Reflections on the Tour

[Steven]

Another victory in the Tour in one of the most exciting and entertaining Tours in recent years.  For those who will now be asking questions about if he is clean, I would offer up the following;

- His winning margin was 0.02%, hardly an Armstrong-esque dominating victory. Quintana actually went up the mountains quicker but Sky's tactics on stage 2 in the crosswinds made the difference.
- Try to catch up with David Walsh from The Times. He was the guy who pursued Armstrong for years and had lots of evidence after a short while to build his case.  He says he has now spent 7 years in the Company of Froome and Team Sky and has seen absolutely no evidence of any doping whatsoever...

[xrayspecs]

If he was doping he wouldn't have given an entirely human performance in the last three days; Froome and his team looked tired from defending the yellow jersey in the first few weeks.
The tour was won by the time difference on the flat windy stages as you say....

[Rob Jones]

Froome sounds like a very sincere guy...and there is no evidence so he should be left alone (although you could say that about Lance, aside from the anecdotal tidal wave). But I would not be at all surprised at any pro rider cheating including those at Team Sky. Its not just Lance, history tells us that most exceptional performances in last 10 years have been dodgy. As for appearing human in later stages rather than super doper strong... an alternative theory could be that Team Sky had pushed their luck, got the margin needed, and were calculating to keep a low profile. Of course there could be something other than pure hard and effective training that gave Froome the edge in that stage. It could be legal (or not illegal), and in which case why would he/ Team Sky share it. Great Tour anyway. I fear for Quintana that he may have missed his chance this year, what with no solo Time Trial.

[Tom]

did you miss an 0 off 'the last 10 years Rob?

[Rob Jones]

no but you right, much more than last 10 years...and no doubt always cheating of some sort. Though not sure some of the earlier methods, like alcohol, would have helped!