Is Altitude the new EPO?

No_Ta_Doctor

Macaloon wrote:

Thanks to both. What I'm trying to get at is the concept of the natural performance ceiling and it's artificial elevation by EPO.

When a w/kg estimate is widely described as unreal, or beyond Ross Tucker's limits, does this simply mean that at known physiological efficiencies, the implied VO2 max would require lungs the size of Brian Blessed?

If this is the case, and artificial EPO is the means by which more normal lung capacity can be Blessed, why doesn't this cause a noticeable spike in the passport?

Well, it does cause a spike.

I know you're not exactly a fan of Tucker, but this article is very interesting, especially the graph about halfway through:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/03 ... e-failure/

Broadly speaking, the bio passport sets out a baseline for a rider and they look for strange variations in it (an algorithm does the first screening). They don't just look at overall haematocrit level. The balance between old and new red blood cells is important. Take a load of EPO and you've got lots of fresh new reticulocytes. Take a blood bag and you have loads of old mature red blood cells. But if you microdose with EPO while taking a blood bag you may be able to keep your ratio between old and new within the statistical boundaries and not trigger an alarm.

Macaloon

No tA Doctor wrote:

Well, it does cause a spike.

I know you're not exactly a fan of Tucker, but this article is very interesting, especially the graph about halfway through:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/03 ... e-failure/

Broadly speaking, the bio passport sets out a baseline for a rider and they look for strange variations in it (an algorithm does the first screening). They don't just look at overall haematocrit level. The balance between old and new red blood cells is important. Take a load of EPO and you've got lots of fresh new reticulocytes. Take a blood bag and you have loads of old mature red blood cells. But if you microdose with EPO while taking a blood bag you may be able to keep your ratio between old and new within the statistical boundaries and not trigger an alarm.

He's matured on me. Bad first impression and shady company 8) . But he appears to be as objective as you can be amongst screaming partizans. And more to the point produces interesting work.

I needed to think about my question. I 'knew' about most of the passport mechanics, but I was struggling with the concept of exceeding the outer limits of human performance being compatible with statistical boundaries and microdosing. I think my mistake was to assume that to have a huge VO2 max you also needed a high natural haematocrit, leaving you little headroom to enhance with EPO. But if it's possible to have a naturally high VO2 max and room for meaningful haematocrit enhancement, I see how you can exceed sensible physiology.

william svan

Guess it is.. Garmin was in the Sierra, like Belkin, Movistar…..