If Vino did get a blood transfusion from someone else, I would think it would still be apparent in his blood a few days later. Since he will automatically be retested as the winner of stage 15, this test should also yield positive? What is the science on how long these markers remain?
“Before these tests could be used to prove doping occurred, research studies would need to be performed specifically addressing this situation. A simpler suggestion, but by no means foolproof, would be to repeat the flow cytometry test again at a later date. Red blood cells have a lifespan of 120 days. If the test is run at 60, 90, and 120 days, the transfused red blood cells should slowly disappear, leaving only the athlete’s cells on the test. The only way to keep these cells from diminishing would be to continue to transfuse the exact same blood supply the athlete previously received. It is plausible the athlete could do this, but it would be complicated, especially during the scrutiny of an investigation.”
What I would like to know is if it is LEGAL to transfuse your own blood during the tour.
I mean, most of the lead guys are getting 12 or mile vials (20cc) drawn and by the time the Pyrenees hit (we used to call that anemia of chronic investigation), you are down some! A crash and bleeding makes it worse. I know there is a hematocrit upper limit, but assuming you don’t cross that, is it illegal to autotransfuse (give your own blood earlier and bring it that is). This is done all the time for major elective surgery cases.
I am trying to find where I read it this morning…If he had a positive test for HBD on one stage, it is physiologically impossible to get rid of the other blood in two days. So, if his sample from the second stages did not test positive, that would call into question the results from the TT.
so what do you think? Do they/can they take their own blood, centrifuge it (or some other way to concentrate RBCs), and inject just enough of the concentrate to stay at 49.9999…?
What if they/their doc tests them and they’re 50.1? Will a glass of water and 30 minutes do the trick to dilute it?
What about some guy who has a natural hematocrit of 48, then gets dehydrated? Does he measure 50+ then?
**I may be way off in my science here, but these are the questions that pop up to me.
And that is exactly what is done in hospitals every day. Packed red blood cells are given routinely - I don’t know how you could “test” for this practice, if it even occurs. I (like others now) are looking at pro cycling with such a critical eye now that NOTHING surprises me anymore.
Will be interesting to see if the German and French teams actually do “split off” from the UCI and start their own cycling organization. Smacks of the Indy racing/CART debacle where neither is very successful though against Formula 1.
My A&P prof would be proud. No clue what will happen w/ the French and Germans, but any way it goes, 2 groups lose: clean racers and fans. Its a bummer, but I’m kind of out of ideas to fix the mess.
When would you donate though? Autologous donation would leave you, even for a short time with a lower than normal hemoglobin and could impact training and other races? It’s not like you could just donate two days before, the gain or benefit would be minimal at best. We actually don’t recommend autologous donations preop anymore, at least not for orthopedics here.
So what about those who use NOTHING? Is it fair to them? Should we have separate divisions? That sounds like a good fix, but you know some would try to sneak into the “clean” division undetected.
Under my proposed plan, the people who use nothing can either choose to use, or choose to be slow. The downsides to their health are mitigated by the upper limits that are set. The benefit to the clean riders would be that at least they know what they are up against and don’t have to wonder.
When would you donate though? Autologous donation would leave you, even for a short time with a lower than normal hemoglobin and could impact training and other races? It’s not like you could just donate two days before, the gain or benefit would be minimal at best. We actually don’t recommend autologous donations preop anymore, at least not for orthopedics here.
Mike
The current thinking is you donate sometime out before the race, then use EPO to get yourseld back up to normal as fast as possible. It would be much easier to dodge the outta comp testing till the EPO cleared your system.