now.

I came here to read this from you. I knew

 

[Rob5091]

I came here to read this from you. I knew

You have to admit, it's all a bit odd.

 

[pastronef]

You have to admit, it's all a bit odd.

Hindley just said a few years ago, that the current rhythms and stress of pro cycling are something way way harder and stressful than before.
just today Samara Maxwell (she's young) announced she take a full year off the races. she won the XCO world cup. Kittel left for the stress, let alone Dumoulin. when things suddenly don't click anymore, it's hard to cope

 

[AmRacer]

Hindley just said a few years ago, that the current rhythms and stress of pro cycling are something way way harder and stressful than before.
just today Samara Maxwell (she's young) announced she take a full year off the races. she won the XCO world cup. Kittel left for the stress, let alone Dumoulin. when things suddenly don't click anymore, it's hard to cope

De Gendt: It's clear that the general level is just much higher at the Tour de France

'The day has to come when the young riders are better but they have done it very suddenly'

www.cyclingnews.com

"I rode one of my best ten-minute efforts ever at the start [of stage 8]. Those values have been recorded since 2013," De Gendt told Sporza before setting off for a grim day in the saddle towards Tignes.

"Normally, with those values, I can ride the whole peloton to pieces. Here, I was 100 metres behind in a group of 70 riders – and I started from the front row. When you're not in the peloton after that it's clear that the general level is just much higher."

"I pushed my numbers in the breakaway only I finished 28 minutes down. But I feel as tired as I do after I've been in a breakaway," he said.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

De Gendt: It's clear that the general level is just much higher at the Tour de France

'The day has to come when the young riders are better but they have done it very suddenly'

www.cyclingnews.com

Would DeGendt just maybe consider eating an extra 100g carbs an hour so he can also magically never need to breathe?

 

[TheKidsCallMeBoss]

Would DeGendt just maybe consider eating an extra 100g carbs an hour so he can also magically never need to breathe?

He probably did it because he won a stage in the Giro a few months after this interview.

 

[Rackham]

Simon Yates bringing the "sudden retirement mid-way through winter training to mask a doping ban" energy in this early 2026.

Is that a conspiracy theory? Yes, absolutely. But since this is the clinic, most of what we discuss here is in the theoretical realm anyway. I mean according to the official version, T Pogi is the cleanest and greatest athlete of all time based on his numbers.

 

[yaco]

Has Yatesy (S) been popped? If he has, we'll never know now.

Do you think Visma would put out a joint statement with Simon announcing his retirement if he had been popped ? There is radio silence and teams cant run fast enough to disassociate themselves from the rider.

 

[pastronef]

Do you think Visma would put out a joint statement with Simon announcing his retirement if he had been popped ? There is radio silence and teams cant run fast enough to disassociate themselves from the rider.

THIS. THIS.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

He probably did it because he won a stage in the Giro a few months after this interview.

Maybe he had a bad case of asthma.

 

[dougvdh]

Do you think Visma would put out a joint statement with Simon announcing his retirement if he had been popped ? There is radio silence and teams cant run fast enough to disassociate themselves from the rider.

I'm of the assumption that there's some sort of further Sky/British Cycling *** storm about to go public. So Visma isn't implicated, and wants to stay out of the spot light

 

[pastronef]

I'm of the assumption that there's some sort of further Sky/British Cycling *** storm about to go public. So Visma isn't implicated, and wants to stay out of the spot light

wishful thinking?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Sky wouldn't have been brazen enough to retain Rozman if there was a scandal coming, I think he's just done a training camp and realised he can't be arsed anymore, the lights go out quickly for most.

 

[Rob5091]

Do you think Visma would put out a joint statement with Simon announcing his retirement if he had been popped ? There is radio silence and teams cant run fast enough to disassociate themselves from the rider.

Unfortunately announcing his retirement is exactly one of the options that would be considered if he did get popped. As I wrote before, we will probably never know one way or another, but waiting until January is unusual.

 

[Rob5091]

Sky wouldn't have been brazen enough to retain Rozman if there was a scandal coming, I think he's just done a training camp and realised he can't be arsed anymore, the lights go out quickly for most.

The Lazkano case gave us the info that ITA hired two guys, one from intelligence and one from customs. Also ITA were looking at up to 12 Spanish athletes, so they'll be after info from Rozman and not try to bust him.
Ineos though will be draging his dirty past around with them for as long as he works there.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Simon Yates bringing the "sudden retirement mid-way through winter training to mask a doping ban" energy in this early 2026.

Is that a conspiracy theory? Yes, absolutely. But since this is the clinic, most of what we discuss here is in the theoretical realm anyway. I mean according to the official version, T Pogi is the cleanest and greatest athlete of all time based on his numbers.

Silent ban was the first thing that came to my mind. Its so sudden, no earlier signals, no mentions at the end of the last season. Busted during off-season testing maybe?

 

[Rackham]

Silent ban was the first thing that came to my mind. Its so sudden, no earlier signals, no mentions at the end of the last season. Busted during off-season testing maybe?

Yo, definitely. Either that or something came back positive from the Giro. I'm not sure how long it takes to test everything in the Giro but the Tour for example I believe the results can often be delayed until the first part of the following year. I read about that a few years ago.

Do you think Visma would put out a joint statement with Simon announcing his retirement if he had been popped ? There is radio silence and teams cant run fast enough to disassociate themselves from the rider.

Absolutely yes. Of course. Since he won a GT with them. Maybe they weren't even informed of the positive and just rolled with Yates' retirement decision. It can be mutually inclusive with getting popped.

Bottom line, I'm not inclined to assert with confidence that what I'm reading regarding Simon Yates retiring is the truth (especially so suddenly when he claimed he'd been thinking about it for a while, i.e. reminiscent of how Dumoulin suddenly quit Jumbo Visma's training camp and took a 'break' back in 2001).

 

[pastronef]

Silent ban was the first thing that came to my mind. Its so sudden, no earlier signals, no mentions at the end of the last season. Busted during off-season testing maybe?

Benson tweeted earlier today about him talking about retirement last summer