TDF time trial

[Alexzn]

Anyone else watched this year TdF time trial with the same sense of disbelief? I tend to regard all superhuman performances in cycling with suspicion and this was decidedly superhuman. Putting 1:30 into a world TY champion riding tor a stage win? And that after being isolated on most mountain stages of the tour for three weeks? And smashing the record on the last climb after riding some flat miles In the TT mode? And the guy looked like he could go faster if needed.

 

[cantunamunch]

Anyone else watched this year TdF time trial with the same sense of disbelief? I tend to regard all superhuman performances in cycling with suspicion and this was decidedly superhuman.

Sure.

Putting 1:30 into a world TY champion riding tor a stage win?

Note that said champion had a wicked fall and is significantly older, therefore more subject to fatigue. So there's that.

And that after being isolated on most mountain stages of the tour for three weeks?

Not completely isolated - he deffo had PR for an ally. So there's that.

And smashing the record on the last climb after riding some flat miles In the TT mode?

Yeh, that is worrisome.

In any case, unrelenting, superfatigue parcours like this one are going to be a younger riders' game going forward, that's the way I'm reading it.

 

[scott43]

I mean, only children believe the sport is clean yeah? There is some question about blood centrifuges and Slovenians. Operation Aderlass showed that .. where there's money there's doping..

 

[Larry]

I was in shock too. I anticipated him doing well like perhaps 3rd to 8th best for the day but to Destroy the the best time is a little suspicious. I'm hoping he's clean because he had one the best tours in the past 10 years. He pretty much did the entire race on his own. His two best climbers were both knocked out and he survived all Jumbo attempts at dislodging him.

I was more shocked at Primo having a so-so TT. He did OK but I'm guessing he mentally cracked especially the 2nd half of the race

 

[scott43]

They're not clean.

 

[Eleeski]

It's pretty sad that instead of celebrating a hard earned victory from the best of the field, we question the results.

I enjoyed following the tour and the close competition. Congratulations to Pogacar!

Eric

 

[scott43]

There is no question about the results..

 

[Erik Timmerman]

I'm just disappointed that I turned off the Tour and went fishing before it got to the sharp end. Must have been quite a spectacle.

 

[Alexzn]

I don’t think Primoz did all that badly. He lost 30 seconds to TomDum and less to van Aert, both are powerful riders and TomDum is a World TT champ. It is common in the TDF time trials to be won by a specialist with a yellow jersey within a minute of it. in modern times Armstrong used to smash time trials, and we all know what that was.
@Eleeski- I’d love to believe that everybody is riding clean, but cycling has a long history and every time we saw superhuman efforts they traced to performance enhancing drugs. It is tempting to say that someone can have unique physique and top form, but guess what, so are other guys in the peloton. And three week stage races have a very clear set of rules, you cannot ride without a strong team and not get tired more than the other guy who is protected, does not have to cover attacks and does not even have to fetch his own water. And Pogachar won the TT from Roglic earlier this year by 8 seconds. And now to win 2 minutes after the other guy was protected and babied all the way to the finish line for three weeks and Pogacar had to fend for himself on most climbs? I call BS.

 

[scott43]

I'm reminded of Greg Lemond watching Lance crushing opponents in a TT and he looked at a Frenchman beside him, can't remember who, and he said "no suffering". He was beating people by 30 seconds and breathing through his nose..

 

[fatbob]

Dunno. Given the sport I'd go >50% probably bent. Maybe a bit more if you think about how he didn't even need to bury himself to take 2 mins off Roglic. Still Roglic had a shocker.

Just maybe though Jumbo Visma aren't as pro at leading a race as Ineos/Sky were and Pogacar was coming from far enough back to not be regarded as a true threat until he was.

Maybe there's something into it becoming a young man's game for the lucky souls who peak exactly right but repeatability becomes harder.

 

[Alexzn]

Roglic didn't have that bad of a day as he only lost 30 seconds to TomDum (the World TT champ and a grant tour winner himself, i.e. not a one-trick pony rider like, say, Tony Martin). He didn't have a great day, but he was not supposed to need to have a great day to win with a minute ona. guy who won the previous TT from him by just 8 seconds. It is that Pogacar's performance was out of this world phenomenal. And given that this is cycling and TdF, the suspicions are natural.

And I don't think you can peak at the end of a week 3 of a grand tour where you had no support in the mountains almost all week. Jumbo was not as dominant as Sky, but they did everything right and Pogacar beat them essentially alone. A Cindrella story, yes, but suspicious nonetheless. And no suffering indeed. Pogacar was upright at the end of the TT, when Roglich collapsed to the ground.

And here is Dumoulin in his own words talking about his power output at the time trial : “My values were World Championship-worthy values. That's great to see," he said. "That's why I was all the more surprised that Pogačar was 1:21 faster.”

 

[scott43]

Surprisingly... Didn't think this would happen really ..

Updated: Two arrested following hotel raid at Tour de France

Arkéa-Samsic team manager promises to cut ties if any wrongdoing is confirmed by police.

www.velonews.com

 

[Alexzn]

Surprisingly... Didn't think this would happen really ..

Updated: Two arrested following hotel raid at Tour de France

Arkéa-Samsic team manager promises to cut ties if any wrongdoing is confirmed by police.

www.velonews.com

That's team Arkea-Samsic, which was never even in contention for anything. if they are doping, imagine what the top guys do...

 

[jmeb]

Pogacar's ride is gonna raise some eyebrows. He's young, but his history shows that his is immensley talented.

But there are lots of eyebrows that could be raised all around this tour: WvA riding GC contenders off his wheel repeatedly on high mountain stages in weeks 2 & 3, while still competing in sprints and getting 2nd in a tt? He's talented...but that is just as suspect as Pogacar having an insane adrenaline fueled ride.

 

[Ken_R]

Anyone else watched this year TdF time trial with the same sense of disbelief? I tend to regard all superhuman performances in cycling with suspicion and this was decidedly superhuman. Putting 1:30 into a world TY champion riding tor a stage win? And that after being isolated on most mountain stages of the tour for three weeks? And smashing the record on the last climb after riding some flat miles In the TT mode? And the guy looked like he could go faster if needed.

Its fishy AF.