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
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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 mean there's defo something going on but the fact that you there's a massive increase in level from juniors up even outside of pro ranks gives you some hope that it's not just relatd to doping.
personally I believe it's the wide spread availability of power meters.. just means that every training session is tailored to improve performance rather than just 'riding'.
add things like Zwift to that as well - in that there are stacks of training plans in there anyone can just use that's going to lift your riding. -
anyway back todays stage fuck me that was good - my eyes defo had a bit of wees in them at the end watching that result.
if anyone ever questions how cycling is a team sport get them to watch the last 5km of that stage. Amazing teamwork that resulted in Cav getting an armchair ride to 150m of the line and he finished it off.
Right up there with watching a rolling maul that starts 50 metres out go over the line
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Interesting article on Pog and potential doping from last year, after his incredible TT.
Doubt Is Haunting Tadej Pogačar After His Tour de France Win. That’s Not Fair
We should be celebrating one of the best Tour performances ever. Instead, we’re still dealing with the sport’s past.
Presents a couple of sides to the story.
San Millán also said that Pogačar’s test results confirm he’s physiologically elite even among elite athletes: his metabolic efficiency, lactate clearance, and power output are all among the best he’s ever tested. (Metabolism is a special focus for san Millán, who is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado's School of Medicine.) A new study from san Millán on metabolic efficiency in WorldTour cyclists, published in June, hints at what he’s saying. The test subjects included UAE riders, and one subject in particular shows remarkable lactate clearance, implying exceptional recovery capacity from hard efforts.
AND...
According to Pogačar’s own power file from Stage 8, which he uploaded to Strava, he sustained 6.5 watts of power per kilogram of body weight on the 24:35 Peyresourde effort, including a stretch of 10 minutes at 6.77 w/kg. (All figures are calculated based on Pogačar’s listed weight of 66 kilograms.)
That’s significant because power-to-weight ratio is one of the purest expressions of climbing ability in the sport. A well-known chart from training gurus Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan lays out the range of w/kg ratios for different time periods, which is called a power curve. For elite male riders, it stops at 6.4 w/kg for functional threshold power (FTP). Aldo Sassi—a longtime, respected coach who died of cancer in 2010—said earlier that year that 6.2 w/kg was close to the upper FTP limit for a clean rider.
Several analyses of Pogačar’s Strava data estimate that his FTP is right at that number. By way of comparison: Lance Armstrong’s coach, the infamous Dr. Michele Ferrari, said that his target for Armstrong—who we now know was thoroughly and aggressively doping with a wide range of substances and techniques—was an FTP of 6.7 w/kg.
I've seen a few rides this year that have made me wonder - and I'm sure in the Covid environment that doping testing of elite athletes has been hugely scaled back - opening the door for those who want to cheat to do so.
