Pro Tour Punditry
Guru
Again, true. I'd imagine Pinot would have been more focused on KOM if not a GC contender as well. But we'll never know. Yet I'm not convinced by Nibali. I'd like to be. But I'm not. No way Jose.
TdF conspiracy theories
- Thread starter ayceejay
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Again, true. I'd imagine Pinot would have been more focused on KOM if not a GC contender as well. But we'll never know. Yet I'm not convinced by Nibali. I'd like to be. But I'm not. No way Jose.
I haven't seen anything unbelievable about Nibali yet. When he attacked with 8 to go on the last stage, I thought uh oh, it's been a while since we've seen an attack from so far out but then he slowed at 5k. I think he just knew that there was no one there on his level, so he went. He also knew they were all marking each other for podium spots.
We see more riders having good and bad rides. To me this is a good sign. An even standard throughout the year would be more suspicious.
We see more riders having good and bad rides. To me this is a good sign. An even standard throughout the year would be more suspicious.
DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
He won't be able to do that once it becomes a banned substance.
tigger
Über Member
As I've said in other posts, I want to believe and I'm only cynical of Nibali's performance due to association with a team with a history of dopng. But really there is no one in his class to compare him too in this race. We'd have expected Froome and Contador to be some way ahead of the rest of the pack on these climbs too, and he is in their league (albeit not quite so strong in my view).
Valvpiti is getting old and sometimes age just catches up with you in a flash, this is the start of a fairly rapid decline in my view, as per Cuddles after winning the Tour. The young podium pretenders would have been expected to be minutes behind Froome, Quintana and Contador, so the status quo is sound here.
I posted just after the Dauphine that historically Nibali displays a shorter form window than some of the other top contenders. He seemed in the right place at that time to peak for the Tour.
So logically, this is all plausible and we should be confident in a worthy winner.
Hmmm, that short peak form window worries me though... we've seen past dopers display this trait. Oh no! I've come full circle!
Valvpiti is getting old and sometimes age just catches up with you in a flash, this is the start of a fairly rapid decline in my view, as per Cuddles after winning the Tour. The young podium pretenders would have been expected to be minutes behind Froome, Quintana and Contador, so the status quo is sound here.
I posted just after the Dauphine that historically Nibali displays a shorter form window than some of the other top contenders. He seemed in the right place at that time to peak for the Tour.
So logically, this is all plausible and we should be confident in a worthy winner.
Hmmm, that short peak form window worries me though... we've seen past dopers display this trait. Oh no! I've come full circle!
Pro Tour Punditry
Guru
it's a písser, eh?
tigger
Über Member
It's the frustration and the fascination of pro cycle racing! Sometimes I wonder if it would be a poorer sport if we were all 100% confident that performances weren't enhanced!
Pro Tour Punditry
Guru
Indeed, I was chatting with a colleague today about Nibali and discussing our doubts etc. Others were listening and asked if either of us would dope - we both answered that neither of us had cheated in any other part of our lives, but there was some doubt in our minds if it came down to making a choice in the circumstance of having the ability to compete at that level in a sport where the system encouraged cyclists to make a decision to dope...we then went for lunch and said "pretty shít, eh?". We were both in agreement that if we had been in a position to dope and gone down that road that we would "come clean" if caught. We think.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
No it wouldn't. Part of my issue is the lack of immediacy involved. If Nibali arrived in Paris and was just about to step on the podium when a suit walked up to him and said "Sorry son you're nicked", then maybe I'd be a little happier but that won't happen. We may have two or three tours, Nibali may even be retired, and we wake up one day to a headline of "2014 Tour result void"
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
We were discussing it at work the other day because it turns out a colleague would be able to supply us with EPO - he has a legit prescription for it for good medical reasons. He didn't even realise it was the same stuff the dirty cheats use, but then he's not really very sporty. I'd be interested in trying it for fun, and would do so except that I don't much fancy dying in my sleep with a blood clot, but I have no interest in using it to give myself an advantage in competition - but then I don't ride competitively very often and maybe if I did it would be hard to resist the temptation, especially if I thought I could get away with it...
I don't see insouciance in Nibali's rides, just a very good poker face (much like Quintana in last year's Tour) which stems from a superhuman ability to ride through the pain barrier - which is one of the things that sets the very best riders apart from the rest. They are literally superhuman, by any meaningful yardstick. I don't think any of us non-pros can really comprehend what professional athletes are physically capable of, even without doping.
Of course, one's ability to "ride through the pain barrier" may well be assisted by painkillers such as Tramadol, which is a controlled substance but not actually banned... It's folk knowledge that Froome uses Tramadol regularly, though Sky have denied it.
Does it make you grow taller or just wider?I can get HGH if you'd rather try that Smutch
I'd use it if it got me a better result in the punditry predictions
Thicker?Does it make you grow taller or just wider?
At our age, wider.Does it make you grow taller or just wider?
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Now Nibali has praised the doping controls my spider senses are super tingly
