Landis Revealed

[Archaea]

In speaking to some of the pro racers, the topic of Landis is always at hand. Apparently blood doping is popular again in cycling. What happens is they take blood during training, keep it and then give it back during stages to keep hematicrit at 50. During training, apparently all pro cyclists use steroids to endure the pain. So the speculation is that the team gave him some of his old blood but didn't test it to make certain the blood was clean. That's why he had no idea of the steroids, because it was from himself during training.

A team screw up. They say not a single team on the Tour doesn't do this. And it's been done for a long, long time.

[Quisqueyano]

That actually makes a lot of sense.
So dos that vindicate him? Or dos that condemn him and get a 2 year ban?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Quisqueyano

That actually makes a lot of sense.
So dos that vindicate him? Or dos that condemn him and get a 2 year ban?

I don't think there are "I was only doping during training" and "it's okay to homlogous blood dope during TdF" exclusions.

he is screwed.

[Quisqueyano]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I don't think there are "I was only doping during training" and "it's okay to homlogous blood dope during TdF" exclusions.

he is screwed.

OK. Here's a dumb guy question: Would taking steroids caouse the testosterone ratio to be out of whack?

[MikeWaters]

From what I've heard, it is not likely to.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Archaea

In speaking to some of the pro racers, the topic of Landis is always at hand. Apparently blood doping is popular again in cycling. What happens is they take blood during training, keep it and then give it back during stages to keep hematicrit at 50. During training, apparently all pro cyclists use steroids to endure the pain. So the speculation is that the team gave him some of his old blood but didn't test it to make certain the blood was clean. That's why he had no idea of the steroids, because it was from himself during training.

A team screw up. They say not a single team on the Tour doesn't do this. And it's been done for a long, long time.

This is the theory I have heard the most as well. It makes sense, fits the facts and still leads, unfortunately to the conclusion that he cheated.

I may haver already shraed this, but I am old so forgive me: A woman that used to work in our office was a very talneted sprinter coming out of high school and was given a full athletic scholarship to run sprints for one of our local institutions of higher learning (I am in the S.F. Bay Area). SHe told me that she was struggling to compete in her freshman year and was informed in vague but also not uncertain terms by the coaching staff that if she wanted to win, she would need to use drugs. She was of the firm opinion that ALL of the track athletes that win are using some form of durg to help them. She chose not to use drugs and so she was relegated to a very low status on the team (unofficially) and her times never improved sufficiently for her to do well. If its true of track, I think it owuld also possibly be true of Bike racing.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by creekster

This is the theory I have heard the most as well. It makes sense, fits the facts and still leads, unfortunately to the conclusion that he cheated.

I may haver already shraed this, but I am old so forgive me: A woman that used to work in our office was a very talneted sprinter coming out of high school and was given a full athletic scholarship to run sprints for one of our local institutions of higher learning (I am in the S.F. Bay Area). SHe told me that she was struggling to compete in her freshman year and was informed in vague but also not uncertain terms by the coaching staff that if she wanted to win, she would need to use drugs. She was of the firm opinion that ALL of the track athletes that win are using some form of durg to help them. She chose not to use drugs and so she was relegated to a very low status on the team (unofficially) and her times never improved sufficiently for her to do well. If its true of track, I think it owuld also possibly be true of Bike racing.

Of course I have no firsthand knowledge, just information. BTW, these racers were not US nationals but foreign nationals who stated that's what they were doing, and they were at a level much lower than TdF. In their minds, there isn't a cyclist on the pro Tour who isn't doing it. It's almost as if the teams won't let you on the team unless you do it. Apparently, nobody ever questions why every single pro cyclist has an amazingly consistent high but not over the edge hematicrit. Well, it's controlled by the team doctors.

I guess the verdict of Landis is only he had a stupid team member, but he did nothing that isn't expected within the sport.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I don't think there are "I was only doping during training" and "it's okay to homlogous blood dope during TdF" exclusions.

he is screwed.

The sport is screwed because you would have to exclude the entire Tour and start with cyclists who never doped.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Apparently, nobody ever questions why every single pro cyclist has an amazingly consistent high but not over the edge hematicrit. Well, it's controlled by the team doctors.

Many have noted this as an unusual feature of most pro riders. This is actually one of the reasons they wanted to do out of season testing (in addition to trying to catch steroid programs, etc.); presumably one would not keep the hematocrit level high all year long.

[Quisqueyano]

In Tyler Hamiltons blog he mentions that UCI still tests him. Even though he can't legally compete. So off season testing is probably going on. So teams would need very sophisticated programs in place to do this under the radar.