Probably going to get worse in France...

DaveyL

And endorsed by Matt Rendell on the ITV podcast the other day...

Tom Butcher

clanton wrote:

As a general rule fitter people have LOWER haematocrits. In fact it would be expected for a cyclist at the end of the tour to have a lower haematocrit than earlier - assuming he's not dehydrated!

Surely a group of pro cyclists will have a naturally higher average haematocrit than the average in the population in a whole. Are you arguing that for a given person the haematocrit goes down as they get fitter - I know it tends to decline throughout a 3 week tour but that's not because of increased fitness.

aac

I took part in some tests at Stirling Uni in 2002ish, looking at the effects of some supplement (can't quite remember what it was or if I was on the supplement or the placebo, but I got a free water bottle and thermal bibshorts out of it). They tested you before taking the supplement or placebo, then a week of taking it, then tested again. Test took you up to your VO2 max and at times during the test they took your blood. I also remember I had to save my wee in a big bottle during a period over the week (how do you explain that at work, eh?)

Anyway, before the tests my heamatocrit was 47% and after the tests (which if I remember rightly lasted 45 minutes) it was 49%. I was probably at my fittest then, was 28 years old at the time, never raced, and didn't intend racing but it was a surprise to me to see how close I was to the 50% limit. So in some way, I can see why choosing a certain limit and saying everyone must be below that or they're dodgy has it's limitations. However, I think it's a remarkable coincidence that so many HL levels can hover just under the 50% level so I think it's important building up the passport data to track changes or lack of changes, etc.

flattythehurdler

Surely a group of pro cyclists will have a naturally higher average haematocrit than the average in the population in a whole. Are you arguing that for a given person the haematocrit goes down as they get fitter - I know it tends to decline throughout a 3 week tour but that's not because of increased fitness.[/quote]

The historical evidence is revealing. It is considered by many that epo was first used by cross country skiers. Prior to epo being available, the average HCT of elite cross country skiers was slightly lower than the population averaghe, presumably because of increased turnover. After epo became available the average epo of the elite cross country skiing fraternity increased by a mind boggling 33%. (Ref "Lore of Running" Tim Noakes")

treize vents

DaveyL wrote:

And endorsed by Matt Rendell on the ITV podcast the other day...

Matt Rendell did not endorse this blog, presumably because neither he nor anyone else knows about it. http://tourtom.blogspot.com/

attica

I think the reason that riders are still getting caught is because that limit is so high, it gives riders the chance to dope a little to get as near as possible to the limit yet remain legal, the ones we're seeing get caught now are the ones who misjudged their doseage.

As Colin Chapman (Lotus F1 chap) said - If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough.

Sad but probably true