Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[Ilmaestro99]

Funny you should mention this, not quite, however if this forum has one use it does call out snake oil salesmen early. People on here were saying San Milan was full of *** years before it came commonplace.



Not accusing Pogacar of anything to do with it of course but he does need better advice on choosing his friends.

Peter Attia mentioned in the Epstein files 1800 times;

https://twitter.com/x/status/2017758037616763148

1800 times is absurd.

There is one email chain between him and epstien organising a meet the next day, that took place at the same time as his son was in hospital after cardiac arrest. He told his wife he was too busy with important work to travel ...

 

[HashRouge]

I hear you but (quick ai explanation)
Bleaching or heavily treating blond hair can reduce drug metabolite concentrations by 40-80%, potentially allowing users to evade detection in hair follicle tests. The process damages the hair shaft, causing substances to leach out. Natural, light-colored hair also has a lower, poorer incorporation rate of substances compared to darker hair.

So i do see it as a possible tell.

I'm a little confused about the hair thing. Not that it doesn't do what you say, but more at what point would the ITA actually do hair testing? It doesn't seem to be listed as a routine method that they use (their website says, "The ITA collect urine, blood serum, blood ABP (for an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP)) and Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples". So why would Pogacar bother bleaching his hair to cover up his (supposed) doping if no-one is actually going to be asking him for a hair sample?

 

[KoopaCycling]

almost never. I don't think hair samples are accepted by wada. but non-damaged hair provides long term evidence. better safe than sorry. that and belief. Anxious ppl try to cover all their bases.

 

[HashRouge]

almost never. I don't think hair samples are accepted by wada. but non-damaged hair provides long term evidence. better safe than sorry. that and belief. Anxious ppl try to cover all their bases.

It doesn't sound like he has any reason to be anxious about hair sampling though? Sorry, I find so many things are presented as "gotchas" in The Clinic and then when I look into them further there doesn't seem to be any substance to them.

 

[red_flanders]

Peter Attia mentioned in the Epstein files 1800 times;

Grifters gonna grift...

 

[Squire]

I'm a little confused about the hair thing. Not that it doesn't do what you say, but more at what point would the ITA actually do hair testing? It doesn't seem to be listed as a routine method that they use (their website says, "The ITA collect urine, blood serum, blood ABP (for an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP)) and Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples". So why would Pogacar bother bleaching his hair to cover up his (supposed) doping if no-one is actually going to be asking him for a hair sample?

The bleached hair 'meme' comes from something else. I don't remember exactly what substance it was, but a lot of riders in the 90s/00s bleached their hair because the stuff they took gave them blonde patches in their hair. See the Simoni picture I posted here. I think I read that he caught some flak from other riders for not bothering to hide that particular side-effect. Don't remember if it was in the Hamilton book or here on the forum or whatever, so take it with a slight grain of salt. But the blonde patches due to doping was definitely a thing.

 

[HashRouge]

The bleached hair 'meme' comes from something else. I don't remember exactly what substance it was, but a lot of riders in the 90s/00s bleached their hair because the stuff they took gave them blonde patches in their hair. See the Simoni picture I posted here. I think I read that he caught some flak from other riders for not bothering to hide that particular side-effect. Don't remember if it was in the Hamilton book or here on the forum or whatever, so take it with a slight grain of salt. But the blonde patches due to doping was definitely a thing.

Ohhh, got it! I wasn't watching cycling back then and not as clued up on the history of the sport.

 

[Rob5091]

Zonneveld points out the obvious at UAE - https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...s-scrutiny-of-uae-team-emirates-xrg-dominance

“There are two guys at the top who, in the past, facilitated doping.”

 

[AlpRaid]

Always a good look when the top rider’s agent says they should not be exploring using further doping tests to monitor sudden jumps in power.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Always a good look when the top rider’s agent says they should not be exploring using further doping tests to monitor sudden jumps in power.

It's his job to promote the interests of his clients. PR and otherwise. Not a "good" or "bad" look when he's trying to boost the credibility of the industry he himself works in. Just obvious. Not convinced that UCI having training data would help with anything. Completely convinced they can not write regulation that would hold up in a court if the riders or teams deny it, though. I do think that all race data should be made available and I can see a world where that could be be mandated.

