Disclaimer: I don’t watch Joe Rogan
But if you have an hour to kill, this whole interview was absolutely fascinating. Put it on like a podcast while you’re making dinner or fixing bikes.
That’s my favorite bike racing video of all time.
You gotta wonder what is going through Phil’s mind as he is calling that stage. Watching Armstrong just fly up the mountain past people like they are standing still.
I was just thinking yesterday about the parallels between Armstrong and Drumpf. Not the physical attributes so much of course, but the over the top lying in the face of damning evidence and the large numbers of people who wanted to believe so badly coz 'Merica.
I figure he wants part of small hands action so bad. For cancer and the kids of course.
Part of that paper that fascinated me was the drop in absolute plasma levels compared to direct injection and the decrease in mortality risk. In a way the ‘conservative’ methods of USPS and the micro-dosing likely still going on probably helped bring down the number of deaths seen in the Euro peloton in the late 80s and early 90s. I still worry about what’s going on in Africa and the rest of the third world in regards to the abuse of these substances. Those pipe dreamers haven’t a chance against those with money, power, and influence. With large corporate sponsors and/or state run programs behind them. Those able to employ more effective and less risky methods of doping. It wouldn’t surprise me if those deaths in the 90s simply moved into the shadows. Similar to the countless number of barely documented victims of the East German sports machine.
I work with a former Eritrean euro-pro, and they were lucky to be able to afford bikes, much less drugs. Not to say that some of the bigger riders couldn’t track that stuff down themselves, but their results generally aren’t remarkable enough to suspect widespread drug abuse.
Probably not as prevalent in cycling with a higher bar of entry equipment and race experience-wise, more so T&F and similar sports.
Once these teams start to pass the equipment barrier the drugs will become a major problem. National regulatory agencies are all but non-existent so if a team can get past the cost of bikes it will be extremely susceptible to shitty dangerous drugs.
Did anyone else read this Vaughters piece? Long live chemistry, indeed.
I don’t feel like we’ve really covered the Sky fiasco here. You know, in retrospect, it was too good to be true. How did a track specialized like Wiggins suddenly transform into a great stage racer? We were pretty naive to believe that shit.
^Came here to post this. Yup, Yup, and Yup! colbert
I choose to believe otherwise. Wiggo is clean and honest and perfect.
Those sideburns
Of deceit !!
I’m not saying Wiggo wasn’t on the dope but the whole “how did a track specialist go to tdf champ?” thing is just exhausting. It’s not like he was Ryan Bayley or something.
Well you of all people should know that you don’t need to be a monster sprinter to be a track specialist. Starting from that conceit, it should raise some red flags that some guy with maybe one or two non-TT victories in his entire career comes essentially out of nowhere to podium at the Tour. Had he even finished a Grand Tour before that?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/Bradley_Wiggins
It’s not hard to do some research. Dude finished the tdf and the giro quite a few times, in addition to a bunch of other GT level events.
"Track specialist’ isn’t a thing either. That’s like saying “road specialist”. It’s not a specialty… He’s a TT specialist, that’s what made him a good track endurance rider (still is).
That’s my point. The whole track thing is utterly irrelevant but often seems to come up as some damming evidence of doping. Amy is right… the whole “specialist” thing is bogus especially now we the flow is somewhat reversed with road riders moving back to the track to clean up in the omnium. I’m probably just reading to much into it but throwing that lazy argument into it relies on conjuring up images of chubby sprinters not lanky pursuiters.
You’re right… there is TONS of other examples that actually cast some doubt on his rise from David Millar with sideburns to Chris Froome with sideburns.
Honestly… I couldn’t give a shit at this point if he did drugs or not. At least it’s spring and the racing is still interesting.
OMG CORTICOSTEROIDS.
Jesus.
To Braden and Amy’s point, a successful pursuit rider will have power numbers and tendencies remarkably like those of GC riders.