Dear Wiggo said:
Irony.
Having constantly read you denying you think Wiggins is/was clean, I would like to see a reconciliation between that position ("I don't know if Wiggins is clean or dirty") and what you admit to have posted on twitter. I would have thought someone unsure would remain silent on palmares speculation or comparison with legendary riders like Merkcx and Coppi.
Where have I said I don't think he's clean?
I've said I don't KNOW he's clean. Which I don't. He could be dirty as a tramp, for all I know. I've also said I've got my own hunches, and immediately went on to point out those hunches are meaningless, they have no evidential worth, and could very easily be wrong.
Why is it so difficult to understand that since I find it difficult to stomach other people mixing up what they
think with what they
know, that I try not to do the same myself?
Now, if You honestly wish, I'm perfectly happy to PM those hunches to you, if you really want them; my only caveat is, they have no great value.
If, as you claim, you didn't intend a personal attack, fair enough. In good will, I'll accept that. As to the psychiatry jibe, it wasn't meant particularly personally either - simply stating I doubted you were particularly well placed, any more than anyone else, to provide insight into the individual mindsets of strangers. I did so sarcastically, but it was not meant particularly personally, and I apologise if it came across that way.
For the record, as you know, my area is law, not medicine. But I do have a lot of experience of dealing with people with mental illnesses - from depression upwards. A cycle of achievement and self destructive sloth is actually fairly consistent with depression as experienced by certain sufferers. your good days, weeks are good, but if in the bad ones you lose focus and drift, you can spiral very quickly. It's not always feelings of suicide or self harm - sometimes it's a wider sense of pointlessness, or irritation with others trying to set goals.
My 2c.