Reading the cyclingnews article made me laugh:
"Former rider and commentator Jose De Cauwer is dismissive of the idea that cycling’s old mistakes could simply be replayed at the highest level today.
“I can’t imagine those two guys, Gianetti and Matxin, being so stupid as to make themselves guilty of that again,” he said."

Jose De Cauwer is certaintly not a scholar of criminal psychology. The best predictor of a future crime is having a history of doing the crime in the past.

 

[Rob5091]

Reading the cyclingnews article made me laugh:
"Former rider and commentator Jose De Cauwer is dismissive of the idea that cycling’s old mistakes could simply be replayed at the highest level today.
“I can’t imagine those two guys, Gianetti and Matxin, being so stupid as to make themselves guilty of that again,” he said."

Jose De Cauwer is certaintly not a scholar of criminal psychology. The best predictor of a future crime is having a history of doing the crime in the past.

The two guys have willingly crossed a line before so why would n't they do it again?

 

[Red Rick]

It's his job to promote the interests of his clients. PR and otherwise. Not a "good" or "bad" look when he's trying to boost the credibility of the industry he himself works in. Just obvious. Not convinced that UCI having training data would help with anything. Completely convinced they can not write regulation that would hold up in a court if the riders or teams deny it, though. I do think that all race data should be made available and I can see a world where that could be be mandated.

Reading the cyclingnews article made me laugh:
"Former rider and commentator Jose De Cauwer is dismissive of the idea that cycling’s old mistakes could simply be replayed at the highest level today.
“I can’t imagine those two guys, Gianetti and Matxin, being so stupid as to make themselves guilty of that again,” he said."

Jose De Cauwer is certaintly not a scholar of criminal psychology. The best predictor of a future crime is having a history of doing the crime in the past.

That's just how Omerta works. De Cauwer has spent his entire life in cycling, he's not gonna burn it down post retirement.

And yes, it's just pissing in the face of people with any shred of critical thinking left in them. But then it's 2026 and critical thinking has left the building years ago

 

[Rob5091]

That's just how Omerta works. De Cauwer has spent his entire life in cycling, he's not gonna burn it down post retirement.

And yes, it's just pissing in the face of people with any shred of critical thinking left in them. But then it's 2026 and critical thinking has left the building years ago

No need for critical thinking, "Now cycling has credibility"!

 

[Ulle97]

Just looking back at some performances from 2025 and I can't get the ride of Pogacar at Fleche Wallone. The race was nicely poised with 500m to go. About 8-10 riders were in a small group at the front. Pidcock makes a move with 500m to go. Pogi locks onto his wheel and then with 450m left Pogi blows the group apart. He leaves everyone in his wake and makes the road seem flat whilst the rest of the guys are grovelling in anguish in ones and twos. The gap he opens in that distance is massive.

Then to cap it off, with 75m to go he looks around, starts blowing his nose, swerves from left to right across the road and rolls across the line with his hands off the handlebars and arms out stretched.

Motor anyone???? Or genuine power from medication?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Motor anyone???? Or genuine power from medication porridge?

Fixed it for you.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Just looking back at some performances from 2025 and I can't get the ride of Pogacar at Fleche Wallone. The race was nicely poised with 500m to go. About 8-10 riders were in a small group at the front. Pidcock makes a move with 500m to go. Pogi locks onto his wheel and then with 450m left Pogi blows the group apart. He leaves everyone in his wake and makes the road seem flat whilst the rest of the guys are grovelling in anguish in ones and twos. The gap he opens in that distance is massive.

Then to cap it off, with 75m to go he looks around, starts blowing his nose, swerves from left to right across the road and rolls across the line with his hands off the handlebars and arms out stretched.

Motor anyone???? Or genuine power from medication?

Here is the clip. People can make their own judgements. For me my opinion is clear.

Interestingly, thjs spring is the 10 year anniversary of femke van de dreiche getting caught with a motor. It felt as if a can of worms was opened then. And yet 10 years on, nothing.

