{"id":1475,"date":"2013-03-04T14:57:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T14:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=1475"},"modified":"2013-03-04T14:57:02","modified_gmt":"2013-03-04T14:57:02","slug":"is-the-peloton-cleaner-than-ever-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2013\/03\/04\/is-the-peloton-cleaner-than-ever-before\/","title":{"rendered":"is the peloton cleaner than ever before?"},"content":{"rendered":"

in a nutshell, yes.<\/p>\n

clean? what do i look like, a McQuaid?<\/p>\n

no not clean, <\/em>but cleaner. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"clean?!<\/a>
clean?! pull the udder one…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

let’s look at the evidence.<\/p>\n

that dude from Blanco wins the Tour Down Under. either he’s doped to his lids and snuck in to win when most of the others are shying away from the juice – as might have happened in the past, there have been some curious flashes in the pan the past couple of years – or (and this is more likely given the current climate – he’s just a very good and naturally talented rider.<\/p>\n

what else? Gaudin’s win yesterday in the prologue in Paris-Nice. sure it was short but EPO doesn’t care if a race is 300km or 2.5, it still works. so does the rest of it. perhaps Gaudin, whom most of us wouldn’t know if we passed him in the street, is a very decent short course rider with superb bike handling skills. maybe he got lucky. but thing is, you don’t get lucky over any TT course, not at a race like Paris-Nice. you have to be good enough to win it.<\/p>\n

Biel Kadri of Ag2r-La Mondiale (who? exakly! <\/em>drink yer milk!) won the Roma Maxima on Sunday after a 127km solo effort. a huge miscalculation by the peloton? possibly. a stellar ride by a guy we barely noticed because hey, when riders are cleaner things get weird and don’t follow the traditional scheme of things? also – possibly.<\/p>\n