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by WalterBright 715 days ago
On the Netflix TdF documentary, they mentioned that the difference between the winner and last place is 2%. There was one stage where the winner won by 4 inches.

It also said that doping made a 20% difference, so either none of the current competitors are doping or all of them are.
1 comments
rfergie 715 days ago
> so either none of the current competitors are doping or all of them are

The drafting effect in cycling means that a clean cyclist can finish very closely behind a doped cyclist

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nradov 715 days ago
That only works on the flat stages. A small difference in power to weight ratio makes a huge difference in finishing times on the mountain stages where drafting is less of a factor.
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canucker2016 715 days ago
Don't forget the GC rules for assigning times.

from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_classification:

    Riders who finish in the same group are awarded the same time, with possible subtractions due to time bonuses. Two riders are said to have finished in the same group if the gap between them is less than three seconds. A crash or mechanical incident in the final 3 kilometres of a stage that finishes without a categorised climb usually means that riders thus affected are considered to have finished as part of the group they were with at the 3 km mark, so long as they finish the stage.
For this year's 5th stage of the Tour de France, the first 155 riders were assigned the same time.

see https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2024/sta...

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hinkley 715 days ago
And then there’s Pidcock who has the reflexes of a fighter pilot and can scream down the hills at speeds that would make you blanch.
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WalterBright 715 days ago
I'm not sure their reflexes are better. It's more like they're the master of the feel and minutia of the airplane. They're also masters of managing the energy of their airplane, constantly trading off between altitude and speed. John Boyd was a fantastic example of that. There's a fascinating biography of him, "Boyd".

https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed/dp/031...

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hinkley 714 days ago
Do you suppose there are stats on number and success of breakaways out there? Could be my imagination but this year seems less dramatic than the ten years or so around Armstrong’s rein.

Did anyone else feel like there was more drama around the end of the Indurain era?

I feel like doping could show up as more intense struggles for first without necessarily increasing the spread of placing. Also people who drop out don’t count right?

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