You think everyone is being kind with their numbers. But AC thinks he could do 450 watts- and that's after 15 stages and the 3rd mt stage in a row. So 7.25 W/Kg 15 days in, that's mighty impressive. Lemond at only 5.7 W/Kg with a VO2 max of 92- would be relegated to water bottle carrying with today's speeds. AC doesn't address that the performance was 15 days into the tour, the 3rd mt stage, a clean rider would have lower HCT as the tour goes on, and I've read that athletes power drops 10-15% that far into the tour- b/c of decreased recovery, fatigue, and lower HCT, and having the climb 125 miles into the race. So- add back another 10-15%- and his clean power rested- would be 495 to 518 watts or 7.98 to 8.35 W/KG. AC's summary doesn't mention any of the preceding- but surmises: "That is still quite high, but not so high that you can definitively state that it can only be achieved via doping." Yeah right. Lemond has a valid point with his testing- as it would be interesting to truly see what's under his hood. Notice how GC guys never release the power or statistics anymore? It's not b/c it's a big secret from their competitors- it's b/c the press would have a hayday with it. Lastly- I feel that the playing field is level for all the GC guys and level for all the domestiques, etc.