Doping

I bet they were planning to pump him full of salbutamol back then, they just needed to create an early cover story that they could refer back to later. #ucilluminati

I bet they were planning to pump him full of salbutamol back then

That would be a dumb enough idea to be a UCI conspiracy, but of course the correct approach if you find an athlete with a huge natural gift in their late teens would be to keep them out of sport for 3 years while doping them up to the eyeballs, to reap the lasting benefits for the next decade.

could that bilharzia thing have been part of the plan too then?

Most problematic, says O’Donnell, was that for most of her team-mates and competitors, having an eating disorder actually paid off, and was in effect a “legal version of doping” encouraged by the men around them. “The same team-mate, she reached her goal weight, won her national championships, got a bonus from her federation and climbed amazingly at the Giro. She was an awful, miserable mess, but for her the ends justified the means.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jun/02/bridie-odonnell-cyclings-power-imbalance-is-extremely-apparent

It's strange isn't it, because that line about tearing out the inside of the bread was something in le métier that stood out and seemed like an accepted fact.
Same with gatuso and his line about inzaghi being a good boy and only eating plain pasta etc.

Professional sports create toxic environments.

Red bands you say?

Professional sports create toxic environments.

Which are then mimicked and recreated by fans. See the ever-present comments on pro-riders being "fat" (^^^^^) and commuter's obsessed with having a pro-cyclist's physique.

(Although I don't mean to draw equivalences between this and what is being described in the the article Charlie linked - just note that the toxicity spreads)

If you watch the end of the race when Froome passes the finish line he is trying to get through everyone is trying to make way apart from o e guy that reaches in front of him in his other hand it looks like a red band of some sort.

It's not on Eurosport anymore but I'll see if I can find a screen shot

Back to our favourite topic in this thread. It's been a couple of months since the 45 year old wonder kid got visited by UCAD, how long would they normally take to announce a result?

https://www.strava.com/activities/1020893788/overview

Won by a minute after a 30km solo break..

I asked one of some one that gets tested reasonably regularly and he said he normally get his results in 7-9 days. So based on that I would have thought he would know by now if it was negative but I haven't seen the massive post about how he didn't test positive, which I would have expected.

TT results normally take longer than that, more like 6-8 weeks from the experiences of friends

I saw him last Tuesday, he was last tested two weeks ago and already has his results.

Road obviously more of a doping priority than TT, someone I know got results for the 30th of March back on the 19th of May.

So in which case he is currently clean, and sanctioned to race?

Obviously that result can only shed any light on the current contents of his bloodstream, and - bar any whisleblowers with evidence to the contrary - there is no test that exists to test historical wrongdoing?

No, if he was clean he'd know about it. Some times it takes longer for the announcement or judgement to come out if there is an adverse finding, if they've requested a B sample test or if they've contested it straight away and are trying to provide evidence. Gabriel Evan's was something like 6 months from his positive to it being announced. All the while he can go about shirking questions and continue to ride.

Yes he was an utter Bell end.

Hasn't raced since tho.

Who hasn’t?

Sorry, misread your post.

Our cigar loving friend hasn't raced now for a while.

That was this time last year.

Actually he did a TT a couple of weeks ago.

Got a 53 on a bumpy looking course for 5th place:

https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-results/16802

If Froome had been in the UK, then he most likely would have gone through the track system as under 18, got a medal or two, then make transition into road, with a more consistent show of results.
Maybe his bike handling, pacing would be better, as well as competing at elite level before his 20s.

Given that he was plucked from relative obscurity with low cycling support, he certainly didn’t get the support/exposure that say Columbian future talents receive.

I meant BC racing.

He's been given results for 5 races since his test, could be more though as you don't always get listed if you're not in the points. He's also won a sportive.