OBoile

While steroids almost certainly helped him, I don't think it's fair to say they were responsible for the difference here. First, Floyd was using PEDs before those rides. Second, people often have bad days and then rebound the following day (or vice versa). Finally, his gap on the last day was largely due to teams letting him go.
Again, I'm sure the use of steroids helped here, but it's impossible from this single anecdotal data point to say how much they actually helped and how much was from other factors.

Dean V

Why do you want to know?
Really it is of no relevance to anyone unless you are in the Pro Peleton.

dooner90

Thanks. Let me ask, since the fallout over steroid use within the sport (following Armstrong, et al.) have you noticed a significant drop in the performance of the pros? More specifically, did you notice that professional time trial speeds began to diminish after the sport became more regulatory with steroids? This was more along the lines of what I meant in my OP. Thanks

Homebrew01

Hire Chris Carmichael as coach, then he can inject you with steroids while saying..."No Problem, just some vitamins"

maartendc

Yes I have heard average speeds / times up certain famous climbs of the Grand Tours (tour de France, Giro D'Italia, etc.) have definitely gotten slower since the 90s.

OBoile

Yeah, I've read this in a few places too. The drop was as much as 10%.

But, just to point out to the OP, it was the discovery of a viable EPO test and the biological passport that did this, not really fallout from Lance and steroids generally had little to do with it. In cycling, as in other endurance sports, EPO is the heavy hitter.

dooner90

lol are you in the pro peleton? Is it a secret club?

Doge

Steroids are a type of drugs used by cyclists. See the doping thread for opinions on the professional use.

For younger riders just getting into it (not the forum title), I don't think it is much of an issue, anywhere. And I do think it varies by location.
But the dopers seem to be:
-at the very young elite end trying to become pro
-pros trying to move up / pay the bills (this forum - see drug thread)
-or at the older end trying not to decline so fast. Most pros have stopped riding by this time.

cmh

Here is the list of athletes sanctioned by USADA in recent years. If you filter for cycling you'll see that masters athletes are the majority of those sanctioned, and steroids are pretty common among those busted. Given the small amount of testing and the number of sanctions, I think it is likely that most active masters bike racers have competed against someone that is doping. I just did a race last weekend that was won by a guy busted for using steroids back in 2009 (I'd assume he is clean now). It didn't take away from my experience in the race, so I just don't pay attention to it.

Leisesturm

I don't know ... I don't race. I don't really follow racing. You have to be under a pretty big rock not to know about Lance Armstrong. Since ALL posters in this thread know about Armstrong, Landis and others ... why is there still any argument about the effectiveness of PED's? I have no choice but to assume the $#*@ works. Therefore if you are racing against doped competitors and they don't crash or commit serious tactical blunders they will crush you. I DOUBT it was Armstrong's or any other competitive athletes choice to use PED's. It obviously was his decision, but a refusal to proceed with the doping program once the offer was made by team management would have relegated him to a supporting role and therefore out of the winners circle. It is a decision that you don't have to think about unless you show the potential for greatness. No team is going to waste the resources on 2nd string talent. It was obviously a mistake to believe that Armstrong was clean and won 7 TdF Gold Medals on talent. A lot of us knew better, but a lot more who should have known better wanted to believe in miracles. If you want to believe that your favorite racer who consistently winds up a top finisher in the large majority, if not all the races they enter ... if despite the historical record you need to believe they are doing it with nothing other than talent and hard work ... knock yourself out. If, as a newcomer to the sport you want to believe that the age of doping is over and that going forward all racing will be free from PED involvement ... again, knock yourself out. Why not? There is no downside to going in with your eyes shut. Have fun, train hard, win races ... who knows ... ...

Lemond1985

We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways.

One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere - like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville.
I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days.
So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time.
Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say.

Trakhak

If OBoile is still around (we're replying to a thread whose original last post was in 2019), thanks for saving me the effort of typing the same message. I've never doped, and I've had two such bad day/rebound episodes. I ran our of energy (i.e., bonked) one day, to the point where I could barely turn the pedals for the last two hours of the ride, followed the next day by riding with the strength of 10, like Sir Galahad.

HeyItsSara

You don't just swallow a pill and get gigantic muscles. These substances help you work harder and develop bigger muscles. Gives you about a 10% advantage. You're still doing the work yourself.

ZHVelo

Not true. Studies have shown that taking testosterone has the same impact as working out but not taking testosterone. Obviously if you do both the results are even better. But point is, you see improvements even if you don't do the work yourself.

HeyItsSara

but there's a limit as to how high a cyclist's testosterone can be. it's still a level playing field.

Leisesturm

You're not the only one who needs to believe that. So, go ahead. The rest of us know that it is very unlikely that an undoped rider will beat a doped one. There are strategic and equipment wildcards, of course. But the playing field is not level when PED's enter the race.

HeyItsSara

Oh, no, I don't mean that. I mean, if testoserone is allowed, i would assume everyone is taking whatever they are allowed to take. Not that undoped and doped are equal!!!!! Who thinks that????

MinnMan

I'm sure that this is totally unrelated, but it is just weird

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/a...umours-removed

I mean, I have ONE lipoma on my rib - a little ugly, but totally harmless and it's just been sitting there for years. 100? How does that happen?

Watch out for that contaminated beef.

HeyItsSara

right?!!!!!