TMonk

oic

Ygduf

Chris Froome commits to independent testing to prove he is clean after Tour de France - Telegraph

mattm

Interesting indeed, but a bit too much of the tin-foil-hat element going on for me.

I hope that doping testing never comes down to having too much power/not high enough heart rate, that seems ridiculous.

Anyway, Froome=doom for everyone else this in the TdF this year. Battle for 2nd is on, maybe it'll turn into 1st later who knows!

globecanvas

"Among the things he wants to prove is how he benefits from his limb length"

gsteinb

didn't armstrong do/not do that?

"oh, you mean you're really going to monitor me?"

MDcatV

If Froome is doping I sure wish everyone else would get on a program so that the race for the yellow jersey would be more exciting.

globecanvas

If they have discovered some holy grail type of magic-legs-button doping that clears itself out of your system afterwards, that's kind of really bad for all of us, if you think about it.

gsteinb

I don't know what that particular response is supposed to mean

globecanvas

I just mean that if there were some undetectable way to juice, I imagine it would soon be very popular at amateur races. Hey, maybe there already is and I'm just naive.

gsteinb

counter points:
wouldn't cutting edge doping cost more and don't they rarely test amateur races?
wouldn't the best athletes in the world be a step ahead of amateurs?
given the money pros and pro teams have, wouldn't it make sense they stayed a step ahead of the less well funded testing agencies?

globecanvas

I guess. It's all conjecture anyway. We don't even know if they are doping (though imo the benefit of the doubt is against them), and if so whether there is any reasonable way for the new doping technology to trickle down. But all else being equal, new ways to dope = bad.

Grumpy McTrumpy

There aren't any examples I can think of in recent history of circus strongman acts in cycling that didn't end up being phony somehow. I can understand that sometimes one guy is stronger than the rest, but to essentially blow away the entire peloton (including all of the favorites. none of them crashed out this year) hasn't really been done much except by people who ultimately got popped for doping.

Every time they trot out these circus strongmen in order to maintain the legend of the superman or whatever it is that keeps the revenue stream coming in, I find my BSometer gets a solid reading. Maybe this one is the exception and is real, but all the previous ones turned out to be too good to be true.

The trick seems to be to find a protocol that hasn't been discovered by the rest of the favorites and by the testing agencies. That may seem unlikely, but think about it. Every time a new doping program shows up it shows up in this fashion. Eventually everyone catches on, and then the testers catch on. Then the arms race resets and time passes until the next "leap forward" in doping tech.

MDcatV

It isn't just Froome. Porte was climbing like a cat 3 in May, now he's pulling half a stage then chasing down Quintana at the top of an HC climb. Thomas has been riding strong all year, but now he can climb with Valverde and finish ahead of TVG, Contador, and Rolland, after pulling for a portion of a stage. To me, that looks a lot like George Hincapie, classics specialist, winning on Pla d'atet.

Gramercy

If you can't climb at 6.2 w/kg, don't go to Europe. It would have been nice to see him at least break a sweat or look tired.

globecanvas

Sean Kelly just said he once hit 75 mph coming down off the Col de Joux Plane in the Tour.

gsteinb

I find that as unbelievable as Froome being clean.

Grumpy McTrumpy

did they have accurate speedometers for bikes back then?

MDcatV

I think that if any one is telling the truth about going 75 miles per hour on a descent, it's Sean Kelly. He seems like a really good guy and it's not like he just came out of nowhere, he had a rare illness that when cured allowed him to descend at his full potential. Check your facts before you go on discrediting performance claims. #facebookfroomedefenders

Grumpy McTrumpy

lol

Grumpy McTrumpy

This may be the first time I have seen a finish line in a sharp 90˚ corner.

Racer Ex 

Paul slipped up and compared Sky to US Postal and Armstrong yesterday. I don't think he meant it they way I took it.

And tongue planted in cheek:

Racer Ex 

Brailsford: We just need to keep being honest and open

Journalist: Can we see Froome's power files?

Brailsford: No.

Froome: People who do these calculations based on power files are clowns.

Brailsford: And you shouldn't cheat to prove someone is cheating. That's just not cricket.

Journalist: Is the hacked data accurate?

Brailsford: I can't say.

Rumor has Froome booked on Oprah in 2020. Stay tuned.

Ygduf

probably confused it for a Connecticut sprint finish.

gsteinb

how do you mean?

Ygduf

the only other bike thing I hear that goes 75mph is CDR sprint finishes. I thought they were in Connecticut. Am I wrong? :/

I don't get the burning ants with fire pic, though. Sorry.