Froome: Armstrong casts a long shadow

[edgascoigne]

As a man who has played numerous sports at a (poor) level, and cycled a fair distance as a one off (2500 miles, Tour de France route 1907 route) what I can say from personal experience is as follows....

In the former, I never got anywhere near anything performance enhancing, or even restorative. I paid little attention to diet, sometime playing with a steaming hangover, and always getting by.

In the latter, I blacked out on the bike as I reached the foothills of the Alps (departed Paris). I had taken the same lackadaisical attitude, very little boozing but fundamentally a disrespectful lack of nutritional attention.

Cycling is not a game that  involves any skill, it is science paid wattage pure and simple. I'm not saying this means anyone is doping / has doped, merely that the output of doing so would be much more quantifiable. For context, I am a lazy tosspot and could output a greater wattage than Rooney for twice as long and go for a civilised supper in the evening. The TdF cyclists are absolute MONSTERS.

It's a rambling, nothing, point and answers little.....but it compare cycling/rowing with other skill-based, non-wattage dependent sports is naive, in my opinion.

[samurai]

I absolutely agree that power/stamina based sports are far more susceptible to the obvious benefits of doping.I just don't believe that ALL top sportsmen and women are guilty of doping which was what a couple of other posts implied. I've no idea if Froome is doping or not. I really hope not because I'd like to think Team Sky are on the level.And because its great to see British sportspeople succeed. The trouble is it's so hard after all the scandals to have faith in any athletes or cyclists. I guess until its proved otherwise its nice to keep believing. I'd hate to imagine Coe, Ovett, Cram, Daley Thompson, Ennis, Gunnell, Jackson, Black for example had cheated and don't believe they did.

[TightEnd]

How clean is the pro peloton? Not very, judging by this article http://ow.ly/O4QKR

[TightEnd]

Tour de France: Why are Team Sky attracting doubters?

balanced stuff

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/33587176