The Hour

[Exroadman24902]

since the authorities have got a bit tougher on doping, has that scared riders off the hour? Boardman, who could still top 3 or 4 in the world TT champs at the end of his career , only did 10 metres more than Mercx. One wonders if riders fear the embarrassment

 

[Lanark]

It has zero value, nobody cares about the hour record anymore. The only guy who tried to do it was Sosenka, and succeeded.

 

[Exroadman24902]

It has zero value, nobody cares about the hour record anymore. The only guy who tried to do it was Sosenka, and succeeded.

rubbish, the hour is a brilliant event and the only major event in the past 20 years we can consider won by clean riders

 

[Ferminal]

Sosenka was a doper wasn't he?

In terms of doping I don't think that's the main reason. I'm sure there's someone out there today who could beat Boardman's clean time, but the effort isn't proportional to the reward.

 

[will10]

The UCI allowed Boardman to put the record on a nice high shelf, then took away the ladder by banning the superman position. That's what killed the hour, nothing more nothing less.

 

[Exroadman24902]

The UCI allowed Boardman to put the record on a nice high shelf, then took away the ladder by banning the superman position. That's what killed the hour, nothing more nothing less.

the athletes hour is there for anyone to try. It's the same for everyone. Mercx speaks of it as his hardest race ever. How far could Cancellera go, or is he too scared to try?

 

[will10]

the athletes hour is there for anyone to try. It's the same for everyone. Mercx speaks of it as his hardest race ever. How far could Cancellera go, or is he too scared to try?

By the time the athletes hour was introduced, the hour record was already dead.

 

[Ferminal]

Why would he be too scared, Cancellara would destroy the record and even if he were doping we wouldn't know as it wouldn't be detected. The only way to guarantee a "clean time" in this age would be through a quarantine.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Sad that nobody cares about it anymore? Why doesn't Cancellara give it ago?

 

[andy1234]

It has zero value, nobody cares about the hour record anymore. The only guy who tried to do it was Sosenka, and succeeded.

Nonsense.
Many of the top riders have done the testing, and shelved the idea when they realised how difficult the record was.
Its the "athletes" record because the ethos is that no advantage is gained from equipment or doping.
Boardman offered to have his test samples stored and avilable for use against any future tests that may become avialable.

Sosenka offered no such thing and surprise, surprise has subsequently been caught and banned for doping in another event.

 

[andy1234]

Why would he be too scared, Cancellara would destroy the record and even if he were doping we wouldn't know as it wouldn't be detected. The only way to guarantee a "clean time" in this age would be through a quarantine.

Maybe the ethos that it is supposed to be a "clean" record puts some riders off.
Doping against other dopers is one thing. Doping to beat what is seen to be a clean record (excluding Sosenka) may be another.

 

[Exroadman24902]

Why would he be too scared, Cancellara would destroy the record and even if he were doping we wouldn't know as it wouldn't be detected. The only way to guarantee a "clean time" in this age would be through a quarantine.

if he'd destroy the record then why hasn't he tried already? Cause it's hard and shows exactly how close the riders from different eras are. Boardman wasn't much better than Mercx

 

[Exroadman24902]

By the time the athletes hour was introduced, the hour record was already dead.

wrong, Boardman was one of the fastest testers ever and gave the record a lot of prestige going into the 2000s. Riders are scared to be embarrassed and that's why they stay away from it

 

[Lanark]

Nonsense.
Many of the top riders have done the testing, and shelved the idea when they realised how difficult the record was.
Its the "athletes" record because the ethos is that no advantage is gained from equipment or doping.
Boardman offered to have his test samples stored and avilable for use against any future tests that may become avialable.

Sosenka offered no such thing and surprise, surprise has subsequently been caught and banned for doping in another event.

Apart from the legendary Sosenka apparently. Seriously, if a completely middle-of-the-road rider like Sosenka can beat the hour record, guys like Armstrong, Ullrich, Cancellara etc. could have smashed it if they tried. Clean? Perhaps not, who knows how good they are clean, but the hour record doesn't have any tests they haven't beaten a hunderd times already, if they wanted to, they could have 'won' the record whenever they chose.

I see that this has become a mather of pride to some people, feeling that stating the obvious (nobody cares in the least about the hour record) somehow dimishes Boardman's record. It doesn't. Herman van Springel is still mister Bordeaux-Paris, although no one will ever be in the position to beat him. Similarly, Boardman was a great athlete, take pride in that, but don't be foolish and claim his record couldn't be broken.

 

[andy1234]

Apart from the legendary Sosenka apparently. Seriously, if a completely middle-of-the-road rider like Sosenka can beat the hour record, guys like Armstrong, Ullrich, Cancellara etc. could have smashed it if they tried. Clean? Perhaps not, who knows how good they are clean, but the hour record doesn't have any tests they haven't beaten a hunderd times already, if they wanted to, they could have 'won' the record whenever they chose.

I see that this has become a mather of pride to some people, feeling that stating the obvious (nobody cares in the least about the hour record) somehow dimishes Boardman's record. It doesn't. Herman van Springel is still mister Bordeaux-Paris, although no one will ever be in the position to beat him. Similarly, Boardman was a great athlete, take pride in that, but don't be foolish and claim his record couldn't be broken.

Im not claiming his record can't be broken. Every record can be broken.

