twoyacks said:

When you watch Slaying the Badger and you see LeMond and Hinault finishing Alpe d'Huez...it's how it should look = laboring, mechanical and slow with a lumpy cadence....compare to that to the EPO era & today...and the contrast is undeniable.  The riders who win on these mtn stages today are able to maintain a high cadence and appear as if they could go up the mtn again if they had to.   It ain't physiologically correct.  I don't trust and I don't believe it.   

I don't know if this is a fair assessment.  LeMond and Hinault were riding much bigger gears on much heavier bikes.  In those days, 39x25 was an ultra-low climbing gear (I bet many top riders had 42x24 for their alpine low gear) and they were doing on 20-25lbs bikes that were far less mechanically and aerodynamically efficient.  I don't want to make too much of the fact that they were mashing gears on bikes that were noodly--probably marginal losses, but after three weeks, it adds up.  

Yesterday was Nibali's 76th day of racing this year. His season so far started very early in Argentina and then has focused  principally on stage races, where he has shown his slow rise in form. Between those races is focused training, rest and not a lot of travel. He was outside the top 10 of San Luis, Oman and Paris Nice. He rode a small handful of spring classics and with the exception of F-W where he was 14th he didn't make the top 30 in LBL, Amstel or MSR. Romandie and Dauphine he was just inside the top 10.
So he came into this race focused, fresh and on form.

in 1986 Greg Lemond raced a traditional calendar of the era. It started later in March and involved a lot more racing and more travel (mostly in cars, not super-buses). Prior to winning the tour that year Lemond was 3rd @ Paris Nice, 2nd @ MSR, 11th @ RVV, 4th @ Fleche, 14 @ LBL. 3rd @ Criterium Interational. He also rode Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix inside the top 30. His immediate run up to the tour was : 4th in the Giro, 3rd in the tour de Suisse.

In the 80's all the riders had to race A LOT and were constantly tired. Today riders are supported better anf enabled to do a much lighter calendar.

You can't compare the two.

Then again, nobody in the yellow jersey has won four stages in a TDF in forty years... so it's probably those marginal gains.

That's how Usain Bolt does it, right?

Jules said:

Then again, nobody in the yellow jersey has won four stages in a TDF in forty years... so it's probably those marginal gains. That's how Usain Bolt does it, right?

Thirty years ago, Fignon won five stages (one was a TTT) en route to his second Tour victory.  The last TT stage, he benefitted from nationalism of the time keeper; Probably should have gone to Kelly.

I'm quietly optimistic. Nibali is riding away, but from guys who are a step down from the Froome/Contador level. Having a lower level of competition around him makes him look that much faster. It'll be interesting to see how much time he takes out on tomorrows TT.

The other thing to consider is stage  length.
In 2000 when Lance was doing his thing the finish at Hautacam was 205Km stage
in 1996 with Mr 60% it was 199Km
and 1994 it was 264Km beast

Yesterday it was 145Km

So it seems reasonable that if Nibali arrives at the climb fresher - he would be faster than if he had an extra 50K in the legs.
Any comparisons of climb times, and VAM, etc need to take that into consideration.

When we weren't watching, Levi Leipheimer won the Crusher in the Tushar event.  He made $1,000 for the win and another $250 for the KoM.  Second was Jamey Driscoll, third Tyler Wren.

mugwump said:

When we weren't watching, Levi Leipheimer won the Crusher in the Tushar event.  He made $1,000 for the win and another $250 for the KoM.  Second was Jamey Driscoll, third Tyler Wren.

Levi posted the ride file to Strava.  And then things got interesting.  A young rider criticizes Levi,and Levi sort-of agrees.  Matt Cooke, the guy who won the KoM at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge last year chimed in.  As did Driscoll.  And Myerson even got involved.

http://www.strava.com/activities/165089750

And here are the results from that race: http://tusharcrusher.com/2014-results

Guilty. The whole lot of them.http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=1537275&postcount=1

I don't understand any of this shit. Are they climbing at the same speed as they did during the "doping era" ?  If so...the doping era continues.  

twoyacks said:

I don't understand any of this shit. Are they climbing at the same speed as they did during the "doping era" ?  If so...the doping era continues.  

Very hard to compare because of the lead-up to each climb being different (total stage length, tactics and wind)

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/08/uci-kreuziger-and-tinkov-react-to-riders-suspension-being-upheld/

Also, that forgettable Sky rider's violation. Biological passport "off scores" (spikes/ebbs in reticulocyte production) — "Eyebrows become raised when riders’ scores start coming in at 125 or 130. A score of 133 or above is considered irrefutable evidence of manipulation." This f'er was at 155.8. — haematocrit 53.7%! Get me the beer he was drinking!

Ok then I'm challenging everyone to a hematocrit contest. Go!

If I post my wife's does that count?

RBC                       5.06 mill/cmm               3.80-5.20 
HEMOGLOBIN                14.4 g/dl                   11.9-16.0 
HEMATOCRIT                45.9 %                      35-47

I'll see if I can find mine.

This is weirding me out.

Jeffrey White said:

This is weirding me out.

But the minutely detailed discussions of saddle sores, complete with swabbed cultures, which we've had on the forum in the past, don't?

neilx said:

Jeffrey White said:

This is weirding me out.

But the minutely detailed discussions of saddle sores, complete with swabbed cultures, which we've had on the forum in the past, don't?

what's disturbing is that Vlad isn't all over stage races with a number like that.  Considering his race-heavy schedule, we probably should have guessed he ran thick.

Hey guess what?  Tommy D is giant douche:

http://stevetilford.com/2014/08/22/tommy-d/

Even Katie Compton knows this:



Is this doping dumbshit retiring after this season (I hope)?

What the FUCK is going on with Ryder's bike in that video?!?

Looks like it is sliding down a hill? Maybe I'm being naive, but doesn't look like anything nefarious going on there. It doesn't help that the vid is slowed down.

Sliding back UP the hill?

The front wheel is aligned properly with the road, acting both as a pivot point and allowing for gravity to induce some more acceleration by rolling down the hill, as the rest of the bike swings around. It's hard to tell since video/photo can't tell you the proper slope of the hill or banking of the road, but it seems like it could happen (though it does look strange). Still, I think the biggest hint that nothing's up with the bike is the fact that the cranks aren't spinning. That'd mean we would need a small motor inside the hub itself that is powerful enough to actually make a difference in moving ~150lbs.

I loved the "enfant terrible"...this was during the wild west of doping... http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vuelta-a-espana-iconic-stages-vandenbroucke-and-the-99-race

I loved the "enfant terrible"...this was during the wild west of doping... http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vuelta-a-espana-iconic-stages-vandenbroucke-and-the-99-race

You know, I often feel like Ryan does, like I don't give a fuck if these fuck-tards are doping, but back in the day, back when I was racing against so many of these guys, I look back and say, fuck me. I never had a fucking chance. Ever. All those races against Saturn and Mercury...I even raced in a kermesse against Vandenbroucke and Muesseuw. It was a rare, non-invitational Pro-Am. I lasted all of about 45 minutes. Then, I later heard, about when I got dropped the Lion of Flanders started pulling at the front. But it's not just those guys...I think of the times I got screwed out of park race results by Pulla. I'm mean, I'm obviously way, way beyond all this now, but still if I think about it too much, it just gets me worked up again. So I think I'm just going to go back now to stressing about the state of my cross tire glue job.

I like to race my power meter. If I see record #'s I get excited. At least it proves I'm improving.