thetaleofguim

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Mord_oh Univers Barcelona: Miki Esparbé i Aina Clotet, univers Cabralunya: Quim Masferrer i Laia Marull

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ciclismo2005 lo has leído?

[Roadman Podcast @Roadman_Podcast]

Doping didn't disappear from pro cycling.

It may have just moved to 2,500 metres.

This morning I interviewed James Witts, author of a new book called Dope. Halfway through the conversation, he described something I'd never heard in all my years around this sport.

He calls it "the altitude alibi."

Here's how it works.

Every spring, pro riders disappear to the same places. Mount Teide. Sierra Nevada. Weeks at altitude preparing for the biggest races of the year.

The logic is simple. Altitude exposure raises your hematocrit. More red blood cells, more oxygen, more power.

Except there are two problems nobody talks about.

Problem one: altitude doesn't work for everyone. There are genetic responders and non-responders. Some riders come down from the volcano flying. Some come down with nothing to show for three weeks of their season.

Problem two: altitude forces a trade-off.

At camp, you have a choice of protocol. Sleep high and train high, or sleep high and train low.

Sleep high, train high: you maximise the altitude adaptation. But the thin air caps your power. You can't train at full intensity, so you lose the training adaptation.

Sleep high, train low: you descend to do your sessions at full intensity and keep the training adaptation. But you give up some of the altitude effect.

You can't fully have both. Every altitude camp is a compromise.

Now here's where James's argument gets dark.

The biological passport, the system designed to catch dopers, doesn't test for drugs directly.

It tracks a rider's blood values against their own baseline. Deviate too far from your own normal, and you get flagged.

But when a rider is at altitude, the passport expects the deviation. Rising blood values are exactly what altitude is supposed to produce.

James believes some riders have worked out what that means.

Go to altitude. Microdose EPO. The passport reads the change in your blood as a natural altitude response.

Then train low, at full intensity, and take the full training adaptation - because you no longer need the mountain to raise your blood values. The drug does that part.

The altitude camp isn't the preparation.

It's the alibi.

I've spent years interviewing World Tour coaches, sports scientists and pro riders. I have never heard it framed like this before.

The full conversation goes much deeper: what the passport can and can't see, why microdosing is so hard to catch, and what it all means for the sport we love.

It drops soon on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Follow along so you don't miss it.

His book is called Dope: How Drugs Changed Sport. Worth your time.

P.S. Genuine question for you: can the testers ever catch up in this game or cat & mouse?

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Albertmvidal, per a que digui que li sembla Barjuan a l'onze històric del Barça

[Mundo Despectivo @MundoDespectivo]

-Pone a Messi de extremo izquierdo.

-No pone a Ronaldinho.

-No pone a Victor Valdés.

-Pone a Ronaldo por delante de Luis Suarez.

-Te pone defensa de 3 centrales y va y coloca a un lateral izquierdo.

Vaya fenómeno.

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@BrioEnfurecida No, no. Seguimos arriba: el schadenfreude sigue siendo el motor de Españita https://t.co/LGvXpRLBxf

[El Chiringuito TV @elchiringuitotv]

😯¡RÉCORD HISTÓRICO EN CATALUNYA!

💥16,4% de SHARE con TRAMOS de 21,4% anoche en @elchiringuitotv.

🔝26,2% entre los jóvenes de 25 a 44 años.

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Rubenibg ¿qué te parece este debate? ¿hasta qué punto concuerdas?

[NBA Hoops @Thechat101]

Joe Budden says We gotta start having a conversation about Matthew Stafford being a better quarterback all-time than Aaron Rodgers.

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ciclismo2005 para la serie #NiUnDiaSin

[Niporwifi © @niporwifi]

El domingo se detuvo a un Guardia Civil en el puerto de Bilbao que transportaba 120 kilos de cocaína en un coche patrulla. Estaba destinado en el área Fiscal y de Fronteras.
https://t.co/iunWfNq6GO

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ciclismo2005

[al Ignasi @al_ignatius]

@EnricAttack Buenos días desde Peyresourde

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ma_WuKong

[Theresa Fallon @TheresaAFallon]

1/ Brilliant essay by David Autor & Gordon Hanson on how to respond to China Shock 2.0 instead of creating policy for China Shock 1.0 which is now long past. @ASPI_org reported that US led China in 60 of 64 frontier technologies, such as AI & cryptography, btwn 2003-2007, while🇨🇳led US in just 3. In the most recent report, covering 2019 through 2023, the rankings were flipped on their head. China led in 57 of 64 key technologies,& US held the lead in only 7.

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@MrtnzAlvrz qué sabemos de este kpi? Cuán fiable y qué impacto en real gdp?

[superfun site @chickenstrip007]

Girls are fantasizing about British boys again. Recession indicator of all time

[SULLY @SULLY10X]

Someone synchronized movie clips with an Eminem remix.

Wow!

[RC Deportivo @RCDeportivo]

🎶 𝐀𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐦𝐚́𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐚, 𝐃𝐞́𝐩𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨́𝐧 🎶

#HistoriaQueNosImpulsa

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ciclismo2005

[Quincemil @quincemil15000]

Uno de los detenidos en la operación antidroga en Carballo y A Laracha (A Coruña) es guardia civil #ACoruña #Coruña https://t.co/BrM6lqZyMy

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@BrioEnfurecida me falta la música de prepartido de Canal+, la de Desafío Total. #tapadopizzaballa

[Sachin Jose @Sachinettiyil]

The faithful in Jerusalem bid an emotional farewell to Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, as he departs for Rome to attend the pope’s funeral and take part in the papal conclave.

Video: Abouna Rifat

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@BrioEnfurecida Dolan haciendo campaña para... Burke? Sarah? Parolin?

[miguel ángel quintana paz @quintanapaz]

Cuando le preguntan qué espera del próximo papa, el cardenal Dolan (EEUU) responde así:

«El corazón cálido de Francisco... con... mmm... ¿qué diría yo?, más claridad en la enseñanza, más refinamiento de la tradición de la Iglesia, más profundización en los tesoros del pasado».

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@BrioEnfurecida échale un ojo a la fan accounts de cardenales y sus reels de promoción. Zuppi sube puntos aquí claramente

[ana⁴⁴ @anapau_villa]

No las Conclave girlies haciendo edits de los cardenales reales 😭 esta va a ser la mejor elección papal en la historia.

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ma_WuKong @Ma_WuKong para mí, el símil más cercano es Cartagena o Mataró: ciudad costera, sin poder político, relativamente cerca de otras grandes urbes, con playas sin mucho encanto

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@BrioEnfurecida

[Línea de Cal @linea_d_cal]

Hemos jugado a adivinar si Casillas dio like a esto

[Juan Luis Jiménez @JuanLuis_JG]

⚠️Importante: desde 2022, el sector financiero cobra un tipo de interés a las familias en España hasta 5 puntos porcentuales mayor por préstamos y créditos que lo que le paga por sus depósitos. Es la mayor diferencia de los últimos 21 años.

Implica: graves pérdidas ahorradores.

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@dieworkwear care a review of suits European version?

[Marine Le Pen @MLP_officiel]

Un vent d’espoir souffle sur toutes les nations d’Europe ! @PatriotsEU

[thetaleofguim @thetaleofguim]

@Ciclismo2005

[eldiariomontanes.es @dmontanes]

🔴Denuncian la desaparición del cántabro Óscar Freire, tricampeón mundial de ciclismo
https://t.co/XCgFSXMcbe