Armstrong and Cancellara allegedly both did some testing against the hour record, but neither went ahead with it.
Riding clean, its a record that would not be easy to beat, by anyone.
Riding doped, the rider risks the question, "Are you prepared to store your samples for retrospective testing?"

Sosenka had nothing to lose, the big names do....

 

[Exroadman24902]

Apart from the legendary Sosenka apparently. Seriously, if a completely middle-of-the-road rider like Sosenka can beat the hour record, guys like Armstrong, Ullrich, Cancellara etc. could have smashed it if they tried. Clean? Perhaps not, who knows how good they are clean, but the hour record doesn't have any tests they haven't beaten a hunderd times already, if they wanted to, they could have 'won' the record whenever they chose.

I see that this has become a mather of pride to some people, feeling that stating the obvious (nobody cares in the least about the hour record) somehow dimishes Boardman's record. It doesn't. Herman van Springel is still mister Bordeaux-Paris, although no one will ever be in the position to beat him. Similarly, Boardman was a great athlete, take pride in that, but don't be foolish and claim his record couldn't be broken.

did i read somewhere that Cancellera will go for the hour at some point during the trek leopard era

 

[Exroadman24902]

Im not claiming his record can't be broken. Every record can be broken.

Armstrong and Cancellara allegedly both did some testing against the hour record, but neither went ahead with it.
Riding clean, its a record that would not be easy to beat, by anyone.
Riding doped, the rider risks the question, "Are you prepared to store your samples for retrospective testing?"

Sosenka had nothing to lose, the big names do....

well said Andy1234. All riders who attempt it will be asked if they consent to that..that explains it to a large extent.

 

[Lanark]

Im not claiming his record can't be broken. Every record can be broken.

Armstrong and Cancellara allegedly both did some testing against the hour record, but neither went ahead with it.
Riding clean, its a record that would not be easy to beat, by anyone.
Riding doped, the rider risks the question, "Are you prepared to store your samples for retrospective testing?"

Sosenka had nothing to lose, the big names do....

And who would ask that? Nobody. Besides, samples can already be stored for retroactive testing for (I believe) 8 years. They wouldn't take any risk they don't take every other time they dope. Apart from that, you don't have to use doping during the record attempt, using it leading up to the event would make it highly unlikely you would get caught (even taking possible improved future tests into account), and still get a significant boost.

I'm sorry but if Sosenka can break the hour record, even doped (although he didn't get caught during the race, 3 years later in fact), there must have been dozens of guys who could have broken it.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Quite simply the Hour is a very specialized event.

Anyone looking to break it would have to devote a large chunk of their season to do it. While it may be a beautiful event to some/many fans there is little financial incentive for a rider to do so and for a sponsor to let their rider devote the time to such an event.

 

[Exroadman24902]

Quite simply the Hour is a very specialized event.

Anyone looking to break it would have to devote a large chunk of their season to do it. While it may be a beautiful event to some/many fans there is little financial incentive for a rider to do so and for a sponsor to let their rider devote the time to such an event.

what're you saying would suggest it is quite an ordeal and not just a case of Cancellera showing up without prep to smash it. To ride 30mph with those bends, no tailwind, no downhills, no breaks, holding that line and having nobody to chase...it's so different to road TTs.

 

[andy1234]

And who would ask that? Nobody. Besides, samples can already be stored for retroactive testing for (I believe) 8 years. They wouldn't take any risk they don't take every other time they dope. Apart from that, you don't have to use doping during the record attempt, using it leading up to the event would make it highly unlikely you would get caught (even taking possible improved future tests into account), and still get a significant boost.

I'm sorry but if Sosenka can break the hour record, even doped (although he didn't get caught during the race, 3 years later in fact), there must have been dozens of guys who could have broken it.

Err the UCI maybe?

As for your last point...

That kind of reminds me when Boardman broke the hour record for the first time in 1993. Luc Leblanc said "if Boardman can break the hour record, than half of the professional peloton can break it"


After catching Leblanc in the 1994 TDF prologue for one minute in 7km, Boardman said "obviously not the half Leblanc is in"

 

[L'arriviste]

And who would ask that? Nobody. Besides, samples can already be stored for retroactive testing for (I believe) 8 years. They wouldn't take any risk they don't take every other time they dope. Apart from that, you don't have to use doping during the record attempt, using it leading up to the event would make it highly unlikely you would get caught (even taking possible improved future tests into account), and still get a significant boost.

I'm sorry but if Sosenka can break the hour record, even doped (although he didn't get caught during the race, 3 years later in fact), there must have been dozens of guys who could have broken it.

For fact fans, Sosenka returned a high haematocrit in broad testing conducted prior to the 2001 Peace Race and he was not allowed to start. So several years before his Hour Record attempt. [Source: CN]

 

[Winterfold]

Sosenka did his bit to devalue it.

It would be good to see Canc give the sporting hour a go.

I think he would set a new record with a serious effort, but something he will do when he has achieved other objectives.

 

[Winterfold]

After catching Leblanc in the 1994 TDF prologue for one minute in 7km, Boardman said "obviously not the half Leblanc is in"

LOL totally owned and funny. 1 minute in 7km

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe the ethos that it is supposed to be a "clean" record puts some riders off.
Doping against other dopers is one thing. Doping to beat what is seen to be a clean record (excluding Sosenka) may be another.

While Id like to think thats a reason, the idea that dopers have any sort of morals whatsoever is perhaps stretching things a bit?