I said the same about Froome when he blew all away that time but then you look at how much prep went into being ready for that
takes time to collect all that salbutamol, for sure
Did you believe Pogacar was? Some of his rides are similarly unbelievable.
Forget about Pogacar, the surprise is the near 3 minutes on every one else in 22km.
This isn't a standard, stand-alone TT tho is it.
There are lots of different reasons for different riders going harder/easier on this event.
Some of the KOM riders going easy on the flat so they can bury themselves on the climb to gain some KOM points.
Lots of people with no skin in the GC game are saving themselves to be able to survive stage 17 which is huge. People are tired after 2+ weeks of what is acknowledged as a tough tour. And WvA is a big unit to get himself up that last climb, so not surprising he got beaten. And he's probably saving a bit for 17 to support JV
And we know that TP and JV are the two riders that needed to push hard in the TT. Haven't seen any of the power data speculation from earlier in the tour, but guessing that JV has been pacing himself on the climbs this tour know that he would put it to bed on the TT.
Jumbo attacking.... well... Jumbo ???
Jumbo Visma took over the Rabobank team, who were known for doping….. hmmmm
Using that argument surely Astana would be winning everything.
No-one seemed to raise questions following stage 6 where Pog finished 2:39 ahead of contenders Rodriguez and Hindley.
Lots of people with no skin in the GC game are saving themselves to be able to survive stage 17
Lots of opportunity still for top 10 finishes so unlikely they all agreed to soft pedal and take the day off. Adam Yates was 3:12 behind, looked destroyed on crossing the line and he’s on the 3rd step now.
No-one seemed to raise questions following stage 6 where Pog finished 2:39 ahead of contenders Rodriguez and Hindley.
Except it was over 140km and 4000m of climbing. People being buried on a mountain stage not unusual and JV was 24s behind.
L,equipe being captain obvious
glad to see this happening, taking everything into consideration I'm inclined to believe it was just an epic ride by JV. And to be honest the alternative is depressing. So that's the only way I can continue to enjoy watching professional cycling.
And to be honest the alternative is depressing. So that’s the only way I can continue to enjoy watching professional cycling.
But you could argue these days with the advent of power metres and the absolute understanding of what an athlete can deliver over a given distance that quite frankly stage racing has become dull anyhow.
Hopefully it just shows there is still part of the equation that cannot be controlled and that is confidence. Confidence has a massive impact positively or negatively in any sport and cannot be explained or quantified by science. Maybe it was JV's confidence and self belief that got him where he did yesterday, where as the other GC's were always chasing.
Do not underestimate the significance of the extra blood tests. These are atypical so they are prospectively looking for blood doping via biological passport comparisons with pre tour. Now I’d they had taken a sample on Sunday too to mark the natural degradation over two weeks of stage racing.
Anyone compared JV and Tom Pidcock’s descending?
The most significant tour stage since Floyd flew away.
@Tired did you mean descending in this TT?
I haven't seen any footage suggesting that Pidcock is that good on a TT bike. From all of the footage I've seen the best descender yesterday was Pello Bilbao, he was buttery smooth.
Yes. We know he’s a demon on a normal bike. Wonder how he got on in a TT position. I’m a useless wimp when the Aeros goes downhill. And I’ve ridden “The Welsh Ski Slope” R25 course!
On the balance of probabilities, I'd say Usain Bolt was doping. You look at his times and they are consistent with others who have been found to have doped which to me says more than anything else. In addition, you have the obvious Lance Armstrong comparisons. He is a highly marketable character who the governing body has a vested interest in protecting. Not only that, he has a different technique compared to his competitors due to his being taller and apparently this 'explains' why he is so dominant. Remember how Armstrong's high cadence which meant that he was able to dissipate lactic acid more easily? Sure, it also meant he was able to use EPO more effectively.
I used to work in motorsport and honestly, I think the dominance of JV and Team Emirates (and up until a few years ago Team Sky) has more to do with budget than doping.
I used to work in one-make championships where you would assume it's simply a case of the best driver wins. This is not true. To be in with a chance of winning you had to spend between 3 and 4 times as much as teams who were making up the numbers.
It's difficult to point to exactly where this money makes such a huge difference because where is makes the difference is in thousands of tiny details that you only have the time to seek out if you have a budget that dwarfs most of your competitors.
I think Team Sky brought this motorsport mentality of defeating your enemy through massively outspending them to cycling which is why they were so dominant and I think it's JV who have now picked up that standard.
Of course, cycling isn't motorsport, mostly because you can't blame your engine 'having a bad day' in motor racing. Everything can be measured.
There is without a doubt doping going on in the peleton. However, I'd be surprised if it was the super teams with the super budgets who were doing it. I'd say it's more likely to be the teams who are competitive but don't have the budgets to hoover up all those thousands of tiny increments that are available to the super teams.
In some ways it's sad but I think the days where a charismatic individual can come along and dupe (almost) the whole cycling world are over. We're into the days where how much money you can bring to the fight is all that matters.
Whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't know.
