LeMond Careless With Accusations
By pelotonjim
Bitter at anyone who shows greatness, Greg LeMond seethes bitterness at his new target, Alberto Contador. Looking at the final climb of Mt. Verbier.
“Never has a rider in the Tour climbed so fast.”
Not being treated fairly?
Where does he get his opinion? LeMond takes some postulations from Antoine Vayer, former Festina Trainer. The face that Vayer clearly states that he makes a significant number of assumptions in his calculations did not sway the former Tour Champ.
“Contador would have needed a VO2 max of 99.5 ml/mn/kg to produce such an effort. To my knowledge this figure has never been achieved by any athlete in any sport. It is a bit like if you took a nice Mercedes out of the car showroom, lined it up on a Formula 1 circuit and won the race. There is something that is wrong. It would be interesting to know what is under the bonnet.”
The Science of Sport outlines these assumptions (including a big assumption of a 490 watt output) and how any conclusions made from watching TV are not worth the paper they are written on. From article:
Last week, we looked at Contador’s climbing rate (VAMs) and using Michele Ferrari’s formula, arrive at a power output of 6.78 W/kg, or 420W. Alex Simmons very kindly provided some calculations for the climb, given the speed and gradient, and he arrived at a value of 422 W. He went on to show that if you assume even a small following wind, this power output drops to 397W. Using the same principles, but making more “aggressive” assumptions, I have calculated the power output at around 440 W - this is an upper end, call it the “worst case scenario”, because I think Alex has pretty much arrived at the accurate figures using his equations (which match the estimation of the Ferrari equations based on VAMs)
Given the seriousness of doping allegations, you better be damn sure of your facts Mr. LeMond. You are the first to sue based on baseless allegations. You of all people should understand the damage you can do by lobbing these type of grenades.
8 Responses to “LeMond Careless With Accusations”
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Yep, he did it again, and ruined what should have been a great day in Contador’s life, all to satisfy his own agenda. Alberto rode a great Time Trial, apparently without a working radio, and instead of praise he got the Spanish Inquisition. And people forget that after the climb in question, Andy Schleck complained that the race vehicles weren’t far enough ahead (their responsibility) so Alberto was able to draft during the attack. The guy has 4 Grand Tours & is still a year younger than Lance was when he won his first. Chapeau
Le Monde newspaper, with or without Greg LeMond, does ask a legitimate question: what is your VO2 Max? Why wouldn’t Contador answer? Anyone who believes these athletes blindly isn’t too smart. Surely, the cycling journalists are doing more than any other sports journalists to reveal the rogue athletes. To accept Contador’s refusal to answer a legitimate question is to turn a blind eye to doping.
Yes, Mr. Le Mond should have verified his numbers before speaking publicly. That said, however, Contador’s performance as well as the very real possibility of an almost 1-2-3 Astana standing this Tour is reminiscent of a Geweiss Classic 1-2-3 and an incredible Rasmussen/Landis victory not so long ago.
Athletes should be believed only when they’ve proven themselves.
please publish the entire article so that the many conditional statements be Greg LeMond can be read by all. He said repeatedly that he would reserve judgement until he knew more detailed information. Link to english translation.
http://www.dailypelotonforums.com/main/index.php?showtopic=8681
PelotonJim,
I find it quite amazing that you would even think to mention the most notorious doctor on this planet! Any idiot knows how dirty Ferrari is and his formulas are probably bogus to cover up his handy work. I do not claim to know anything about the formulas or the calculations and believe Greg probably knows more than most when it come to training and outputs. There are experts who agree. You are probably a person who supported Landis’ appeals. Almost every rider finishing 2nd, 3rd to Pharmstrong during those years has admitted doping or has been busted. Many dollars have been spent covering up the facts and/or destroying anyone who speaks out! Keep up the heat, Greg!
Lay off. Lemond raises valid questions. Maybe riders should release their stats like VO2. Lemond isn’t bitter he actually cares about the future of the sport. For those of us who love this sport and might have second generations joining the ranks, I much prefer Lemond’s openness than Armstrong’s legalese.
First, I find it rather striking that this blog somehow shows up on news.google.com as a reputable source of knowledge- I’ll have to make a phone call. Second, the degrees of statistical variation between the “journalist’s” 3 calculations are so wide that he negates any argument he’s tried to make by making himself look like math-less hack. Finally, give Lemond a break. You’re a newsie and he rode a bike- just report the facts. As you know, stories can go pretty deep and you may not know all of your information.
I remember when I idolized Greg LeMond, his remarkable comeback and his historic win as first American. You can stil respect the accomplishments and not the man and this is the situation Greg has put us all in. Vo2 Max is NOT the sole indicator of athletic performance; lactate threshold not to mention the unknown factor of mental tenacity all play a huge role in performance….as does temperature, humidity, wind, glycogen levels, blah, blah.
It’s funny, I see me LeMondy Zurich’s, etc…being sold for $500 these days because no one wants to ride a LeMond branded bike…put a Serotta brand on the same bike and it would sell for 2k. No wonder why TREK had to cut him loose.
I will always respect his skills…the inspiration for so many of today’s great American cyclists.
Knowledge? Why the bastards!