tlm1959 wrote:
Have times changed (average speed in km/hr) since the supposed doping crackdown? If not, questions remain.
Year to year it is hard to say, different courses and different temperatures and different tactics. Personally, as someone that has been an avid cycling fan since about 2000, I think it's pretty clear drugs are involved, just at a much harder to detect level. All one needs to see is Pogacar's TT to end the 2020 TdF.
I've said it so many times, but there is a documented history of doping in the TdF since the very first in 1903. Every single race has doping issues. That's fine too. I think anything you can do without mechanical assistance is fine.
If you have ridden your bike for a single century, you can get a feel for how absolutely brutally tough the TdF might be, and you'll realize it isn't possible to do at 26 miles an hour for 3 weeks without help.