Interesting Brian Holm interview

Richmond Racer

worth an online translation and a read

http://politiken.dk/sport/cykling/ECE19 ... aere-rene/

Reckons at least 95% of this year's Tour riders will be clean (a figure that JV uses, too)

Pross

Presumably the other 5% is Sky?

Richmond Racer

Pross wrote:

Presumably the other 5% is Sky?

No, its actually OPQS and its a cunning bluff by Holm

mroli

I know the above is very much tongue in cheek, but presumably the other 5% would not be systematic doping like at US Postal/Rabo in years gone by and would be by individuals acting alone (acknowledging the team may be turning a blind eye) due to the reputational and financial risks and possible UCI sanctions? if 19 teams at the tour are turning up clean and 1 is doping, surely the omerta wouldn't stretch to them being protected by the others - ie are the percentages turning to clean cycling?

95% sounds good - but it still means that over 20 riders at the TDF will be dopers...

mididoctors

well if brian holm sez it it must be true.

mididoctors

I am 100% certain no one really knows...... still

Richmond Racer

mroli wrote:

I know the above is very much tongue in cheek, but presumably the other 5% would not be systematic doping like at US Postal/Rabo in years gone by and would be by individuals acting alone (acknowledging the team may be turning a blind eye) due to the reputational and financial risks and possible UCI sanctions? if 19 teams at the tour are turning up clean and 1 is doping, surely the omerta wouldn't stretch to them being protected by the others - ie are the percentages turning to clean cycling?

95% sounds good - but it still means that over 20 riders at the TDF will be dopers...

Have to be realistic and pragmatic - is it really likely that any truly commercial sport can attain a level of being 100% clean? If a sport can be turned around from a level of 80-90% doping in its flagship race, to >95% clean within xx years...I'd take that.

I also follow athletics a fair bit. I watched the Olympic events last year knowing that certain mens and womens middle distance finals, specifically the 1500m, had suspicions hanging over the winners. I knew the rumblings around both the Jamaican sprint and Kenyan long distance set-ups. More has come out about problem with doping in Russian track and field.

Routier

mroli wrote:

95% sounds good - but it still means that over 20 riders at the TDF will be dopers...

You might want to check your maffs there...

derbygrimpeur

that's a big peloton! expect plenty of crashes

thomthom

Let me know if your online translater fecks something up that you are curious about in the text.

Dorset_Boy

So that's Dirty Bertie and 8 others then - is Valverde riding the Tour?
:roll:

TheBigBean

I'd be astonished if 95% were clean. 5% maybe.

Richmond Racer

TheBigBean wrote:

I'd be astonished if 95% were clean. 5% maybe.

So to put it in very simplistic terms, you think that 21 of the 22 teams - 19 ProTour plus whoever the 3 wildcards end up being - will be doping on an institutional basis? Every single rider on 21 teams? As its generally accepted that the French teams (notable exception being Cofidis) started getting off the gear post-Festina, with their results against other teams accordingly suffering for years until recently...this would mean that the likes of FDJ, AG2R, Europcar, Saur Sojasun and Cofidis, would have done a complete reverse turn and got back on it. Sound remotely likely?

danlikesbikes

Richmond Racer wrote:

TheBigBean wrote:

I'd be astonished if 95% were clean. 5% maybe.

So to put it in very simplistic terms, you think that 21 of the 22 teams - 19 ProTour plus whoever the 3 wildcards end up being - will be doping on an institutional basis? Every single rider on 21 teams? As its generally accepted that the French teams (notable exception being Cofidis) started getting off the gear post-Festina, with their results against other teams accordingly suffering for years until recently...this would mean that the likes of FDJ, AG2R, Europcar, Saur Sojasun and Cofidis, would have done a complete reverse turn and got back on it. Sound remotely likely?

Got to be a typo, wind up?

Only 5% clean sounds even to my suspicious mind as a bit dubious.

TheBigBean

Maybe 5% was a bit of an exaggeration. I'm just a bit sceptical. I think anyone who has followed cycling for a while should be - there have been too many false dawns.

mroli

Routier wrote:

mroli wrote:

95% sounds good - but it still means that over 20 riders at the TDF will be dopers...

You might want to check your maffs there...

Typo. 10 rather than 20. Honest. My math's ain't that bad ( :oops: it is...)

RoadPainter

TheBigBean wrote:

Maybe 5% was a bit of an exaggeration. I'm just a bit sceptical. I think anyone who has followed cycling for a while should be - there have been too many false dawns.

if there's that much doping, why are they going so much slower up the climbs?