Blood doping in cycling evolved from blood-boosting to recombinant EPO then back to blood-boosting again. There were known benefits of blood-boosting known in cycling in the eighties, the 1984 USA Olympic cycling team, in order to put on a good show after the Russian boycott, decided to use blood transfusions from compatible family member donors to increase the medal count, a method that was neither encouraged or forbidden by Olympic rules. The thought of a mother giving her child a blood transfusion shortly before a race seems to be the apex of morbidity, ghoulishness, and sickness*: but America had to put on a good show of dominance to demonstrate the superiority of the capitalistic Western system over the heathen inferiority of the Communists. Not surprising, as cheating to achieve success in competitive systems is an accepted practice, especially in America. One fine day a visiting East German cycling coach was amazed that the Americans' were training at altitude; "We can achieve the same results in fifteen minutes" blood boosting, so there was no need to waste time raising hematocrit levels from "train high, live low" methods, or from sleeping or training in altitude tents. Nope. A simple blood transfusion would achieve the same results in fifteen minutes with no effort at all. Amazing, the 1984 USA Olympic cycling team knew of the benefits of blood-boosting on performance, the East Germans used the practice and had phenomenal Olympic success: and produced Jan Ullrich,** the legendary diesel; a man who could power up twenty percent grades at six watts per kilo gram, never leaving the saddle, breaking a sweat, or breathing hard. But according to Greg LeMond, the professional peloton never heard of blood-boosting, the riders never cheated, he, along with Bernard Hinault, and Laurent Fignon, were the only three winners of any grand tour who rode clean and other fairy tales.
These assertions by Greg LeMond are hilarious and make you laugh; but I swear there are still fools around who believe Greg LeMond: and who comment that his stellar performances such as his monumental climb up L'Alpe d'Huez in the 1986 Tour de France; where Bernard Hinault looks ready to drop dead from exhaustion, while Greg LeMond is dancing out of the saddle with an inexhaustible supply of energy; laughing at, smiling at, and hugging the fallen badger was all done dope free! Bernard Hinault, whom earlier in the race, in a fit of madness, launched a suicide attack with an insurmountable lead until he bonked! throwing away his certain Tour de France win. Bernard Hinault never physically recovered from this disastrous folly. Bernard Hinault looked cooked on L'Alpe d'Huez. An impartial observer watching Greg LeMond's body language and his personal deportment during the climb could come up with the conclusion: "it's juice." ***
There were no vampires stalking around the riders waiting to extract blood in 1984 and Greg LeMond did not win his first tour until 1986, which suggests foul play, certainly. Indeed, in 1990 a newer form of blood doping was available: rEPO: a synthetic form of erythropoietin, a much more efficient method of raising hematocrit levels without the infectious complications of heterologous blood transfusions, or the necessity of finding an acceptable blood donor. It is a certainty that rEPO was being used to some extent along with heterologous blood transfusions during this period, on an experimental basis, in order to lower lactic acid levels in the muscles: as was done by Francesco Conconi and Michele Ferrari to prepare Francesco Moser for his world one hour record ride attempt in 1984.***** rEPO use could not be detected until 2000 and until then the use of this performance-enhancing substance was rampant. After the IOC hired Francesco Conconi to develop a prototype test to distinguish the difference between endogenous and synthetic EPO;**** then and only then did the peloton switch to homologous blood transfusions. Blood was taken out of riders in small increments, refrigerated, then reintroduced into the riders shortly before and during races. The increase in hematocrit levels could be diluted with simple methods such as injections with saline solutions when the vampires were scheduled to arrive; a fact that was known among riders through various tips from persons associated with the various regulatory agencies. There were many occasions, in the lax days, where the riders would run out the back door as the vampire was knocking on the front door: but there was no penalty unless three anti-doping out-of-competition tests were missed. There were other devious methods employed to defeat anti-doping urine tests, such as using a "whizzinator" or a reservoir filled with substitute urine attached to a rubber penis. After numerous athletes were caught using this method, the chaperons used more stringent methods when obtaining urine samples. Other methods of defeating the tests included soaking the hands with soap. Once this malady was discovered the vampires took more stringent measures to defeat this chicanery too.
