Doping in the TDF

[spazzdog]

Just posted this in the other TdF thread, and while the one response I got (so far) concerned the fruitlessnes of comparing due to difference in courses, I think it's a valid observance. I mean one expects shorter times over shorter courses but...

My post:

With the past "enhancement" contoversies and this years LeMond pissiness re: Contador, I got to thinking (always dangerous)... so I pulled out my stats from past tours and looked at distance/time (total) of each champion's last win compared to this year. Here's what I got - tell me what you think (be nice . I have a little trouble with math & time )

Lance 2005 3608 km/86:15:02 2009 3459.5 km/85:53:59
He was about 21min 2sec faster this yr over a course 148.5 km shorter

Contador 2007 3550 km/91:00:23 2009 3459.5 km/85:48:35
He was about 5hr 12min faster this yr over a course 90.5 km shorter

Sastre 2008 3558.5 km/87:52:52 2009 3459.5 km/86:14:56
He was about 1hr 38 min faster this yr over a course 99 km shorter

Now I know I didn't include "difficulty" in this - I don't know how. That aside, do any of these look "interesting" in the "improvement" category?

I'm just sayin'...

your ever-lovin' spazzdog

[papaver]

as I replied in the other thread, you really can't compare because this tour was not as difficult as previous editions.

[spazzdog]

I hear you papaver... I do. I have no info on the difficulty rating of any of the courses (at least I dont think I do), so I by no means believe your point is invalid. You very well may be 100% correct.

[papaver]

I hear you papaver... I do. I have no info on the difficulty rating of any of the courses (at least I dont think I do), so I by no means believe your point is invalid. You very well may be 100% correct.

Let's say that there are 3 races with lots of wind, that can make 10km/h difference on a race... you really don't have enough parameters to compare.

[Eden]

I agree with Papaver. It is entirely impossible to compare one year's tour with another. Not only are the distances different, the number and difficulties of the climbs change, the weather conditions change, the race conditions change. Just how motivated the sprinters teams are to keep the pace high on the flat stages could make a HUGE difference in the total time a TDF takes a particular rider to finish the whole tour without having anything at all to do with that rider personally - he was just staying in the pack... Even if you were to somehow find the same stage from different years and try to compare it wouldn't work - it all depends on what the tactics were for the day - sometimes they ride very hard, but at other times they intentionally slow it down. The only time you'll find any one rider ride all out every time is for a TT - and then only if they are looking to either win it or keep/better their overall position (even in a TT, sometimes the pure climbers/sprinters and domestiques will only do enough to not be time cut...)