View: https://youtu.be/g3f7ioQ7_ME?si=MRqPbb8VsGT3pWTL

 

[YellowSocks]

Just looking back at some performances from 2025 and I can't get the ride of Pogacar at Fleche Wallone. The race was nicely poised with 500m to go. About 8-10 riders were in a small group at the front. Pidcock makes a move with 500m to go. Pogi locks onto his wheel and then with 450m left Pogi blows the group apart. He leaves everyone in his wake and makes the road seem flat whilst the rest of the guys are grovelling in anguish in ones and twos. The gap he opens in that distance is massive.

Then to cap it off, with 75m to go he looks around, starts blowing his nose, swerves from left to right across the road and rolls across the line with his hands off the handlebars and arms out stretched.

Motor anyone???? Or genuine power from medication?

I sometimes watch it just for fun.

 

[Ulle97]

Here is the clip. People can make their own judgements. For me my opinion is clear.

Interestingly, thjs spring is the 10 year anniversary of femke van de dreiche getting caught with a motor. It felt as if a can of worms was opened then. And yet 10 years on, nothing.

View: https://youtu.be/g3f7ioQ7_ME?si=MRqPbb8VsGT3pWTL

Your opinion is clear? But you don't state your opinion.

 

[Cookster15]

Here is the clip. People can make their own judgements. For me my opinion is clear.

Interestingly, thjs spring is the 10 year anniversary of femke van de dreiche getting caught with a motor. It felt as if a can of worms was opened then. And yet 10 years on, nothing.

View: https://youtu.be/g3f7ioQ7_ME?si=MRqPbb8VsGT3pWTL

Watched it. Can't see the issue. We can sometimes see what we want to see.

He was constantly looking over his shoulder looking to see if anyone was close - if he had a motor why would he do that? But we know Pogacar is hugely strong. I don't find it impossible that he could accelerate away from riders like Ben Healy like that on the steepest part. Wasn't breathing hard when he attacked, unlike the others.

Are you suggesting he was using a motor before he attacked and then switched to 'high power mode'??

 

[YellowSocks]

Wasn't breathing hard when he attacked, unlike the others.

Indeed. I can’t get used to it.

 

[kingjr]

Here is the clip. People can make their own judgements. For me my opinion is clear.

Interestingly, thjs spring is the 10 year anniversary of femke van de dreiche getting caught with a motor. It felt as if a can of worms was opened then. And yet 10 years on, nothing.

View: https://youtu.be/g3f7ioQ7_ME?si=MRqPbb8VsGT3pWTL

And even with a motor he couldn't beat Philippe Gilbert. Must have been an incredibly hard edition of F-W.

 

[Cookster15]

Indeed. I can’t get used to it.

Like I said I saw nothing that wrong. If you are much stronger that can happen (not breathe hard). He won by 10 seconds from Vauquelin and Pidcock. Interesting they can tune motors so you don't win by too much? Pog was obviously at his limits else why was he constantly looking over his shoulder?

Were bikes not inspected after FW? IF anything is going on all roads lead back to the UCI. Then we are back to the conspiracy theories being posted here a while ago.

I am not ruling out motors but applying Occam’s razor I very much doubt that. The more likely explanation is is he just way stronger.

 

[YellowSocks]

Like I said I saw nothing that wrong. If you are much stronger that can happen (not breathe hard). He won by 10 seconds from Vauquelin and Pidcock. Interesting they can tune motors so you don't win by too much? Pog was obviously at his limits else why was he constantly looking over his shoulder?

Were bikes not inspected after FW? IF anything is going on all roads lead back to the UCI. Then we are back to the conspiracy theories being posted here a while ago.

I am not ruling out motors but applying Occam’s razor I very much doubt that. The more likely explanation is is he just way stronger.

I am not saying he uses a motor. Just that something is weird. Absolutely weird.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

He wasn't stronger because he was using a motor, but because he had been moto paced in training leading up to the race. It's something Javier Sola taught him and which the bald fraud had never heard about. He was only looking back because he's used to there being dangerous traffic out on the roads when he's training.

 

[kingjr]

I am not saying he uses a motor. Just that something is weird. Absolutely weird.

Ronnie O'Sullivan once made a 147 break in 5:08 min, that was weird, too.