… these numbers reflect, in my opinion, an overall lowering of the performance level in the Tour compared to the last 2 decades. And this is a positive sign that doping control measures are having an effect.

that’s Ross Tucker, from Cape Town, in his blog The Science of Sport: Power outputs from the Tour de France.

I put forward the opinion a few months ago that the unpredictability at the Giro d’Italia, with riders losing big chunks of time, and even strong teams being unable to control the race, was a mark in favour of the idea that there’s less doping. And Ross puts up the numbers that seems to show performance has worsened. That’s a good thing.