It looks like that we have a full array of apologists' "moves" on display in this thread, to one of which your cited reply was directed. The simplest one (move) is to try to play on emotions, by using various monikers like "stupid", "ridiculous" etc. Examples: "ridiculous motor theory", "dumb conspiracy theorists". The idea is that the target of the emotion-based assault somehow gets ashamed of being "stupid" or afraid of being considered "a conspiracy theorist" and thus stops propagating "nonsense". Characteristic of this "move" is that it is never justified why "conspiracy theories" are "ridiculous" simply because such claims can never be justified in any rational way in any specific formulation. One is supposed to believe that simply because this is what the general media "buzz" everyone keeps hearing on every corner suggests.
If an emotional approach does not work, there comes the "move" consisting of just watering the problem down, making it look more ordinary, like something that has already been encountered before, that happens on a semi-regular fashion etc. In this case, it shows itself in the form of comparing Pogo with Vingo, Froome etc. In this case, it is actually not quite clear what they want to say. Is that if it looks like that Froome used a motor at some point, then we should not begrudge Pogo the compulsive mega-motor usage ? The goal here is to just dissolve the question by redirecting it.
And then there is this: widening the scope beyond any reasonable limit. Like, let us just look for "outliers" anywhere we could find them, never mind a totally different field where there is, in particular, absolutely no way of quantifying the "performance" and the size of "gaps" thereof and also the amount of effort spent to achieve those "gaps". Enter science, mathematics, chess etc. We see comparisons with Newton, Euler and so forth. Newton, we hear, "outperformed" his contemporaries to such an extent that Pogo's easy-peasy seated exploits on the Muur or the "unplanned" gapping of a bunch of world-class peaking for this race 10 year-olds (at least judging by how how easily they lost the wheel of Pogo who merely wanted to "test his legs" and never stopped nose breathing or stood on the saddle for that matter). You see, folks, Newton "gapped" everyone else in that "race" by formulating the three laws of dynamics. While those other guys were trying their best to beat him to the three laws, huffing and puffing (just like Pogo competitors in Fleche), he turned out to be the one who "got" them. Which, I guess, means DNF for the rest. That's definitely a bigger "gap" than what Pogo had in Fleche. See, folks, he is not even as much of an "outlier" and could well be totally clean!
Here is an even better comparo. Let's take the most intelligent book ever written, "Wissenschaft der Logik" (The Science of Logic") by Hegel, rivaled by only Marx's "Das Kapital". And let's take Bertie Russell who was widely considered one of the most intelligent men in the "west" in the period from WWII to his death. That would make him, using the apologists' "analogies", somebody at least at the level of a WT team leader (think, for example, Mads P.), i.e. a full "four standard deviations" above the average. Then check out what Bertie wrote about rational dialectics (the subject matter of "Wissenschaft der Logik") and logic in general but make sure your stomach is not that full since violent laughter might ensue. Convince yourself that Bertie is a nitwit next to Hegel. So put him "four standard deviations" below. There we have it. If Hegel had been a cyclist, he would have dropped everyone with a cappuccino in one hand and morning newspaper in the other. So Pogo's seated accelerations up the Muur are not even that outstanding. Clean rider, folks. Going to improve some more, probably. Be ready.
Yet another modification of the more subtle "redirection" type of moves is waxing psychological about "what sense would it make", "would Pog want to win in this way" etc. instead of focusing on what is in front of our eyes. And speaking of the latter, that Fleche winning acceleration made things even more transparent than before. The thing is it is easier to hide power than force on the bike. In a long steady TDF type of climb, the power can be deduced indirectly from the speed of forward propulsion, the gradient and the rider weight. And then one could speculate on Pogo's oxygen capacity due to his "unique genetics" etc. But force put on pedals can be seen from the posture of the rider. More specifically, power is product of force by speed. Given how fast Pogo created a gap of 30 meters or so (less than 10 sec), his power had to exceed that of his competitors by as much as 50%. That could be achieved either by crazy Froome-like cadence (which was not there at all) or by applying humongous force to the pedals. But to do the latter one has to put weight over the front pedal just for balance. The only alternative is to compensate with weightlifter style pull on the bars while engaging your weightlifter size quads -- which clearly could not be the case. Everyone can perform a simple experiment: take your cycling buddy and race him from standstill for 50m or so. Remain seated while allowing your buddy to stand. Then report the results. That's the reason everyone stands for sprints or decisive uphill attacks. And, coincidentally, this is what those "non-generational" talents floundering in Pogo's wake were doing.
To summarize that simple observation afforded by, apparently, the old ghoul's "calibration" of Pogo's e-assist following Amstel "embarrassment". That huge 'burst" of power in Fleche was achieved by neither very high cadence, nor by huge pedal force (judging from the rider's seated posture). Conclusion: it was achieved by an external to rider source. Could be a motor or something else, like holy spirit. The latter part is still, indeed, a speculation and by saying that it was actually a motor, we just go with the simplest most common explanation.
P.S. The question that interests me concerning the resident apologists is why they at all care. Indeed, guys, the "mainstream" is fully on your side buzzing incessantly about a 100% clean "generational talent". Even the Pogo's thread in the road racing forum here is in full kumbaya mode. Why do you care about the views such a small minority expresses? Why the attempts to "convert" them into the "official" faith which is already "official", so to speak? Why not going to one of the mentioned venues to freely regale in joy of "witnessing history"?
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