Professional Cycling For the Fans - So is an Altitude Training Tent legal?

Seems like they could get some benefit from an altitude training tent without doping, but is it legal?

http://altitudetraining.com/wrap/images/four30_large

Not in Italy.

Not in Italy.

But sleeping in a camper on Zoncolan is legal. :rolleyes: That makes ridiculously little sense. How long before interval training is banned because of it's performance enhancing effects?

Actually, I think the use of them in Italy is. For the most part they are not but, there there still is some level that your red blood cell count can't exceed. I guess these forbidden levels can be reached with the use of one. They are way more expensive than the dope. Might as well do the cheaper of the two..everybody does..

I seem to remember Davitamon-Lotto used to haul one of those around with them to the Grand Tours. The Giro prohibited it. Lance Armstrong has also said he used one.

Ullrich also used one.

Is sleeping in an Alpine village in Italy also illegal?

Paula Radcliffe uses one. As does Zabriskie, Hincapie and Levi.

Yeah, that's a sticky one as people can do the exact same thing naturally. Around here it's quite east to live in a town like Gold Hill or Ward (~10k feet) then ride down the canyon in the morning, do flat/hilly training all day at low altitude (~5280 ft) then do a bit of climbing back home and sleep high......

Then there's Mauricio Soler who's been training at 14k ft back home and just laughs at the "high altitude" of the Alps.

Seems totally dumb to even think of banning those, as they do what you can do if you live or train in elevation. Just no way to police it.

It does suck as it is an advantage to those that can spend - I am talking about local level, not TdF level where they all have the money. Marathon runners and Triathletes with disposable income buy these things. When you live and train in the a low elevation area, that is an advantage over those who do not have one.

I would like to have one. :)

Not in Italy.

Under UCI and all National Federation rules altitude tents are still legal. There was a raid at the Giro in 2005 http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119503 where the Italian police siezed some tents under an obscure Italian law, but the case was never pursued beyond that one raid.

Looks like all the best climbers in a few years will have to be born and live above 10,000 feet.

has a Sherpa every been a pro rider?

Leipheimer uses one. They're actually allowed now but the UCI is looking at making them against the rules. While this might seem stupid, I believe most of the top marathons have rules that you can't train at certain altitutdes.

[QUOTE=adam;4935026]Looks like all the best climbers in a few years will have to be born and live above 10,000 feet.[/QUOT

It only helps if you race at 10,000 ft. and none of the Tour stages go any where near that.

has a Sherpa every been a pro rider?

The Sherpas actually have a special physiology that benefits them big-time at very high altitudes but not at all at sea level. Google it.

The most beneficial thing is to "train low and sleep high". Hence the use of altitude tents vs. just spending the entire off season in Bolivia. Train at sea level then sleep in the tent at night.

Now how the heck would you enforce a ban on tents?!?

Leipheimer uses one. They're actually allowed now but the UCI is looking at making them against the rules. While this might seem stupid, I believe most of the top marathons have rules that you can't train at certain altitutdes.

So what if you happen to live at altitude... What if your home is in the Alps for instance? "Sorry man, but I was born and raised here."

Are they going to start banning runners from Kenya too?

what happens if you fart in an altitude tent?

Is it safe to unzip and dive out to sea-level??

The average Sherpa hematocrit is somewhere north of 60%. Their physiology isn't that remarkable, but they've adapted to their surroundings. I'm sure there are a couple of idiosyncracies that the Sherpas have, but were you to live up there all your life, you'd have a high HCT as well. EPO was suspected after a bunch of cyclists started dying in the middle of the nite. Their artificially thick blood sludged up at nite when their cardiac output dropped and they had strokes/heart attacks/etc.

...and that's what Sherpas would be at risk of if they were to hang out at Daytona Beach or something like that. Up there, they have the 60%, but they also have higher cardiac output, b/c they have no choice.

Looks like all the best climbers in a few years will have to be born and live above 10,000 feet.

It only helps if you race at 10,000 ft. and none of the Tour stages go any where near that.

It helps because your body adapts to less oxygen - helping no matter what the altitude.

what happens if you fart in an altitude tent?

Is it safe to unzip and dive out to sea-level??

:roflmao:

There's an altitude room for rent about 50 miles north of me if anyone wants. It's used be top athletes in the region.

Let's see if this works...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Altitude-Tent-Summit-Training-System_W0QQitemZ180140775441QQihZ008QQcategoryZ28063QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That would go over really well at my house.....

"Honey, I'm remodeling the master bedroom! I've got a cycling theme going...Come take a look!"

Sure honey, you can sleep in there with your bike. You can cut up your old tires and make yourself a pillow.

If you use restroom in the middle of the night does it lose it's low pressure?

It doesn't use low pressure. The structure to support a 5 psi differential is massive - think thick concrete and steel at a minimum.

It removes oxygen from one side of the machine and pumps it out to the other. The difference is made up by Nitrogen that leaks into the tent from the atmosphere.

If you use restroom in the middle of the night does it lose it's low pressure?

Chamber pot.

Is sleeping in an Alpine village in Italy also illegal?

Only if you say you're training in Mexico.