Originally Posted by
base2
It's not the performance, (a watt is a watt is a watt) it's the recovery. Day after day they wouldn't wear out & fatigue at the same rate. If the other racers are on day 4 or 5 of a race, & you are as fresh as day 2 or 3, that's an advantage they felt was worth risking.
Recovery is implicit in "performance" in the context of a multistage event like the Tour. We all understand that peak output on any given day is meaningless if you have nothing left for the remaining ~20 days. I was disagreeing with your statement that " when you reach the highest, elitist, most fit physical condition you can be, EPO doesn't actually offer any advantages" - clearly EPO offers significant advantages to cyclists at the top end of the sport, otherwise, they wouldn't keep taking it.