VandeVelde is doing a daily diary at the Giro and about a week ago he said he was tired as everyone get’s their hermaticrit (sp. maybe hermaphrodyte) level tested every morning at 7am. What’s the concern or do athletes at that level tend to hover close to the limit. Seems odd it’s matter of course though. I remember Pantani had to withdraw in one Giro as each day in the mountains his level kept going up and he knew it would be a possitive soon. Anyway these guys are being doped and don’t know it?
They know it, but everyday tests are so common that they don’t have a problem mentionening them. Every morning they get up and get tested, those above 50% start to down an IV. If the UCI “vampires” happen to show up, the guys on the IV are the last ones going down for the test.
The 50 % rule is bogus, and to my understanding, no longer in place.
Back then, they knew some athletes natuarelly were around the 50 mark and gavce them a 2 week forced rest to get down. The UCI then called racing with a hematocrit level above 50% " unsafe".
These days the test is highly technological. it compares the red cells and if you are takin Recombinant Human Erithropoetin ( EPO) the tests shows.
I lived in the mountains in BRazil for 19 years and my hematocrit was 46% when I was 16. When I was 19, i reached 49.5. When I turned 21, it is constantly between 50-52%.
I have every single one of the tests archived should I need to prove mine is naturally high. These days it is hovering near the 50 % mark, but I live at sea level. When I go to the mountains, it goes higher.
Ciao,
“The 50 % rule is bogus, and to my understanding, no longer in place.”
Your understanding is wrong. The 50% rule is very much in place.
Yup, they still have the 50% rule. They have just added all the other bells and whistles of reticulocytes, etc. to the package.
I would think Basso was very high risk for exceeding the limit after Sunday’s stage. 8 hours without being able to keep anything down would have jacked him up quite a bit on HCT from dehydration.
I read a study on this a few weeks back and the author was saying that the levels could vary by as much as 8% depending on hydration and training and fatigue, so that’s why they will monitor it every day. The whole thing does sound very suspicious anyway though. What’s the bet that the average pro will be just on the right side of 50% ?
At my last physical, the blood report I got had “reference ranges” and the high end of normal for hemocrit was listed as 50.1 (low end was 40). I would assume that many pro cyclists must really have to watch this. My hemocrit was 49.2 and I am a fat old man who only rides about 125 miles a week.
Is exceeding 50% considered a positive test or does it just single one out for closer scrutiny? It would seem a little unfair to disqualify someone for a level that is just barely above what could be considered normal by your doctor.