Vuelta Stage 21: Chris Horner wins Vuelta as Michael Matthews wins final stage

darren13366 wrote:

Can't believe nobody is mentioning Horner's post podium interview. "beautiful" this and "beautiful" that. Does the testing procedure show up ecstasy use?

If it wasn't beautiful then he certainly had a lot of love for it. Past, present and future...

Crosshouses wrote:

Chris Horner is an engaging character and I very much hope he is 'clean'.

Before getting on a bike I was a distance runner and am used to older athletes doing well in endurance events, so I don't find Horner's performance surprising. When I ran the London Marathon in '82 the women's race was won by 44 year old Joyce Smith who finished 11th in the Olympic event in '84 aged 46. 37 year old Carlos Lopes won the men's event that year.

At club level I recall people posting PRs in their early 40s. I don't know whether there are any studies of the performance of older endurance athletes, but in my (very subjective) experience some are able to reach/maintain their peak at a relatively advanced age.

PS. 38 year old West Ham goalie man of the match yesterday?

But don't you think it is odd that no other 41 year old has come even close to winning a cycling event like this in the modern era (since 1960s). Even before then, when training methods were not as scientific it is uncommon.

I would also point out that running is very different in the way that it a steady pace is pretty much the key. In cycling because you have the drafting effect you can get serious performance benefits, and so having the ability to apply power for a selected period is more crucial than if you can mill out a constant wattage for a certain time (otherwise TT riders would win a lot more races).

Power is important, as it something that drops off with age. You don't improve it.....unless you're doping. The expressions of power by Horner do not ring true to me considering his previous.

Sadly I think this is just a case of showing up how ineffectual the doping authorities are. But then again the Vuelta has never been a bastion of anti-doping (while both the Giro and Tour have made efforts to try to crack down on abusive athletes). After all they never actually caught Armstrong (without an exemption or backdated testing). Doping is just being done different now. But one thing I note is how riders are changing their body types - Wiggins, Froome and Horner have all reduced themselves down considerably in a fashion I haven't seen of any other generation - some may point out that this maybe why they can win clean, but I would also point out that being slim also has its own costs - you struggle to maintain your muscle mass integrity and so will lose power and strength as a result, under normal circumstances....but steroidal use can help prevent that.