tri_yoda wrote:
7401southwick wrote:
In the past GT contenders were much older than they are today.
Is it just random or has something fundamentally changed in training that has allowed younger riders to compete at a high GT level?
all things being equal, drugs are going to provide a larger benefit for older athletes (especially in their 30s). So I would interpret at least part of the explanation could be that the sport is indeed cleaner than its been in the past.
In the pre-EPO era, top GT contenders were serious threats basically from their first GT. Merckx won his first TdF; so did Hinault and Fignon. Lemond's first four TdFs were 3rd,2nd,1st,1st.
When really impactful drugs (like EPO) came along, suddenly there was a new variable: how well someone responded to it. As a result, high responders who were mid-career suddenly became contenders. Riis was dropped from Fignon's team and told he lacked the engine to even be a domestique....that's not exactly the pedigree of a future tour winner, but boost your hematocrit to 60 and viola. Likewise, Lance was a classics guy who struggled in GTs before his "transformation."
We are getting back to the place where true talent is evident very early and there are few mid-career revelations. That either means that the sport is cleaner....or that the doping has stabilized enough that the super responders already have that baked into their performances from day1.
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