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myshkin

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That was complete domination by Sky, when they turned up the pace in the last two climbs it was stunning. Kennaugh riding at the front with such pace well into the final climb is more than a little suspicious. If Brailsford's found to be some sort of drug kingpin it will be bigger than Armstrong since he has been involved in 3 Olympics, one a British clean sweep and his sudden appearance on the road makes his team more dominant than any team in recent history.

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the french are going to mental about this.

this is from the science of sport preview

In terms of a prediction, I mentioned that the pVAM method predicts a 24:17. I expect it will be faster than that, because we're only in the first week of the Tour so riders are fresh, it's the first mountain finish so motivation will be higher, and the model prediction is based on three GC riders anyway - the best will be faster. If I had to gaze into my crystal ball, I'd predict a time between 23:40 and 23:50, corresponding to between 6.2 and 6.3 W/kg.

so froome did roughly 6.4 to 6.5 on the final climb

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That was complete domination by Sky, when they turned up the pace in the last two climbs it was stunning. Kennaugh riding at the front with such pace well into the final climb is more than a little suspicious. If Brailsford's found to be some sort of drug kingpin it will be bigger than Armstrong since he has been involved in 3 Olympics, one a British clean sweep and his sudden appearance on the road makes his team more dominant than any team in recent history.

Do WADA or whomever does the tests keep hold of samples so that they can be tested in the future for previously undetectable things? I ask because I'm far from an expert on doping, but presumably Sky can't have been riding like this the past 2 years on EPO because they'd have been caught. So if they are doping then they are using some sort of new & currently undetectable drug, or at least a new masking agent, you'd presume. So will it be possible to detect such things in the future from older samples? I haven't a clue how long the authorities hold on to samples.

Or of course they aren't doping at all, though I grant you that that does seem an outside bet at the moment. Though I do wonder if they would risk doing it considering the inevitability of being caught down the line, as it would totally taint the achievements of British Cycling over the past 2 decades due to how closely they are linked to the Sky team. They haven't been anywhere near as transparent as they claimed they would be when they started up,. & obviously they look light years ahead of their rivals at times, so I do understand the scepticism about them (& share it to some extent, though less passionately than most I think). It's just after seeing Armstrong's house of cards crumble, & other top riders like Contador & Schleck (perhaps I'm stretching the definition of "top riders" here with Frank) test positive & have their achievements stripped, I have to ask myself "if I was in Sky's position would I really risk it?" And it just seems to me like the damage that could be done with a positive test for a guy like Wiggins, Froome or Porte would not be worth the short term rewards from winning a couple of Tour's & some other things along the way. But then I'm not really much of a gambler, maybe Brailsford & co are.

Anyway, exciting stage I thought. Enjoyed it. Contador really doesn't look near up to speed.

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the argument that wouldn't cheat because they have too to lose is stupid. It's more likely that the track dominance is ped fuelled as well.

15 secs slower than lance. Faster than a doped to the gills ullrich. He is either a cheat or the greatest cyclist of all time.

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I actually think the track side of it is a far cleaner game. Track cycling can be broken right down to find improvements as there aren't really that many variables. You don't have the French attacking non stop for the sake of it on a Velodrome.

Also, this Tour is won now. I was really hoping for a competition, too. :(

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Also, this Tour is won now. I was really hoping for a competition, too. :(

Yep, disappointing. :(

It's like when Armstrong dominated, you knew who was going to win before that start. Oh, wait...... <_<

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