The 90s were distorted by widespread use of the most effective drug the sport has ever known.
- Apr 30, 2011
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this is not the clinic, please
whatever the cause is, sports science nowadays distorts the sport more
Would you mind going into a bit more detail as to how you think sports science distorts the sport today in ways not related to doping, and more so than EPO in the 90s?
You can respond in the clinic in whatever thread seems appropriate.
- Apr 30, 2011
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i dont have a view behind the curtains, so i cant speak as to the mechanics
i can see the consequences, the state of the peloton
gaps are bigger now, dominant riders dominate more. a decade ago was the opposite, much smaller gaps than in the 90s
the long solo of gilbert in ronde was nothing like the long solo of pogi in rwanda. completely different worlds
Most of these exploits come from a very small circle of riders (often just one, in fact). If we compare the performances of Gilbert and Pogacar, the main difference, IMO, is that Pogacar is inherently much better. It's something you see across all sports every now and then.
- Apr 30, 2011
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and vingegaard is also just inherently much better than everyone but pogi
and rogla inherently so much better (for a while)
and van der poel inherently so much better
if you assume the conclusion, that the dominant riders dominate to this degree because of their inherent characteristics and not because of this age of cycling, sure
- Apr 30, 2011
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weirdly enough, the dominant riders were all less dominant in 21 and 22
and much more dominant in 24 all of a sudden. and completely in lockstep.
and much more dominant in 24 all of a sudden. and completely in lockstep.
1) In climbing, and to a lesser extent time-trialling, in a GT context and depending on the profile.
2)Roglic is versatile, consistent, and has a lethal finish. He's a bit like Valverde, except better in TTs and less good in one-day races.
3) He is much better only in certain races that suit his particular characteristics. The most striking example is Glasgow, which was a highly atypical course (and predates 2024, incidentally). In the Belgian classics, he's of course extremely strong, but he also benefits from van Aert being very unlucky and Pedersen being stupid. In GTs, he struggles mightily to win stages.
4) I assume that's the main factor, yes, with the caveats in 1-3 taken into account
- Feb 20, 2012
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Mikel Landa gets 4th in the 2017 Tour and he gets 5th in the 2024 Tour.
Roglic is 4th in 2018 and then in 2025 he's in 5th place with bad preparation until he decided he couldn't care less about 5th.
Nibali gets 4th in this final Giro, 6 years after his last GT win. Valverde was 6th in his last Lombardia and got top 4 in the 3 races before that.
Yates wins the 2018 Vuelta and 2025 Giro.
Riders don't stick around getting similar results if the increase in W/kg isn't entirely circumstantial.
Let me understand this: I said I see no reason to believe Froome or Contador would be a big threat to Pogacar or Vingegaard. And Landa finishing 4th in 2017, a good 2 minutes down, and finishing 5th in 2024, about 20 minutes down, is supposed to be evidence to the contrary?
As for Roglic, in 2018 he was still up and coming (as opposed to 2019 when he probably could have won it), finished a good 3 minutes behind Thomas, and in 2025 he's 25 minutes down. So what is it you're saying, exactly?
- Feb 20, 2012
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Gaps are mostly due to overall aggression of the race.
Also, Pogacar has yet to win a Tour de France by a bigger gap than Nibali did.
- Jul 10, 2012
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If you're trying to say glp drugs have not revolutionized weight management you're just being contrarian. The US recorded its first ever drop in adult obesity. Bariatric surgery is a thing of the past. Fortunes have been made by the pharma companies. None of this would be true if there had already existed safe and effective appetite suppressants. And if you have never seen someone struggle with the urge to make a moral judgment against their neighbor for using glp drugs to fix their relationship with food, you've just been living under a rock.
Better riders are better able to successfully ride aggressively.
And Pogacar has yet to ride a Tour where his strongest rival is someone of the quality of Thibaut Pinot.
Fist of all, you are talking about the general population here. I am talking about professional cyclists. Second, I am not be quite ready to proclaim that these drugs are "safe" appetite suppressants.
But, most importantly, it is not by using appetite suppressants how pro athletes would be reaching their maximum potential. Rather, one needs to eat so that one can train. In order not the go around snacking and having some beers one does not need appetite suppressants but rather higher level of discipline.
I will stop responding to you because I sense you have some personal connections to these issues and I am not interested in that.
how many minutes did he lose today?
His climbing has been awful ever since he hit that postal door. Hoping there was nothing permanent in that crash that keeps him from performing in the high mountains going forward
His climbing has been awful ever since he hit that postal door. Hoping there was nothing permanent in that crash that keeps him from performing in the high mountains going forward
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He was 1 minute down. Catalunya will tell much. His climbing needs to show improvement by then, compared to this stage race.
He did manage to beat Van wilder courtesy of a crashing help in GC. Some of the riders ahead of him (Johannessen, Gee, Plapp) i would expect remco to be beat in years gone by. This gives me hope he's still in early season form only. Still for his own sake, he better be ready when the end of March comes around.
He did manage to beat Van wilder courtesy of a crashing help in GC. Some of the riders ahead of him (Johannessen, Gee, Plapp) i would expect remco to be beat in years gone by. This gives me hope he's still in early season form only. Still for his own sake, he better be ready when the end of March comes around.
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Also not the same level of races and competition to UAE tour. Still very early in the season when talking about the tour.
There is a reason why Jonas Vingegaard was not in the UAE tour.
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?
Not because he can't compete for a top 10.
Because it hurts your ego and confidence to be beaten like this.
Why did Remco come here when he clearly does not have the base?
Not long climbs.
Terrain suited him better there.
It was more hillier or short-steep and Remco could drop a watt-bomb over the top, which we have seen many times before. Its his best move. Then TT to finish, where he maybe did look around over his shoulder a bit too much towards the end of that stage.
Different type of races. Those stages and classics Remco won were tailormade for him. No one questions how much better Remco is compared to anyone not named Pogacar in rolling terrain.
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