professional cycling is too brutal

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

But race organisers have their part to play too. ASO has realised that you can't have stages over 200km in the last week of the Tour, gone are the days of 240km mountain stages.

Isn't it odd that reduction in race length etc really started when blood doping took off.

Is racing at inhumane speeds for 4 hours worse than a 7 hour day at a more tolerable rate?

dave_1

Kléber wrote:

Riders are not getting low blood counts from the lack of iron, it is fatigue that reduces RBC production. An iron pill contains far more iron than an anemic pro could ever need and the same goes for a generous slice of tuna or some venison.

No injection needed, the "more is better" Belgian soigneur method is a slippery slope.

Ferretin injections are usually only necessary in conjunction with large doses of EPO.

I think you would need some studies, following riders through the 3 weeks to see where they get deficient.

.Iron injections avoid the poor rate of iron absorption in the stomach for example.

Kléber

Some forms of iron are poorly absorbed but vitamin C and heme iron can be absorbed fine. In fact studies on many cyclists have showed signs of iron poisoning, they've been taking far too much.

Results: In 1999, over 45% of riders displayed ferritin values above 300 ng/ml and one fourth levels over 500 ng/ml. These percentages had decreased to 27% and 9%, respectively, 3 years later, while the overall average, which was above the normal limits in 1999, had decreased by 33% in 3 years. Older cyclists had higher ferritin values than younger cyclists. There was also a relationship between ferritin levels and the nationality of the cyclists. Analysis of 714 riders in 2000 and 2002 showed only a slight and insignificant decrease in the mean ferritin value although those with initially elevated iron stores had a much greater decrease.

Conclusion: Professional road cyclists used excessive iron supplementation leading to high serum ferritin levels correlating with increased body iron stores. Although the situation progressively improved over 3 years, it remains worrying as increased body iron stores are related to health complications. Therefore, prevention in addition to the fight against doping should be a main goal of the UCI. Aggressive therapy for athletes with excessive ferritin values should be carried out at or before the end of their careers.

Remember stage racing is about recovery, how you survive the three weeks is a necessary part of your stage racing make-up. If you don't last three weeks, then instead of jabbing yourself full of medicine, better to concentrate on smaller stage races or the classics.

calvjones

Pross wrote:

Anyone with the right (or wrong depending on how you look at it) genes can get Cancer. Pushing your body to it's limit is going to make you more suseptable (sp?) to any kind of illness though. And doping can't have helped.

No need to tell me, my 6 year old is just finishing her 18 month course of chemo. There is probably a balance in pro sport (assuming no doping) as pro cyclists are incredibly fit, eat healthily and generally don't smoke or drink to excess so compensating for the additional rigours on the body.

Jesus. Good luck with that

dave_1

Kléber wrote:

Some forms of iron are poorly absorbed but vitamin C and heme iron can be absorbed fine. In fact studies on many cyclists have showed signs of iron poisoning, they've been taking far too much.

Results: In 1999, over 45% of riders displayed ferritin values above 300 ng/ml and one fourth levels over 500 ng/ml. These percentages had decreased to 27% and 9%, respectively, 3 years later, while the overall average, which was above the normal limits in 1999, had decreased by 33% in 3 years. Older cyclists had higher ferritin values than younger cyclists. There was also a relationship between ferritin levels and the nationality of the cyclists. Analysis of 714 riders in 2000 and 2002 showed only a slight and insignificant decrease in the mean ferritin value although those with initially elevated iron stores had a much greater decrease.

Conclusion: Professional road cyclists used excessive iron supplementation leading to high serum ferritin levels correlating with increased body iron stores. Although the situation progressively improved over 3 years, it remains worrying as increased body iron stores are related to health complications. Therefore, prevention in addition to the fight against doping should be a main goal of the UCI. Aggressive therapy for athletes with excessive ferritin values should be carried out at or before the end of their careers.

Remember stage racing is about recovery, how you survive the three weeks is a necessary part of your stage racing make-up. If you don't last three weeks, then instead of jabbing yourself full of medicine, better to concentrate on smaller stage races or the classics.

I picked iron as one...there are many ways in which these riders could become deficient over 3 weeks, not sure it's been studied beyond iron levels

Pross

calvjones wrote:

Pross wrote:

Anyone with the right (or wrong depending on how you look at it) genes can get Cancer. Pushing your body to it's limit is going to make you more suseptable (sp?) to any kind of illness though. And doping can't have helped.

No need to tell me, my 6 year old is just finishing her 18 month course of chemo. There is probably a balance in pro sport (assuming no doping) as pro cyclists are incredibly fit, eat healthily and generally don't smoke or drink to excess so compensating for the additional rigours on the body.

Jesus. Good luck with that

Thanks, last chemo next week and everything is looking fine - back to her old self, giving me a hard time and forcing me out on my bike to escape

moray_gub

Pross wrote:

calvjones wrote:

[

Thanks, last chemo next week and everything is looking fine - back to her old self, giving me a hard time and forcing me out on my bike to escape

Thats great news long may she continue to give you a hard time

grantus

hear hear!

Kléber