Bleed to play
So another person gets popped for EPO use in Le Tour. Eporon, Mi(r)cera… It all seems to be advertised on the web by the same companies willing to sell Vi@gr@ via email. (Who buys this stuff to keep the spammers spamming? Someone must be!) Obviously the stuff is out there, and it sounds like the number of products won’t be decreasing any time soon.
I found an interesting tech. doc. on how it works, including info on CERA. Trilife has a small debate on testing Age Groupers triathletes for it. The effects of altitude on hypoxia seem to cause a similar, potentially “unfair,” advantage. Heck, if the only argument is that it means the athlete isn’t naturally maintaining their level of fitness, then most of the Tour should go as they monitor and artificially adjust hematocrit all the time. I’d sure like to see who’s on the list of the “20 riders (that) had abnormal blood test results before the race“.