The Street > The Bike Shop

Chris Froome; Doping?

<< < (2/6) > >>

Owen:
I race road.  I race at E1 level, which is 1 level below Pro Tour.  The speeds in E1 are similar to that of Pro, but the 'Tours' are way shorter, and in comparison to Pro riding, we don't go in as hard.

The main thing I can say, from my experience racing, and seeing how my own body reacts to the stresses of going in so hard, is this...

-A top level guy who is not doping, could match the speed and power of one of these world class pro tour guys, in a single day event, but he would be utterly wrecked at the end of it and would need a good week to recover.
-Pro tours are 3 weeks long.  There is no FUCKING WAY they are going in that hard, for that long, and with only 2 rest days, without chemical assistance.  I don't care how much they train, or how elite they are, the human body simply can not take that much abuse, both in terms of pure physical stress to the muscles, and also throwing that much water and food through your system day in day out, without blowing up after at most, 10 days.  It just can not be done.

Whether they are all on straight EPO or not, I think is doubtful.  Probably not nowadays, as that is too detectable, and obvious.  I think what is happening nowadays, is they are doing way more sophisticated stuff like micro-dosing the training, then switching drugs around, etc., to achieve the same end.  The doping process has basically become more refined.

So yeah, of course they are doping, but not in the same way as when it was full on EPO jacking.

amishrob:
the big thing with froome is how he came from fucking nowhere, then smashed the 2011 vuelta when he was about to be dropped by sky. at least lance had junior results to show he had ability.

Dr. Steve Brule:

--- Quote from: Owen on July 26, 2015, 09:40:28 PM ---I race road.  I race at E1 level, which is 1 level below Pro Tour.  The speeds in E1 are similar to that of Pro, but the 'Tours' are way shorter, and in comparison to Pro riding, we don't go in as hard.

The main thing I can say, from my experience racing, and seeing how my own body reacts to the stresses of going in so hard, is this...

-A top level guy who is not doping, could match the speed and power of one of these world class pro tour guys, in a single day event, but he would be utterly wrecked at the end of it and would need a good week to recover.
-Pro tours are 3 weeks long.  There is no FUCKING WAY they are going in that hard, for that long, and with only 2 rest days, without chemical assistance.  I don't care how much they train, or how elite they are, the human body simply can not take that much abuse, both in terms of pure physical stress to the muscles, and also throwing that much water and food through your system day in day out, without blowing up after at most, 10 days.  It just can not be done.

Whether they are all on straight EPO or not, I think is doubtful.  Probably not nowadays, as that is too detectable, and obvious.  I think what is happening nowadays, is they are doing way more sophisticated stuff like micro-dosing the training, then switching drugs around, etc., to achieve the same end.  The doping process has basically become more refined.

So yeah, of course they are doping, but not in the same way as when it was full on EPO jacking.

--- End quote ---

Yeah, that's a thought of mine regarding doping. It's a game of cat and mouse, the testers chasing the teams. As long as the teams have more resources than the testers, they'll always have the advantage. Until full WADA / Olympic  style testing is implemented I guess we'll never know for sure.

G:
I am very irritated by the way the press has looked at this and all the pseudo-science they have made up. Some guy tweeted how he woke up and the laws of physics had changed or some shit and that a guy making a lower power output beating another guy up a mountain was like a car doing 60 beating a car going 70.. utter bollocks.

Power and speed are NOT the same thing. That's why a 200HP sports car is quicker than a 800HP bus. Aerodynamics, weight and tactics are far more important.

My guess is that Froome (and all the other top riders) are doing what most people would call "doping" but I very much doubt that he is using anything that is clearly illegal under the terms of the rules. Team Sky are too clever for that, and over weeks of a tour I doubt it would help. He openly uses an inhaler. He also openly uses a sitting pedaling style and elliptical rings, both of which have the potential to really help. Movistar managed to get two guys to the podium, perhaps if their tactics had been better they could have traded second and third for first! Team Sky seemed to have traded absolutely all the rest of the teams energy for his result.

Spectators (and journalists) accusing Froome of doping when Contador (and others) are right there too is crazy. Contador was caught using and was barely sanctioned at all, nobody is saying a word about his very recent and very successful doping, while Froome gets all the shit simply because he is winning.

Getting good sleep, cool down, massage, stretching, nutrition, optimised bikes, and tactics are incredibly important.

IF Froome is doping, then you can be sure as hell that the next 5 guys behind him are doping just as much or more, so his win is unlikely to be because of it.

LukeTom:
Personally I believe that almost all (if not all) the riders are doping, in one way or another. Be it EPO (which I believe is undetectable) or more clearly illicit drugs. So many riders have been associated with drugs that I don't believe there is no smoke without fire, which certainly extends beyond this years TdF.

This being said, if most people agree he and other athletes are doping in one way or another (legally or illegally) do people think there will ever come a time when the sports governing body will just allow it since it is too difficult to stop? And see how truly fast they can cycle the Tour De France. I know there are difficulties concerning the safety of the athletes, but perhaps there are work arounds for this. It would stop the façade of everyone denying doping and make things clearer.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page