Cobbled Coronations in Roubaix / Benji Naesen vs UCI / Marathon Majors and Sawe's Doping Credibility Campaign

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Show notes

This week, we kick off in Roubaix, where Wout van Aert and Franziska Koch won the prestigious cobbled Monuments. For van Aert, in particular, it was the culmination of a "life's work", in a dramatic, very fast, and very eventful race that featured multiple technical issues for leading contenders. We look back on the races, and at the tech issues that befell the riders, and the tech that was disallowed from even being used. Staying on cycling, the UCI threatened podcaster Benji Naesen with the possibility of 'criminal action' for posts and comments they suggested were injurious to them, without specifying those posts. We discuss the letter, and why the UCI's actions have backfired so badly, with thoughts on how engagement with the community should and could look for constructive dialogue.

We then shift gears, and chat briefly about Rory McIlroy's Masters defence, and some data on performance and physiology that lay behind his victory. Weather doping comes up because once again, Ramona produced record-breaking discus performances, and in Australia, Gout Gout (and six other men) used perfect conditions in the final of the Australian 200m championships to run PBs, Gout leading the way with an exceptional 19.67s. We talk about that time, and why everyone may need to calm down and manage expectations despite the expected breakthrough from sprintings teen phenom.

We end on the roads, as Boston looms large and London follows on, to discuss the elite fields, and one athlete in particular - Sebastian Sawe - who has made it a personal mission to restore credibility to his performances by requesting and funding much more regular drug testing.

And finally, an amateur turns elite to chase a swimming time set by his fathere in 1976. We discuss Adam Wilkie's campaign, and wonder what the chances of success are?

Links

• Why did the UCI ban Visma's tyre inflation technology?
• Benji Naesen gets a letter from the UCI with a not-so-friendly warning to rein in the criticisms
• Performance analysis of McIlroy's Masters win, despite way worse than average driving
• Some of McIlroy's Whoop data from the final round at Augusta
• Gout Gout runs 19.67s, but any reasonable discussion seems impossible
• A good Letsrun analysis of Gout's performance and progression
• Another good Letsrun article on Sawe's self-funded doping controls and pursuit of performance credibility
• Adam Wilkies' son attempting "the impossible"

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