![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The year after Raymond Poulidor underwent the first drug test in the TdF, Tom Simpson collapsed on the ascent of Mount Ventoux and later passed away due to an unfortunate combination of alcohol, amphetamines, intense heat, and extreme physical exertion. It was also around this time that rumors about the use of blood transfusions in athletes began (60). Despite this, amphetamines, cortisone, and steroids remained widespread in the professional peloton. Drug testing in the Tour de France (TdF), the most prestigious event on the race calendar, began in 1966. Then, athlete health became a concern and a major driving force to regulate, if not outright ban the use of certain substances. For decades, riders doped to simply be able to do the job – faire le métier (33). Indeed, doping has been pervasive in professional cycling for over 150 years, throughout most of which it was either legal or not subject to testing (34). Cycling as a profession emerged among working-class men who likened endurance sports to physically demanding jobs where the use of drugs to aid performance was considered the right thing to do (58). The performance-enhanced past of the pelotonĭrugs have been used to enhance athletic performance for millennia, stretching back to at least the ancient Olympic Games (16). This review provides a brief history of the PED culture and use in professional cycling, followed by an examination of some of the key developments in the sport that has helped preserve the two-speed phenomenon in a peloton riding within an increasingly strict anti-doping framework. ![]() These factors can differ greatly between teams and individual riders and thus help maintain the two-speed phenomenon. Although this may be a reasonable assumption, it discounts the many substantial advances made in training, nutrition, technology, and strategy, as well as the growing talent pool of potential professionals and the early age at which they begin to seriously structure their training, racing, and recovery. Given the well-documented benefits of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), there is an expectation that the intensification of anti-doping measures in professional cycling leads to more homogeneous performance levels in the peloton by reducing the number of artificially enhanced riders. However, despite increasingly stringent doping controls in professional cycling along with a clear shift in doping culture, the concept of two-speed cycling remains. The concept of “cycling at two speeds”, cyclisme à deux vitesses, has historically been used to distinguish between chemically enhanced riders and those who ride clean (134). The role of each rider in a given race is typically based on strengths, weaknesses, and objectives, and can be modified by injuries, fitness level, personal goals, and unexpected in-race developments. The main pack of riders navigating the road in a cycling race, known as the peloton, comprises a wide range of physiological, anthropometrical, technical, and strategical attributes. Key Words: professional cycling performance-enhancing drugs marginal gains performance analysis INTRODUCTION This review explores several key developments in road cycling and their implications for the modern professional peloton. Teams and riders are now able to leverage these to improve training, recovery, equipment, race tactics and more, often from a very early age. The tools and technologies available to assess the demands of the sport, the capabilities of the riders, and the role of environmental factors such as wind resistance, altitude, and heat are more refined and comprehensive than ever. Over the past decade, the sport appears to have transitioned away from large-scale systematic doping and towards novel, legal performance-enhancing strategies, facilitated by a close relationship with scientific, technological, and engineering communities. Throughout its modern era, professional cycling has seen anti-doping efforts repeatedly intensify on the heels of several large doping scandals. Throughout 20th century, many relied on performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) which gave rise to a phenomenon called “two-speed cycling”. In the history of professional cycling, riders have always sought competitive advantages. His research areas include genetic disease risk, physical performance, motivational dynamics, and human nutrition.Ĭan there be two speeds in a clean peloton? Performance strategies in modern road cycling ABSTRACT Trondheim, Norway, PB 8905, N-7491 Trondheim, Øvretveit, MSc3, is a physiologist and PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, ![]()
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