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The evidence shows that MTB riders can come into the CX season and be competitive in races from the off, i.e. look at Nash, Neff and Richards at the start of this season. They are also usually far more skilled bike handlers than a lot of their rivals.
But the fundamental point here is that she was caught twice with anabolic steroids in her system at the end of the season that she'd moved up to be competitive. If we apply Occam's razor to what we know, then the logical conclusion is that her sudden increase in performance was due to doping.
andyp
How is it strange that someone switching from MTB (and winning races) to CX improves in the season after getting a specific CX trainer, joining a professional team and putting all of her focus on trying to make it the sport?
She was 26 at the time, not exactly too old to physically improve. And if the power was always there but the technique used to be the problem, usually finishing a minute behind can change into getting across the line first.