Banning Altitude tents

[cocoboots]

what's next? are they going to ban athletes from living at altitude? what about the athletes training at the olympic center in colorado springs?

they will have a hard time enforcing it. think of the $$$ they'll spend to check the usage of tents.

[BBAGDAN]

they should devise new competition categories based on how much money the athlete spends on equipment, training/coaching, and nutrition per year.

if you can afford an oxygen tent, lightweights, a masseuse, steaks, gatorade, epo, assos shorts, etc. then you are in the top category. no excuses at that level, eh?

at the lowest level you would have the fred riding a huffy eating hot dogs.

[brf]

is it really the case that the definition used to decide whether or not to ban things is whether it is 'performance enhancing' or not ie sleep, training, eating etc should also be banned?

[drjones96]

is it really the case that the definition used to decide whether or not to ban things is whether it is 'performance enhancing' or not ie sleep, training, eating etc should also be banned?

[rustychain]

Not that I am in favor of banning tents but it is my understanding that they raise your hematocrit. This gives the same result as taking EPO. Perhaps the higher hematocrit level could complicate the detection of EPO? I don't know much on the subject but I read that Armstrong used a tent, in fact I think he had a room set up like an altitude tent. Could this result in the high hematocrit level that was reported as prof of his reported dopping? I always wondered about this. Am I missing something?

[zakeen]

Not that I am in favor of banning tents but it is my understanding that they raise your hematocrit. This gives the same result as taking EPO. Perhaps the higher hematocrit level could complicate the detection of EPO? I don't know much on the subject but I read that Armstrong used a tent, in fact I think he had a room set up like an altitude tent. Could this result in the high hematocrit level that was reported as prof of his reported dopping? I always wondered about this. Am I missing something?

Yes it increases your HTC(hematocrit). But no its got nothing to do with EPO while testing. When they do testing there are two different forms.

One, they take a urine test, they will look for EPO. It is impossible to see if a rider was using a tent or been at Altitude. But if EPO was found, then they have taken the drug and are banned.

Two, they take blood sample. While they dont look for EPO they only count your HTC. If it is above the value 50 then you are declared unfit to race. Which means you cant race for 15days. When this happens they think you have either A) taken EPO or B) Done Altitude training. Thats why the ban is so light because they are unsure. So what they do after you read higher then 50, is they test for EPO. In real fact, there is nothing wrong for the human body to have 50 HTC. In Australia if a male is over 55 HTC the local doctor might point out that you have some problem, but if your 53 or 54 a normal doctor wont say you are unfit.

[Nicolas]

Wow that really differs from country to country. My mom is a doctor and at a time we were discussing EPO, testing. And I told her about the over 50% hematocrit level. She was shocked about what she thinks is a very high value but then so does a resting heart rate of 47, the normal hematocrit level is about 45-46% and it'll be safe to say that being close to 50% is not good for your heart because of the blood being that much harder to pump.

[zakeen]

interesting, the values I recall, maybe it was i austria?!?! but it was from 38-55 and if your HTC was out of those values then there could be some problem. The avg is what you said, but not everyones the same.

[theremery]

Doesn't one of the young Colombian road pro's have a "natural" 50+% htc endorsement on his uci licence??? (vaguely remeber reading something on it....could be horribly wrong here)

[Skillgannon]

I've heard of a few with 50+ HC levels allowed, but cant, for the life of me, remember the name

Though one abused it a wihle back and actually got caught blood doping to icnrease his already naturally high HC levels

[TheBigBlueGiant]

Doesn't one of the young Colombian road pro's have a "natural" 50+% htc endorsement on his uci licence??? (vaguely remeber reading something on it....could be horribly wrong here)

Charley Wegelius (Liquigas) has a hematocrit level above 50%, partly due to genetics and partly due to damaging his spleen in a motorcycle accident as a teenager (may have had spleen removed - can't remember). IIRC his father and grandfather both submitted blood samples as part of him proving his naturally high level and receiving a medical exemption from the UCI.

[zakeen]

I also heard that Cunego has a reading higher then 50%, but dont know as a fact.

[TheBigBlueGiant]

I also heard that Cunego has a reading higher then 50%, but dont know as a fact.

Yes, I also read that last year when his coach revealed his power/weight ratio. IIRC it was on cyclingnews.com.