Why Anti-Doping Needs Target Testing and Investigation / Pogačar's Record Tour de France / The Weight-Loss Double Standard
About this episode
The episode discusses anti-doping measures in sports, highlights Tadej Pogačar's record Tour de France performance, and examines the differing societal reactions to weight loss in male and female athletes.
Become a Supporter of The Real Science of Sport , and for the price of a coffee, or a gel, you get a bonus Applied episode every week, ad-free shows, and the best cycling and running community going over on Discourse. Show notes This week we recap Tadej Pogačar's record-breaking Tour de France, and then get into the meat of it: why anti-doping leans so heavily on investigation and targeted testing, with insights from our interview with Brett Clothier, head of athletics' Athletics Integrity Unit. (02:24) Tadej Pogačar wins a fifth Tour de France in what Ross reckons is the most dominant display he has seen in any sport, and we dig into the numbers behind it, including an estimated 7 W/kg on Alpe d'Huez that obliterates Pantani's old mark, why the yellow jersey was effectively settled by stage six, and why the racing everywhere else still made it a decent watch. (13:55) The weight-loss double standard. Remco Evenepoel reportedly dropped around nine pounds for the Tour with barely a murmur, while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's weight loss dominated the coverage last year. We ask why the reaction differs by sex, and where the line sits between periodised, medically supervised leanness and…
People in this episode
Hosts: Professor Ross Tucker, Mike Finch
Guest: Brett Clothier
Topics covered
- anti-doping
- targeted testing
- Tour de France
- weight-loss double standard
- cycling
- sports integrity
Keywords
- anti-doping
- Tadej Pogačar
- Tour de France
- weight loss
- Brett Clothier
- cycling
- sports integrity
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Athletics Integrity Unit
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