GFNY has a $10k incentive for the first person to go sub 4 hours round the course (and who passes doping control). Clearly the reason I didn't win this is because I did not dope. 

I see a similarity in behaviors between cyclists and crossfitters of a certain age - whereby competition brings out an element of human nature that allows a certain percentage of the population to feel that there is a justification in cheating to win. As winning is the point of any competition. This seems to be enhanced when you have individuals who have a long history of competing (and potentially used to winning...). At a regional and international level, crossfit is rife with PED use even though it is a niche sport with no gain to the individual in winning competitions. 

Like Eloy alluded to - winning to some people is the be all and end all. I would warn away from playing Monopoly against these people.  

Ugh. So many thoughts

#1) yes they know they're cheating
#2) they often think their either the 'smart' ones for gaming the system or that everyone else is too, or that it's some kid of warped "cycling tradition"
#3) Patrick that elixir exists it's called HGH but get used to your feet growing again... and other stuff
#4) I think the ultra competitors "of a certain age" are "winning" at some random sport to make up for their perceived losses elsewhere in life... so they've felt the loss, but are robbing themselves of the joy of hard-earned improvement which leads me to 
#5) Eloy's sentiment is really the heart of the tragedy; racing bikes is about embracing endless losses while still believing in the dream and then sometimes, having it come true. Cheat codes rob the cheater of that entire ride, and they rob the cheater of the ability to empathize with the whole world of bike racing. It's like joining a community to somehow not be part of the community.
#6) there is of course the ruination of the event for the clean riders, the organizers, sponsors etc.

/rant

The best part of the GFNY Doper Dudes of 2019...

The excuses.

One sort of tore off his wristband so he'd be harder to identify.

And the other tried claiming he was his brother, who had registered but not started.

Wonder how that went over with the family.

So weak. 

I hate that I'm even posting this but how many more "he made us look like juniors" finishes do we need to see before someone asks the question?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=272&v=qe9jbghhR-Y

Was about to post in the videos thread. I am pretty sure the question has been asked for a while now. No answer. No proof either. 

I kinda love seeing the face of all the other suspects tho -- to say it in a difference way... I don't yet know if MVdP is doping, but I'm certain someone in that top 10 is, and MVdP totally dropped him! gotta love at least that.

Dopers suck. Doping sucks.

eloy said:

Was about to post in the videos thread. I am pretty sure the question has been asked for a while now. No answer. No proof either. 

I kinda love seeing the face of all the other suspects tho -- to say it in a difference way... I don't yet know if MVdP is doping, but I'm certain someone in that top 10 is, and MVdP totally dropped him! gotta love at least that.

Doper suck. Doping sucks.

My rule of thumb is always, "if they're on the podium in a pro race, they're probably doping" but what do you call the guy who smashes the rest of the podium?

Jules , probably time to stop watching , this guy is going to dominate 3 disciplines for a while....sorry 

Mark Taylor said:

Jules , probably time to stop watching , this guy is going to dominate 3 disciplines for a while....sorry 

Haha! I don't really understand how I can enjoy watching him demolish races but I do. At the same time I also enjoy watching a field of dopers dance around the subject of his performances.

Today's Vuelta stage was over 200km at over 53km/h -- the fastest grand tour stage over 200km ever. 

Just sayin'

Half the story there ,to be fair, 

I believe there is a photo of an armstrong-era rider with a similar bandage on his transfusion site...

Curious about one thing.  What stage is the image from?

For those who are wondering, the UCI "no needles policy" is only eight years old.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-approves-no-needle-policy/

Jumbo-Visma has some explaining to do.

It’s from steephill’s Big Photos if stage 20 of this year’s Vuelta

Jules said:

It’s from steephill’s Big Photos if stage 20 of this year’s Vuelta

He's got a similar patch on a similar spot in pictures of yesterday's stage.  

Image 2 of the article below you can see it as well.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/vuelta-a-espana-2019/stage-21/results/

@Jules

It appears it's a bandage that has to do with his crash on stage 19

Go here: https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/vuelta-a-espana-2019/stage-19/results/

Check out images 25 and 26.

Yes I did want to post that his whole arm does looks pretty road rashy. Wish I could find that older photo 

This is such a weird article in its apparent blindness to the “I took my drugs but then my timing changed so I wasn’t sure about what dose to do next”

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/delay-to-world-championships-time-trial-called-too-late-says-simmonds/

@jules if you want to infer performance enhancing drugs I have two words for you ..... Chloe Dygert

ian ellis said:

@jules if you want to infer performance enhancing drugs I have two words for you ..... Chloe Dygert

Agreed. I think I just posted as much ina. Different thread. Then again putting 90 seconds over a 30 minute course into the best in the world - maybe it’s the marginal gains ... cough, cough 

I am continually amazed at WADA's ability to astonish me. They'll leak someone's name before a positive B sample, but the mother of all smoking guns, with DNA evidence to match? NOPE. Gotta keep a code of silence, yo.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wada-identifies-the-dna-of-11-athletes-implicated-in-operation-puerto/

LOL

I love it when people are willing to cheat on camera. Says so much about what they're willing to do behind closed doors, or what they think of the rules.

well, I totally get where you are coming from, but the sock rule is so stupid ass ridiculous.

eloy said:

well, I totally get where you are coming from, but the sock rule is so stupid ass ridiculous.

It doesn't even ride to the level of stupid ass ridiculous. If the sock rule studied hard, and practiced for 10 years, and got super super lucky... it would still only aspire to stupid ass ridiculous.

What I don’t understand about the sick is ,why are legging allowed in the spring , surely they are just big longer socks

Sock rule , not sick

Mark Taylor said:

What I don’t understand about the sick is ,why are legging allowed in the spring , surely they are just big longer socks

long time coming
Alberto Salazar gets 4 year ban
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/sports/alberto-salazar-doping-ban.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

eloy said:

long time coming
Alberto Salazar gets 4 year ban
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/sports/alberto-salazar-doping-ban.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Doesn't seem like enough considering all the documented evidence.  A lifetime ban seems more appropriate.  And Nike should be penalized as well.