Froome

Sky has been going for many years now and many riders have come and gone some riders as leaders of other teams. I think by now, if there had been any cheating, it would have come out. Also Kimmage did get close to sky and was given complete access and he even wrote a book about it. It is all innuendo and no real proof anywhere. Another case of he wins therefore he must cheat. Don't hear the same about any other sport. Cycling tests and finds the cheats to the best of its ability which is more than you can say for any other sport. Don't hear anything about how 'marvellous ' Mo Farah is. Unless of course you KNOW otherwise? No thought not. Unless you have concrete proof that these tough guys are cheating I suggest you keep your 'he won therefore he cheats' comments to yourself.
 
I don't buy all these opinions that Team Sky are ahead of the game and testers. Given the Armstrong scandal, the sport is now so regulated I find it hard to believe that any of the leading cyclist are able to evade detection over such a long period of time.

Do I think the Wiggins issue stinks? Yes. Is Froome bent? I don't think so and sincerely hope not.

I'll wager a lot of the opinions on here are from non-cyclists. I don't profess to follow professional cycling as close as others and certainly don't have the technical knowledge of others. What I can say is, try riding downhill at the speeds they do and then you will understand how skilled they are. I've maxed out at 45mph and it is fucking scary. These guys are capable of going above 80kmh having just gone up the other side of a 13km climb.

The guy is a legend and should be knighted imo. SPOTY is a joke and I'm not sure Froome is that arsed about it in any case.
 
He went from a below average cyclist to the world's best in two years.

He gained weight during the Tour de France despite doing 150km 6 days a week for 3 weeks, eating nothing but fish and greens.

At the end of the day, his 'illness' means he has found a legally legitimate, but ethically shaky way to blood dope. No difference to Wiggins' asthma treatment. Both are cheating in my eyes.

I don't believe Sky are stupid enough to use motorised bikes but some footage of Poels from the weekend looks very suspicious.

As for testing, just watch the Icarus documentary. If it was difficult to evade detection then Russia might have tried to do it on a smaller scale. Instead 90% of their athletes were on board.

Russia are not alone and nor is Cycling or Athletics. Matter of time until the football scandal emerges.

I am not saying Froome doesn't dope. Only that there is no evidence to suggest he does.

He improved from the age of 25/26. Nothing suspicious about that. He was approaching his physical peak. You have to remember that compared to the rest of the peloton, he came into quality road racing at a late stage. He then joined the UCI Academy, who were blown away by his physical outputs. However, they realised he lacked racing intelligence. Hardly a surprise considering his background. He then found his optimum race build/weight. Look at older pictures. His thighs were clearly thinner and he was bigger above the waist. Physically, he resembled a club racer at Barloworld.

What makes me think he is probably clean, is that he is so fragile. He doesn't have a long peak, like Valverde, and as soon as he races in cold weather or he has a slight illness or small injury, he's nowhere near as effective. I am certainly no expert in physiology but as a lay person, that doesn't indicate being doped up to the eyeballs.

What you also have to take into account is his team. They are excellent and have pretty much been the strongest in all of the races he has won. That is a significant advantage in itself.

Re the Wiggins case, it does stink but the evidence suggests taking the rules to the max. Ethically, questionable use of TUEs. As for Froome, his last TUE was 2014.
 
Fred the times dont add up any more. No matter of new training methods to old training methods they are still cheating the system. Its a joke. Team Sky when first setting up the team asked a journalist Paul Kimmage to join up with them. Kimmage would be a big player on drugs in cycling but whenever Kimmage got close to Sky they moved the goalposts. Kimmage thinks Dave Brailsford the Sky racing team boss is dodgy.
Fred the sad thing is your part of the system you worked as a coach brilliant. I aint saying you done any harm but its the guys above you who are the team leaders that are looking around and seeing what other teams are doing and following suit. Its no longer the Tour De France its the Tour De Pharmacy these days as the science they are all using to avoid the testers is so good that there always a step ahead.

What years would you compare for the TT speeds? The bikes are better, as are the training facilities and clothing.

As for Paul Kimmage, does he think anyone is clean? I admire his tenacity and he is very knowledgeable about the sport but he does come from the angle of 'guilty until proven innocent'. It's easy to be cynical.
 
I'm a non cyclist. But you have to admire Chris Froome. The sport is very heavily regulated these days so I find it hard if not near impossible that he is a cheat. More likely he is just an exceptional athlete. It happens in all sports. Bradman, Ali, Ed Moses, Messi, Ronaldo, Phelps, etc. The problem cycling has is that for many years drugs were accepted and then when they were banned some or many cyclists continued to use and cheat the system. Governance enforcement and bans were weak and the sport is only now starting to come out the other side. So there is still much skeptisicm and cynicism about success. But for me it's well done Chris Froome!
 
What years would you compare for the TT speeds? The bikes are better, as are the training facilities and clothing.

As for Paul Kimmage, does he think anyone is clean? I admire his tenacity and he is very knowledgeable about the sport but he does come from the angle of 'guilty until proven innocent'. It's easy to be cynical.
He used to be a cyclist so he was a old school cyclist who didnt take anything that could enhance his preformance so that is why i think he is so harsh at times. I dont mind him he is trying to report whats wrong with cycling and clean it up but some things cant be cleaned up. The Sky team I think and will always remain untouchable if i am being honest but 1 mistake and it could all crumble like a house of cards.
 
If anybody thinks Froome is on something then WTF do they think the proven cheat Contador was on in the last week of the Vuelta. He suddenly became Superman.
 
When Froome won his first tour in his acceptance speech his quote was along the lines of "this is one win that will stand the test of time" that comment wasn't aimed at the Armstrong era it was I think aimed closer to home but he didn't fully shit on his own doorstep.

Froome is the one of the classiest riders I have ever witnessed, very rarely says anything derogatory about his peers even when they try to stitch him up, his style is not one for the purists but his ability to spot a chance to pick up a bonus second here or there is uncanny and shows that he is always thinking ahead, the only thing I would say that grates and this is not aimed at him but at the bulk of the peloton is the use of power meters it has taken a lot of excitement from the big climbing days.

As for the Tour/Vuelta double he should walk that shit that is BBC award but that will go to Farah who has far more question marks over his recent past than Froome but seeing as the world athletics is one of the only things the Beeb has rights to nowadays expect a shoe in for Farah.
 
If anybody thinks Froome is on something then WTF do they think the proven cheat Contador was on in the last week of the Vuelta. He suddenly became Superman.

Not sure about that. Froome let him ride ahead as he wasn't a threat. If Contador had not lost time (cannot remember the stage), Froome would not have given him anyway leeway.

The only pro peloton rider who I am convinced is doping, is Valverde. That's not to say he is the only doper, simply that it is obvious.
 
He used to be a cyclist so he was a old school cyclist who didnt take anything that could enhance his preformance so that is why i think he is so harsh at times. I dont mind him he is trying to report whats wrong with cycling and clean it up but some things cant be cleaned up. The Sky team I think and will always remain untouchable if i am being honest but 1 mistake and it could all crumble like a house of cards.

Indeed. He was bitter as almost all of his contemporaries, who were winning, were doping.

Have you read Racing Through The Dark by David Millar? From that, I can understand why some doped. At the time, you could only win if you doped. That was the case for years. It's why I empathise with those doped and why Sean Kelly still remains one of my heroes regardless of the test results. He was more than a doper. He had qualities other dopers did not have. Possibly one of the toughest, most durable sportsperson I have ever witnessed.
 

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