In todays Wall Street Journal there is an article about sport stars. It discusses Lance somewhat and notes the following:
His heart is at least 20% larger than a normal persons
He produces one-third less lactic acid than do other top cyclists
Delivers oxygen to his legs at a rate higher than all but 100 of his fellow earthlings.
Not sure if the above is true but the wall street journal is generally a paper that is reliable. Just interesting.
John
Blah blah blah…now we need to run those tests on the rest of the Peloton…I bet he does not look so super any more…I bet they all score off the charts.
Not only that but isn’t it drugs that makes at least some of that happen?
~Matt
I’ll state up front that I DO NOT believe Armstrong uses illegal performance enhnacing drugs, but one could just easily argue that the reason he does have such freakish physical attributes is because he does use PEDs.
The article goes on to state that he has an accumulation of rare genetic traits that contribute to his success. The article also discuss Michael Phelps (size 14 feet that apparently work just like fins) and several others.
John
Blah blah blah…now we need to run those tests on the rest of the Peloton…I bet he does not look so super any more…I bet they all score off the charts.
Do you really think that in this day and age the rest of the peloton doesn’t get these things tested???
Yes…they dont have the budgets, and some lack the interest. Basso has never even been in a wind tunnel I dont think…or was that Jan?
Your telling us that T-Mobile doesn’t have the budget for testing? Or CSC? Hmm . . . interesting.
Yes - it is common knowledge that Disco has the “Yankees” budget…anything, anytime, anywhere…the other teams have real budgets with real constraints.
Yes…they dont have the budgets, and some lack the interest. Basso has never even been in a wind tunnel I dont think…or was that Jan?
Basso has, rumor has Jan finally did. To say they don’t have the budget is an absolute joke. To say that any of the top pros, who all have top coaches aren’t getting tested is simply is simply assinine.
Getting a VO2 Max test is one thing…getting full body MRI’s is another. Getting cutting edge testing on things that the testers dont even know what a baseline result is…well, is not common. Lance has done and been thru tests that dont even possibly show anything pertaining to cycling at all - he is in essence a specimin for them to study all they can - and learn maybe…but, like I said…they are looking at things that have never been looked at before.
The point of the article was more aimed at comparing super elite athletes with mere mortals rather than amongst themselves since elites are all unique and special compared to the general population. The subtitle of the article is “biology is destiny.”
The article also raises the point that Lance is most likely the most tested athlete in history because researchers at the University of Texes started a study with him as the prime subject early in his pro career and they have had access to him for extensive tests for a number of years. His physcal traits get alot of press because there is so much data on him and he lets it be made public.
The article ends with this:
"What makes Armstrong so exceptional … isn’t one physcal factor that’s leagues beyond anyone else, but the fact that he has several extraordinary traits, each of which only exists in only a few hundred humans. When you add up the odds of all these things being consolidated in one body . . . “he’s probably one in a billion.”
Yes - it is common knowledge that Disco has the “Yankees” budget…anything, anytime, anywhere…the other teams have real budgets with real constraints.
Jan makes 250,000 euro a month. Multiplied by 12 that equals 3 million, O 3.66 million dollars a year. That seems like enough to me.
Yes - it is common knowledge that Disco has the “Yankees” budget…anything, anytime, anywhere…the other teams have real budgets with real constraints.
According to the UCI, Disco has a bidget of 8.4m Euros, Fassa at 9m Euros, QuickStep 9.3m, 10.4m is the number that is out there for T-Mobile. Even the smaller teams in the ProTour are 6m or more.
These riders get tested on their own dime or as a study by their coach, you can’t tell me that Cecchini hasn’t had Basso and Jan tested. Come on, you can’t be that dumb.
Phelps size 14 for a swimmer is not out of the norm.
**Phelps size 14 for a swimmer is not out of the norm. **
But - how many size 14s can lie on their backs, legs outstretched and touch their toes to the ground?
The boy can join the circus after his swimming career is over.
The article also raises the point that Lance is most likely the most tested athlete in history because researchers at the University of Texes started a study with him as the prime subject early in his pro career and they have had access to him for extensive tests for a number of years. His physcal traits get alot of press because there is so much data on him and he lets it be made public.
My point exactly…we will know more how he stacks up to the others - if we did all the same tests on the others. I am not saying that these “fact” are not true…but he may not be the only one, I doubt he is. Now, imagine all the people who may be his match who never got into sports…oh, the things we dont know…splendorous.