The professional cycling thread
Discussion
When I watch Pro cycling I am very relaxed about the doping situation, I watch it as a fantastic spectacle with athletes producing performances above the "norm" a bit like bodybuilding and the worlds strongest man!
I believe that to win the very top races you need "help" and if you want to call it "marginal gains" and if that makes it more palatable than "on the juice",so be it.
I believe that to win the very top races you need "help" and if you want to call it "marginal gains" and if that makes it more palatable than "on the juice",so be it.
This article is a couple of years old now but a good summary/read:
http://www.velonews.com/2015/04/news/analysis-the-...
http://www.velonews.com/2015/04/news/analysis-the-...
All pro sport now seeks to gain any advantage it can to win. I don't watch a cyclist attack and immediately think he is doping.
Its become incredibly complex and the line between clean and dirty riders is somewhat blurred. I have recently been introduced to Pinterest and found masses of photos of my Hero Tom Simpson who probably died because of doping but it doesn't make me admire him any the less.
Cycling is so so hard and when someone puts the hammer down and your just not quite at your best the temptation to ease the pain and stay with the bunch must be huge especially when your mortgage depends on it.
Whilst people are correct to admonish the cheats the Governing bodies have turned a blind eye to this for more than 60 years and they are at the heart of the problem with the cycling Calender now virtually running for 365 days. Personally I would like to see some sort of amnesty for riders who come forward and explain what it is they are on and why they felt the need to use it.
Its become incredibly complex and the line between clean and dirty riders is somewhat blurred. I have recently been introduced to Pinterest and found masses of photos of my Hero Tom Simpson who probably died because of doping but it doesn't make me admire him any the less.
Cycling is so so hard and when someone puts the hammer down and your just not quite at your best the temptation to ease the pain and stay with the bunch must be huge especially when your mortgage depends on it.
Whilst people are correct to admonish the cheats the Governing bodies have turned a blind eye to this for more than 60 years and they are at the heart of the problem with the cycling Calender now virtually running for 365 days. Personally I would like to see some sort of amnesty for riders who come forward and explain what it is they are on and why they felt the need to use it.
RobGT81 said:
No Yates in the Olympic squad, only me surprised by that?
Not really. Brit Cycling is becoming a serious cause of concern! The Yates are probably better off not being involvedFor reference
Owain Doull - Sky
Chris Froome - Sky
Dan McLay
Luke Rowe - Sky
Ian Stannard - Sky
Ben Swift - Formerly Sky
Geraint Thomas - Sky
Rich_W said:
RobGT81 said:
No Yates in the Olympic squad, only me surprised by that?
Not really. Brit Cycling is becoming a serious cause of concern! The Yates are probably better off not being involvedFor reference
Owain Doull - Sky
Chris Froome - Sky
Dan McLay
Luke Rowe - Sky
Ian Stannard - Sky
Ben Swift - Formerly Sky
Geraint Thomas - Sky
k off never to be seen again!Dr Imran T said:
This article is a couple of years old now but a good summary/read:
http://www.velonews.com/2015/04/news/analysis-the-...
Good article, I think most people who don't follow cycling don't appreciate the difference between the effects of EPO, blood doping, growth hormones, clenbuterol, prednisolone, TUE's or marginal gains.http://www.velonews.com/2015/04/news/analysis-the-...
The biological passport has evened up the peleton to the point where it is credible that a clean athlete could win. Not that it means that it can't be beaten or that people won't try to achieve any advantage, but it isn't like the past where you wouldn't even be in the ball park of performance without cheating. Also since Armstrong the days of a team sponsored program are over, you need lots of people in on it, today somebody would talk.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39293763
The one thing that cycling really needs is some proper quantitative science, how much benefit would a rider get from a TUE abuse or a micro-dosing or skirting near the limits of a biological passport criteria. If benefits can be shown to be so small as to be minimal it would be useful to convince people it isn't worth the effort, if they are bigger than expected then certain thing available as TUE need to be banned more thoroughly.
Highway Star said:
The Giro starts on Friday - can't see outside of Quintana for the win, with Nibali and Pinot on the podium. Top tens for Yates and Thomas. At least they dropped the brown trouser descender classification!
summer has arrived !!!. I cant imagine anyone going any faster than they normally would do just to be declared the biggest lunatic on a bike.Edited by Highway Star on Thursday 4th May 14:21
They already take huge risks descending they should all get an award.
Lets hope we get a good battle.
So quest isn't on freesat which is slightly irritating. I'm thinking of trying out watching it on the quest catch-up kodi addin, if the content is allowed on there. If that does work I will probably end up being perpetually a day behind as I'd have to wait until they get round to posting it up each night. Maybe I can find another add-in which will let me watch quest live over ip.
johnxjsc1985 said:
Matt_N said:
So 2 riders from Bardiani (a wildcard entry) test positive for GHRPs the day before the Giro - Stefano Pirazzi and Nicola Ruffoni.
Not a great start but the field is close to 200 strong so 2% cheats seems a decent result .....so far.Get thee to detention boy! Remedial maths, methinks...
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