[spookyload]

Have you ever seen a classics rider recover this fast? I hate to be cliché just because he is doing well, but he was gutted at E3 by Cancellara and he has the legs to go again today finishing solo. Does that sound like amazing recovery to anyone else? Cancellara dropped at the feed zone because he was cooked. Sagan is riding 3 days of De Panne on Tuesday next. When endurance seems too strong...sometimes it is.

 

[The Tedinator]

He probably "warmed down" after E3, Fabs probably didn't.

 

[Wookiebiker]

He must have used "Sky's" 20 minutes of threshold work on the trainer after the race for recovery :thumbsup:

 

[rayej68]

Have you ever seen a classics rider recover this fast? I hate to be cliché just because he is doing well, but he was gutted at E3 by Cancellara and he has the legs to go again today finishing solo. Does that sound like amazing recovery to anyone else? Cancellara dropped at the feed zone because he was cooked. Sagan is riding 3 days of De Panne on Tuesday next. When endurance seems too strong...sometimes it is.

People recover at different rates. Sagan is 23 and Cancellara is 32. That could play a big role.

But honestly Fabian has done the same thing in the past. So has Sagan, Boonen, Gilbert, ect. So yes I've seen it before. Recently. Look at the top 10 finishers in all the recent classics and you'll see more than just Sagan riding well day in and day out.

Getting good results 2 days in a row does not mean doping was involved.

 

[Slartibartfast]

He must have used "Sky's" 20 minutes of threshold work on the trainer after the race for recovery :thumbsup:

Or maybe Ultragen. That's what I use.

 

[spookyload]

FRS used to work for Lance and his team

 

[cda 455]

Have you ever seen a classics rider recover this fast? I hate to be cliché just because he is doing well, but he was gutted at E3 by Cancellara and he has the legs to go again today finishing solo. Does that sound like amazing recovery to anyone else? Cancellara dropped at the feed zone because he was cooked. Sagan is riding 3 days of De Panne on Tuesday next. When endurance seems too strong...sometimes it is.

It's sad, but in this day and age it's not unreasonable to question whether a winning rider is doping.

 

[den bakker]

ehm well that's a tough one.
no it's not really. who won GW and E3 in 2012?

by the way after these races you still want to stand by:
"I think that card is played out now and he will have to use his team as everyone else does. Except for moser, his team doesn't have it." ?

 

[roddjbrown]

Sagan is almost as quick as Cav in a bunch sprint (quicker according to some), can keep up with Spartacus when he puts down huge watts, and in last year's tour dropped Sammy Sanchez on a Cat 1.

He is remarkable - and I'm struggling to think of a clean remarkable cyclist... Actually a clean cyclist WOULD be remarkable

 

[David Loving]

That's the problem. One has to presume every remarkable result - especially by old guys - to be doped.

 

[Local Hero]

Anyone who does a wheelie is on drugs.

 

[David Loving]

I read the article about the race over at VeloNews. The comments to the article read like the recent doping scandals had never happened.

 

[Samadhi]

Aren't these guys being tested? Speculating on whether or not Sagan's doping is awfully interesting not to mention Great Fun, but the proof of the pudding will be in blood testing.

So, was Sagan tested before any stage in any race he's ridden in recently?

 

[David Loving]

They tested Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, and his orchestra.

 

[rayej68]

Aren't these guys being tested? Speculating on whether or not Sagan's doping is awfully interesting not to mention Great Fun, but the proof of the pudding will be in blood testing.

So, was Sagan tested before any stage in any race he's ridden in recently?

Yes he was tested after each win and possibly before as well.

The issue is every one of the guys who've recently confessed to doping for 10 plus years were also tested for 10 years.

There are still drugs thank can't be tested for. There are still ways to beat the tests.

 

[Local Hero]

I read the article about the race over at VeloNews. The comments to the article read like the recent doping scandals had never happened.

They should spend more time in the doping subforum echo chamber!

 

[Wookiebiker]

There are still drugs thank can't be tested for. There are still ways to beat the tests.

Not only that ... but new drugs are being developed all the time that are undetectable by current testing standards.

Then add in the potential for genetic doping, of which there is no real way to test for right now and athletes can again use PED's with no chance of getting caught, much like the 90's with EPO.

It's unfortunate ... but all great and even good performances have to be questioned. If a rider is truly clean, good for them, they can sleep at night knowing they are clean and still performing well. They can't prove they are not clean other then by having a group of reporters spend 24 hours a day with them in every environment for years at a time ... so no privacy at all during any point of the day for years on end. Even then I'm sure there could be questions raised.

I don't feel bad for them though ... they did it to themselves by allowing it in the first place. You sleep in the bed you make!

 

[The Human G-Nome]

They have the blood passport now. They don't even need to detect the drug itself, but merely a big enough aberration in your normal blood levels. I am certainly not going to say that any rider isn't doping, but if he's passing the current controls, which are personalized for each specific rider, he's doing a damn fine job of doping. If Sagan is doping, he's a more talented doper than he is a rider.

 

[Samadhi]

Yes he was tested after each win and possibly before as well.

The issue is every one of the guys who've recently confessed to doping for 10 plus years were also tested for 10 years.

There are still drugs thank can't be tested for. There are still ways to beat the tests.

Then if there are rules that can't be enforced, then they aren't rules at all. They are a waste of time. If Sagan is taking PEDs that can't be detected, then he can hardly be said to be cheating. Nothing is proven.

It's a shame, if that's the case.

 

[Wookiebiker]

They have the blood passport now. They don't even need to detect the drug itself, but merely a big enough aberration in your normal blood levels. I am certainly not going to say that any rider isn't doping, but if he's passing the current controls, which are personalized for each specific rider, he's doing a damn fine job of doping. If Sagan is doping, he's a more talented doper than he is a rider.

The problem with the Bio-Passport is that any decent doctor could monitor a riders levels to make sure no aberrations turn up. You simply just have to dope year round and make sure the numbers are not going to raise any "Major" red flags during the season.

It's easy to tell when a clean rider starts doping ... but hard to tell when one has been doping all along. Basically ... get a good doctor that knows what he/she is doing and a rider can pass the bio-passport without issue.

People like to look at it as the "Game Changer" but the reality is it's a smoke screen to say "Look, we have this program that will catch dopers and have a clean sport now" ... However, the Bio-Passport has been in effect for a while and riders have been using PED's during it's time without raising red flags or getting caught. It's great in concept, but not in application since it's really not catching dopers (well, it does help catch the stupid or poor ones that can't afford a good doctor), just making them get better doctors.