Gerrard & Parker "Too Tired" To Play Against Sweden

Re: Is the 42 year old bloke going to win the Tour De France?

The fact that their fitness is even being questioned is a problem as far as I'm concerned regardles of what I put in my quotation.

If you knew anything about a Grand Tour (three weeks) you would know that not one of the riders peaks on the first day of the tour. For the majority (depending on what they specialise in) they're fairly consistent throughout the tour.

 

Re: Is the 42 year old bloke going to win the Tour De France?

The chances are the cyclists are fitter than the footballers, however cycling puts a lot less impact on the joints (barring crashes) than running, so running up and down a pitch for 90 minutes will take longer to get over physically than cycling for 4-5 hours. The older players will take longer to recover from that muscle damage and other little knocks than the younger players in the squad.

You might see cyclists and swimmers doing intense training sessions every day - and many cyclists actually race into form over the course of a grand tour, but you don't see many people running a marathon on consecutive days because of the impact damage to the legs.

 

In terms of the skills required to be a professional cylist or a footballer, these are incomparable and I would never try to do this. What I think is comparable is the levels of fitness required to perform at the peak of your given sport. Cyclists will have off days and footballers will have off days but cyclists are expected to perform for longer periods and on consecutive days. On a tour they will have three rest days out of 21 - not four days between each stage.

 

Both are unacceptable with 4 days between the games, and plenty of rest since season ended.

 

I bet you could not get up Alp d`huez or Ventoux. Without stopping it would be impossible mate.

Also John Bishop did not actually say that at all. He said he was knacked after the ride, but was willing to keep going. To say that John Bishop is equal to a Tour De France rider is as ridiculous as it can get.

 

www.chron.com/news/article/US-Anti-Doping-Agency-charges-Armstrong-3631708.php

 

Only been charged not found guilty but it's pretty damning evidence

Pep once got done for drugs too didn't he?

 

Armstrong is probably the last great champion from the time when the dopers ruled the peleton. Whether he was on performance enahncing drugs or not, after the treatment for testicular cancer his natural testosterone levels would be seriously diminished so it would not be a surprise to find that he was having medical treatment for that with the added benefit of helping his cycling.

Since then, cycling has cleaned up its act. Several riders are still caught out each year, but the majority of the peloton are now clean. One of the main indications for this is the relative drop in performance. Riders now are less able to completely dominate a single stage/race or complete similar climbs at the same speeds as they could a generation ago - on a level playing field with improved bike technology and training methods they should be better now.

Football (and other sports - tennis, baseball) are still behind the curve when it comes to drug-use and the testing and punishments.