vespasianus

Froome had an absolutely terrible accident. Guys is lucky to be riding a bike period.

slcbob

I'm on it! You might need to pedal hard if you want to get to the feed zone while there is some left.

Perhaps consider doping. I think there are some tips somewhere around the forum on that. Or at least some opinions.

At a minimum, I'll be sure there is some good stuff on ice back at the villa / git / zimmer frei / whatever it is in Slovenian

PeteHski

Exactly. Plus his personality simply doesn't compute with the concept of doping/cheating. Contrast that with Lance's persona! I doubt Pog or any of the younger guys are doping either. It's not considered part of the game like it was back in the day and the younger guys know what doping ultimately did to the previous generations who did consider it part and parcel of the sport. I'm not saying that there are NO cheaters in the peloton, but I think now it is far more likely to be the exception rather than the rule. Pretty much the opposite from 20 years ago, lol.

In the end somebody has to be the winner and it doesn't mean that winner must automatically be doping. We should give Pog some credit for his obvious talent and not assume he is following the previous generation of dopers.

Lance on the other hand was obviously doping. Doping was rife in his day and he had exactly the right personality to go large on it. Pretty much the only person that insisted he wasn't doping was Lance himself!

work4bike

I have to admit, I was surprised when Hincapie admitted to doping.

MSD2424

I think many of the elite players are on something. And we have had data to back it up for years. The TDF and most races are not easy. Yet according to the numbers the riders are going faster each year. Are they beating the times of say Lance? According to some reports...yes. Other reports don't say anything about certain periods, rather just that the overall time of the TDF (all 21 stages) is higher/faster than it was in the past. They are not making a totally flat stage tour so the only thing that fits is something that inhances performance. I don’t recall his name, but the French rider who won a stage this year is an excellent choice to talk about. He is a Jumbo rider, average performance on another team. This year, his second with Jumbo he is suddenly putting in rides around 25% or better than previous years. You can say it's the teams prep on the bikes and nutrition off. As well as recovery programs. However, it is a little suspicious. Wout van Aert was asked about it point blank this year after the TDF. He didn't answer the question, rather just said "why is this always a question when anyone performs well" and in an interview used a few 4 letter words and how he can't believe it is even being asked.

So, I don't know what is going on to have TDF times getting faster. And riders like the French rider on Jumbo suddenly get a high percentage better after signing. However, it is a good talking point.

Edit: His name is Christophe Laporteand here is a link to his Wikipedia page. While some information is likely wrong. His wins and placings are correct. Seems he improved fast in 2yrs.

Look at his Wikipedia page for his results. The information is correct for them even if the rest is not.

bbbean 

So, the whole world devotes time and energy to build faster bikes, train better, harness better nutrition, and continually pit the very best against the very best, and the only reason many people can come up with any given rider winning is doping?

MinnMan

I stopped reading at this sentence. There's no point in reading the opinions of somebody who doesn't really understand bike racing.

79pmooney

Average Tour speeds are very driven by how hard the race is ridden. Long ago, the flat long stages were rolling club rides. Riders stopped in villages to raid stores for food and drinks, then catch up to the field and share them. The Tour has grown up. Far more money, prestige and expectations. Yes, the rolling rest days still happen, but far less. (The Tour itself plays a part here. They keep shortening and concentrating the stages to boost speeds and excitement. Well the riders are still human. Too many hard stages and the riders tire out. And they are working stiffs, despite all the fancy gear. Boss lays on them too often and they go on strike, only in theTour, they are rolling strikes.)

So average speeds? Shorter, more intense stages boost those speeds. A slow long one in protest (or just tired legs) slows that average quite a bit. Just look at the actual finish times vs what the organizers planned based on fastest and slowest expected speeds. I think they missed both this year by a half hour or so!

And there are the game changers. Aero equipment, far lighter bikes. Pavement. (That one works both ways. Think gravel and cobbles.) The courses, the weather. Note that all this stuff happens without (edit: where's my proofreader?) any drugs involved at all.

And to the original topic - Pogacar - read my post #7. First two paragraghs I outline what must be done to win the Tour and then, what the other key teams failed to do last year. Well Pogacar and team should have read my post and taken it seriously. This year they screwed up as badly as J-V did last year and J-V got it, well not perfect, but pretty close. I won't for a second claim the peloton is clean but I do not see evidence from the past several Tours that drugs are having a driving influence.

bbbean 

It is remarkable how eager people are to hold opinions on something they don't understand, even at a basic level.

downtube42

I found this an interesting read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ses_in_cycling

I want to believe the bad era of doping is over, so I'm going to believe that until I know otherwise.

MSD2424

Cat 1 count? I have been cycling and watching the big races for 30+ years