Hi guys. Been a long time lurker, but never decided to actively join in any discussion up until now. The things have been getting worse year after year ever since the 2020 TDF and have now reach a point where it is just straight up laughable. It is basically at a point where it is meaningless to discuss what we are witnessing in a doping-free discussion. However, the amount of people that seems to be buying this without any questions is mind boggling. I am a Slovenian so if you think this forum is bad and occupied by fanboys you should see the Slovenian forums. Couple of times I hoped to start a debate on this topic, but needless to say, it goes nowhere. Crazy world, talking about doping in cycling is perceived as spreading some wild conspiracies… in a sport that, from historical point of view, is completely integrated with doping. So this forum really is like a breath of fresh air. A place where there still seems to be a lot knowledgeable people and cycling fans perceiving things as they are rather than looking through rose-tinted glasses. So I decided to join, maybe share some thoughts from time to time, or just to vent some frustration as this is the only place where we can do this.
So to begin by addressing the following point. We have been hearing constantly that the reason for what we are witnessing in the last few years is due to »aero/nutrition/training« improvement (and this goes for Pogačar‘s level as well as cycling in general). And what I see is people just blindly following and repeating this mantra, without any real meaning to it. I haven't heard any concrete explanation as to how exactly and by how much this makes improvement, when did this advancements came into existence, even with them, how it is possible people can shatter full-EPO boosted records,…? What we are being served is a lazy rationale: »aero/nutrition/training« has improved so much that all we are witnessing is perfectly logical so no need for further questions… which is not really an explanation but a mere “just believe me” statement.
Even if we, for a second, put aside the fact who are the people in charge of UAE operation, forget that we have heard the same excuses before, even if we somehow convince ourselves that we can have never-seen-like domination in the time when this sport is the most professional it has ever been, even if we forget that he has dominated the whole season without even the slightest signs of weakness, even if we make the stretch and say that all the advancement can compensate for the full EPO-juiced/60% HCT monsters, there is still the trend in performances that just does not add up. All this apparent »aero/nutrition/training« evolution they want to sell somehow skyrocketed the performances only in the span of last 3-4 years while it remained stagnant for some 20 years. What we see, performance-wise, is a dramatic change, a revolution rather evolution, if you will. And while I believe in evolution in all these fields that has obviously made progress since the 90's, I just do not see any real revolution happening in the last few years that could potentially explain the dramatic leaps in performances, with Pogačar as the most noticeable example of this new level that was considered science fiction just a few years back. With all this, objectively, it is just hard to find any other explanation than the use of PED's for the current affairs. Yes, we do not have a proof but when something looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
Between the two explanations in case of Pogačar, i.e. the GOAT, genetic freak, most talented rider in history on one hand, and artificially boosted performer like, almost exclusively, any rider dominating in the past on the other, it honestly seem a minor miracle if the former was the case. Yet people seem to choose the comforting fiction over the rational reality.
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