MVDP out…
Thanks for the show, see you next year
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Landis who never won a TT in a Grand Tour and Froome who has never been proved to be juicing?
Speculation is largely meaningless unless there’s some evidence of doping beyond just a strong performance. I.e. Missed tests, team mates being popped, involvement with dubious doctors, unexplainedly becoming a world beater after years of being a journeyman, etc. In every era there have always been outstanding performances, but they’re rarely explained just by the doping - it’s not like Armstrong was dominating the field because he was doping and they were clean. Most or all of the other GC contenders were juiced up to their eyeballs as well, he just happened to have the best doping doctor on his side and to be a rider that responded particularly well to the drugs.
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Imagine how much dope Mercx was on with all the wins he had, must have been, probably.
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He had headwind, it was raining, and he had no group. He just matched all time records by himself…
The bicycling article above went into his power data, and it is on the very edge of what is humanly possible. Also, we don’t have Power data for the climb that raises the biggest red flags, Planche de la Belles Files.
All we know is he climbed it in 16:10, at 1880 VAM. It’s a steep and not a super long climb (still 506m elevation gain), but over 1800 VAM should raise concern.
These are the highest VAM recorded in TdF history outside of super short climbs and not riding mostly in a group:
Pogačar did Col de Romme in 26:45 at 1762 VAM (according to his strava) and Col de la Colombiere at 1732 VAM, according to his strava.
The 2018 group that was as fast were a Team Sky lead group, so had drafting efficiency on their side, and it wasn’t raining on them (decreases cornering speed and traction and increased energy expenditure).
(Correction: I wrote increased CRR, but that is not an effect of light rain)
Pogačar just solos into the Record Books in sub-optimal conditions, beating times of convicted dopers and the Sky train.
Even if this was all gras-fed natural, a vast group of people will not believe it. 
I know that’s bad for Pogacar, who can’t really win here (apart from millions of dollars and fame), but this is just too good to be true.
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There are some incredibly naive people on this earth
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Jah but my point is its not like he has come from nowhere - he has been showing a lot of promise for a long time.
And he’s not exactly riding against the best competition here. Only Carapaz is left and he is a poor TTer (and Movistar ruined his chance to gain time the day before - that was a big effort)
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Comparing VAM on Alpe d’Huez and Hautacam etc to Planche des Belle Filles is a bit of a false comparison - it’s barely half the size.
Also totally ignores race context 
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I specifically said that the climb is not as long, as the climbs on the list.
It is still a record breaking effort after 40 minutes at threshold on the TT bike.
Colombiere is on the list and Col de Romme has a similar length to some others. All of this is anecdotal but just fits the picture.
My statement remains: he is breaking the records of all time greats, who are convicted dopers, in sub optimal conditions, solo. And that’s just climbing. He also happens to beat the worlds best time trialists, hilly and flat courses, no one stands a chance.
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Rain isn’t sub optimal conditions for climbing. It’s sub optimal for cornering or descending because of loss of traction. It’s sub optimal for group riding because of the spray. It’s sub optimal if you wear a rain jacket because of the wind resistance. It’s sub optimal if it’s cold rain and you’re not working hard enough to stay warm.
But for going hard, solo, on non technical roads like a climb, rain can be fast. Rain typically means low pressure and high humidity which is exactly what you want from an aero perspective. A wet road is also faster in terms of rolling resistance as there’s less adhesion, just as long as the rain isn’t heavy enough that there’s standing water on the road which adds resistance. And from a physiological perspective, light rain adds a nice cooling effect which is a significant benefit with the amount of heat a body throws off at 400W.
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Plus Pogacar goes well in the rain, badly in the heat.
Think everyone else has to hope for 40 degrees then 
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Not to mention the cooling effect because climbing generates a lot of heat and not enough wind to blow it off.
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I concede being off on RR here.
However, i find wet roads on particularly steep ascents sub-optimal. When charging hard out of the saddle I tend to get tire slippage on the rear wheel.
Also, Energy expenditure in the Rain increases, which can play a role at the end of a mountain stage.
Lastly, the 9 knot headwind (according to windfinder) surely still makes these conditions not optimal.
At least when compared to all time great performances.
Exactly like Lance
Verbier climb in No1 is only 638m elevation gain, so very similar to the climbs I referred to.
Apparently it took Contador 7.2 Wkg to achieve that.
But I’ll stop now. I don’t think we‘ll get to agree here and that is just fine!
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I’ve heard this line of reasoning for 30 years now……and in every single case, the speculation has been correct.
I don’t think anyone is claiming otherwise. But I don’t accept “everyone else is doing it” as an excuse from my kids, so I’m certainly not going to accept it from a pro athlete.
There is no doubt that there is a ton of smoke around Pog right now….and based on the history of the sport, his performances and the people around him, it is only logical that questions are being asked.
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So only dopers like a cooling rain and don’t perform well on a hot day? Ok makes sense
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Well, he did fail a doping test, so….
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So did Sha’Carri Richardson, and Michael Phelps, so failing a test doesn’t always tell the entire story (not saying Mercx was smoking pot but not every fail is for PED)
I vote to change the title of this to 2021 TDF Discussion and Conspiracies
You are taking it as a personal affront, and it just isn’t. For those of us who have followed cycling for our whole lives, it’s just the same movie over and over. To assume they are clean would be the logical leap, not the other way around.
I can still watch cycling and enjoy it, but the tell tale signs are all there. I would be disingenuous to posit otherwise.
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Innocent until proven guilty, I get the speculation but think it’s simply wrong to assume someone is doping until there is proof, and watching people talk all kinds of crap about a kid likely half their age really speaks volumes. “Too good to be true” and constant desperate comparisons “Lance didn’t perform well in the heat either” are just ridiculous.
Be suspicious, question whatever you want, but don’t throw shade like anyone who does better than _____ just has to be on dope.
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