I'm a dope about doping

[shipinabottle]

So I saw a picture of Jan Ullrich somewhere on the forums recently... I'm not saying those guys are or aren't doping- I was just wondering... I think of doping as baseball players with burly muscles...Do these Tdf riders have some special drugs that go straight to their legs? They're certainly not bulking up in the arms. I was just wondering. They don't fit my normal picture of dopers.

[Bockman]

Most of the banned substances professional cyclists take increase aerobic capacity, endurance, and speed muscle recovery.

[air-phil]

Yeah, putting on more weight is just about the last thing a professional cyclist would want to do.

[shipinabottle]

How much do these guys weigh anyway?

[cooker]

You're used to reading about drugs like testosterone and related anabolic steroids that bulk up your muscles. The "dope" that is getting a lot of attention in cycling is quite different: EPO (erythropoietin) is a hormone normally found in the body that increases the density of red cells containing hemoglobin in blood, and thus the blood's ability to carry oxygen. This is desirable because it allows these athletes to perform at a high aerobic expenditure over a long distance. The suspended athletes are mainly suspected of injecting frequent microdoses of synthetic EPO. Synthetic EPO is hard to detect since the chemical formula is identical to the natural hormone. However it is now possible to detect subtle electrical differences between synthetic and natural EPO in urine. Also athletes using EPO may have too many "young" red cells in their blood, or the fraction of blood occupied by red cells (hematocrit) may be close to or over 50%, instead of the usual low to mid 40s.
Another technique is "blood doping" or transfusing yourself with your own, or someone else's blood, to temporarily increase your hematocrit.

[San Rensho]

You're used to reading about drugs like testosterone and related anabolic steroids that bulk up your muscles. The "dope" that is getting a lot of attention in cycling is quite different: EPO (erythropoietin) is a hormone normally found in the body that increases the density of red cells containing hemoglobin in blood, and thus the blood's ability to carry oxygen. This is desirable because it allows these athletes to perform at a high aerobic expenditure over a long distance. The suspended athletes are mainly suspected of injecting frequent microdoses of synthetic EPO. Synthetic EPO is hard to detect since the chemical formula is identical to the natural hormone. However it is now possible to detect subtle electrical differences between synthetic and natural EPO in urine. Also athletes using EPO may have too many "young" red cells in their blood, or the fraction of blood occupied by red cells (hematocrit) may be close to or over 50%, instead of the usual low to mid 40s.
Another technique is "blood doping" or transfusing yourself with your own, or someone else's blood, to temporarily increase your hematocrit.

Off topic-I looked over some blood work I had done about a year ago and my hematocrit was 46.4. Not bad, eh?

[62vette]

Most pro cyclists weight between 65 and 80kg, depending on height and specialty. The sprinters tend to be a bit bulkier than the climbers. There are exceptions like Magnus Backstedt who weighs 90kg, and Sam Dumoulin who is only 58kg.

[bikingshearer]

How much do these guys weigh anyway?
See 62vette's answer. Those numbers put Backstedt at or a little over 200 lbs. Keep in mind that, by road racing standards, that makes him a giant. My guesstimate is that the average TdF rider is 5'8" or so, and weighs somewhere around 150-155 lbs and looks like a tuberculosis patient from the waist up.

[Primetime75]

Boonen is 6'4 170ish. Thor is 6'1 180. I was amazed at how big these two dudes are.

[Richard Cranium]

Essentially, bike doping is about getting the "best" and the "worst" from your workouts. By having doctors draw "special blood" that has been "spiked by rest and "vitamins" [insert chuckle-chuckle here] during a non-drug-testing period, and then have the blood put back at a good time for a good workout or race, the racer ends up with a "marvelous period of "training""..........

By having a great "training cycle" -- the rider shows up for a race in "great" shape, with the best blood money can buy.... not like the home made stuff..........

By the way, I have never doped, I just use vitamins and a really good trainer and doctor for advice.