Dwars door Vlaanderen

Latest comments

• awp29-07-2026
  As I said, it's using a few examples that don't compile to an end result but it's certainly close. Concerning bikes from then to now, fatter tires now, they are faster, more aero frames now, a tiny amount faster, weight is the same. They've been doing altitude camps for decades, Lances teams included. Nutrition is better, but lance was a nutrition extremist back then, so other than in race fueling there's not a whole lot of difference. You are missing the first big piece of evidence, that when Lance was 22 his Vo2 system was recorded at 81.2 ml/kg/min. Miracles and fantasies don't happen in procycling. If they did I could have taken my 66 Vo2 system, trained my eyeballs out (which I did anyway) and won the Tour in my twenties.
• cdw29-07-2026
  That is a silly apples to oranges comparison. You give Pogi and all the rest the advantages of modern bicycles, training, fueling and "altitude camps' but compare that to what was being done twenty years ago. Riders from then moved forward in time with all the modern advantages would be just as competitive now. They would just have to adjust to the modern doping techniques compared to what they did then.
• awp29-07-2026
  Researchers (e.g., Norwegian Ole Kristian Berg, Pedro L. Valenzuela, Samo Rauter, Tim Podlogar and colleagues) have estimated Pogačar’s VO2 max in the high 90s (around 91–96 ml/kg/min on average, potentially up to 96–102 ml/kg/min) based on his climbing performances in the Tour de France and other races. Feelings don't play into it, only data.
• textrips29-07-2026
  They almost the same personality when you spend time around both of them.
• Pedalmasher29-07-2026
  I hope he does win 7 or 8 then the Lance fan boys can finally shut up.
• textrips29-07-2026
  How much time have you spent around Lemond? I beg to differ.
• textrips29-07-2026
  According to whom? Total BS, you have no idea what anyone’s real VO2 is in the pro peloton. Unless you are the scientist running the test. Facts over feelings.
• awp29-07-2026
  Lance's best recorded vo2 max test was when he was 22 at 81.2 ml/kg/min. It's been estimated that Tadej is a 95-96, Jonas is around this same number while Remco is closer to Lemond at 92 or 93. Based on Lances physiology, he would finish thirty minutes to over an hour behind Tadej in this years Tour edition or tenth to fifteenth place. Vo2 max is not everything but it is a key indicator of an athletes potential and while Lance did have talent he was not even close to Tadej. He acknowledges this and I'm not an anti Armstrong guy, I watched all of his Tours and enjoyed them all. The whole peloton was cheating back then and may be cheating now, if they are, we don't know the methods, but I like to think they aren't until they are caught..
• awp29-07-2026
  It was estimated that Big Mig had a Vo2 system around 88 ml/kg/min. He had talent but he was nowhere near Lemond who is estimated to be about where Remco is today, in the lower 90's. Vo2 is not everything though, but we all know that Big Mig was using EPO during his Tour winning years. Especially when you consider his size and how he was able to hold on in the mountains. Miracles don't happen in cycling, you either have it or you don't genetically, when you add training into the equation it can elevate what you have naturally, these guys all took shortcuts in that era.
• awp29-07-2026
  So I can give a few examples. In 2004, Lance's best year when he was winning Tours, he won Plateau de Beille, a mountain he also won in 2002. He finished with Ivan Basso and they put a touch over a minute into the third guy on the road. Tadej reset the record books on that climb in 2024, in fact he, Jonas and Remco own the top three times on that climb, almost six minutes faster than Armstrong's best recorded performance compared Tadej's. Lance's best Vo2max that was ever recorded was when he was 22 and it was 81.2 ml/kg/min, which is a great number but not a Tour dominating number. Throughout his Tour winning years he was estimated as to have a 83-85 ml/kg/min. Tadej has been estimated to be around 91–96 ml/kg/min range from sports physiologists and researchers with Jonas being right around this number. Remco has been estimated in the low 90's. If Lance in his prime were to race the 2026 Tour, his physiology, even on recovery drugs, would put him about thirty minutes to just over an hour behind Tadej, this would be 10th to 15th best in the Tour. This is an estimation of course and Vo2 max is just one consideration, but it's a major consideration and the core building block to realizing an athletes potential.