Tour De France 2021
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@sparky Yeah - despite that there's a long way to go - it's all over bar the shouting if Pog remains on his bike.
Carapaz and maybe Gaudu the only genuine GC contenders within a Bulls roar of Pogacar.
Van Aert can't live with him in the mountains and has no avenue back in the Time Trials.
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@gt12 said in Tour De France 2021:
@tewaio said in Tour De France 2021:
Occam's Razor = he's on the gear, sadly
The way he just rode away from Carapaz was mad.
Given the weaknesses of everyone else, I’d be shocked if he doesn’t have the best ‘help’
He nonchalantly rode away from the other GC contenders again today, looking super fresh. It was like he was bored and wanted to just play a bit with them. Man, I hope he’s not juiced but it doesn’t look good when everyone else is suffering.
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He was 10 seconds faster than Schlecks and Contador did with perfect dry conditions, and Pogacar in the wet would have had worse traction. He's even more formidable than the numbers show...
This article covers a lot but doesn't mention traction, but it does say there is less adhesion in the wet (of course), taking the view that that speeds a cyclist up due to less rolling resistance.
Are you faster when it rains?
There are plenty of sensible reasons to avoid riding when the forecast says rain. It’s treacherous, can be just a
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@scribe said in Tour De France 2021:
He nonchalantly rode away from the other GC contenders again today, looking super fresh. It was like he was bored and wanted to just play a bit with them. Man, I hope he’s not juiced but it doesn’t look good when everyone else is suffering.
same for Colbrelli - never seen a sprinter EVER smash it off the start line, smash it for the first couple of hours to ensure points at the intermediate sprint then did a massive pull to split the break and set it up for Wout Poels to attack.
Thats when I went to bed.. get up and find out he's somehow then ridden back through all the best climbers in the world to come 3rd on one of the toughest stages ever..
if you're on the gear at least be a bit subtle about it!
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This is quite telling from De Gendt. Numbers he would normally post in one of his legendary breakaways, and he ends up spat out the back.
De Gendt: It's clear that the general level is just much higher at the Tour de France
'The day has to come when the young riders are better but they have done it very suddenly'
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@scribe said in Tour De France 2021:
This is quite telling from De Gendt. Numbers he would normally post in one of his legendary breakaways, and he ends up spat out the back.
De Gendt: It's clear that the general level is just much higher at the Tour de France
'The day has to come when the young riders are better but they have done it very suddenly'
I assume that's as close as it gets to a current member of the Peloton saying that everyone is still juicing up.
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I was going to post something similar to GT, as I just don't get why these guys tolerate the cheats. I'm not following the tour closely these days, but from what you guys are saying, there are some guys clearly on the juice, and the majority that are not. Why don't the honest riders call them out? Even if they can't publicly, why don't they ostracise them on tour? Is it because every team has their own cheat? Or are there still too many out there? Or can even the riders still not be 100% sure who's on the gear?
It just seems odd that you can have the success you train so hard for capped at a certain level because of blokes that you know are cheating.
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I know fuck all about cycling, but a 5 forces analysis would likely show that:
- Buying power of suppliers (you as a rider) is very weak unless you are absolute top class (even then it(s time limited)
- There are many substitutes (i.e., existing riders looking for contract) who may or may not be able to get ahead via illegal means and may or may not have power to restrict your ability to join their teams
- Threat of new entrants is constant due to time and age - you have very few years to be the absolute best (huge issue)
- Finally, the bargaining power of buyers is very strong - there are only so many teams and some (much) of the IP to succeed is very well protected and once you nark you're gone
- Result = a highly highly competitive environment where staying quiet is always in your best interest - you might be right but your time will be gone if you snitch