The dimwits who were in charge of the sample collections grew wiser, and the tests got wiser, so the riders got wiser and switched from rEPO back to blood infusions. Lance Armstrong got away with taking rEPO in 1999 because there were no tests, and for the same reason, Greg LeMond and his La Vie Claire team probably used advanced blood-boosting techniques until the peloton switched to the more efficient rEPO. Then Greg LeMond faded and only then accused others of using performance-enhancing drugs. Greg LeMond had a incredibly high volume oxygen+oxygen (VO2 max) ratio of 95, or the efficiency of oxygen converted to energy and performance within the muscles during athletic work; (compare to Lance Armstrong who had a VO2 max ratio of 83; most common males have a VO2 max of about 30), which could be enhanced with an increase in hematocrit, due to increased oxygen carrying capacity, the lowering of lactic acid, and by the ability of the mitochondria to more efficiently produce power aerobically. So, obviously, a rider like Lance Armstrong had more to gain from an increase in red blood cell production than a person like Greg LeMond; who had a superior baseline score. Greg LeMond had a natural advantage, which might explain why he accumulated three Tour de France titles, embarrassing Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon, riders who had probably more tactical talent than Greg LeMond: even though Hinault and Fignon were inferior to LeMond in practical talent. Miguel Indurain and the boys had incredible VO2 max scores too; most of the increase in these scores may have been assisted by questionable blood work; although there is very little, if any, interest in discovering the truth of this assertion, at least among the worthies at the UCI or WADA. I might point out that Greg LeMond beat Miguel Indurain in the 1990 Tour de France. How did this happen if Miguel Indurain was using synthetic EPO as Greg LeMond alleges?
Why not invest time and money to chase phantoms. Old events will do nothing to stop doping today, a concept that Travis T. Tygart will never understand. Events that happened fourteen years ago with riders who are either retired from the sport or dead mean nothing to anyone except nostalgic people who spend their retirement years watching Tour de France films of the good old days. Most millennial kids have never heard of Tyler Hamilton and could care less. Lance Armstrong's name will soon disappear from memory, the old techniques of doping have all been detected, they are worn out like an old shoe, people need to be forward-looking and innovative, not retrospectively focused on obsolescence.
So there we have it, first, it was donor blood, then rEPO, then autologous blood transfusions. The dopers were always one step ahead of the regulatory agencies when the tests improved, the cheating techniques were modified. What WADA and the UCI need to do is to employ someone like Michele Ferrari on a contractual basis to catch the cheaters. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hired Francesco Conconi to develop a test to detect synthetic EPO, and Francesco Conconi may have developed a prototype test. But Francesco Conconi also exploited his position as a researcher to help riders dope. Michele Ferrari might be invited to help the geniuses at WADA, but after thirty-four years of thumbing the "gold standard" of testing in the eye, this might be perceived as an unacceptable outrage. Of course, to prevent another Francesco Conconi disaster, Mr. Ferrari would have to be closely supervised. But instead of new novel approaches to combat doping, anticipate another thirty-four years of moping around in the dark wondering why riders are generating "superhuman" power up the climbs, or seventy-kilometer per hour sprints. Complain and see what happens! The blinders will be fully attached. First, there will be denials, then proclamations, "we are doing our best under the circumstances," then will come more denials, then mea culpa. But to anticipate anything sensible; forget about it!
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that autologous blood transfusions can be combined with micro-dosing EPO with intravenous injections, a fact that Michael Ashenden, "never considered."
References:
* Source/Quote: Wheelmen, Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O' Connell, Gotham Books, 2013
"The U.S. [Olympic] team, however, went ahead with the blood-boosting effort. Participation in the program was voluntary. If they were interested, they were to arrange for family members with compatible blood types to provide blood donations. A few days before the Olympic track cycling events, the cyclists and their blood donors lined up in a room at the Ramada hotel in Carson City, and a doctor connected tubes between them, allowing the blood to flow directly from the one to the other. There was no screening of the blood for hepatitis or other diseases. Brent Emery opted to participate, and his mother showed up at the hotel to provide the transfusion. Having her blood flow into his body through a plastic tube was a weird experience." PP.30-31; italics added.
Yes. Eddie Borysewicz was the 1984 USA Olympic Team cycling coach: and from this account, he knew of and encouraged blood doping among the team to enhance performance. The blood transfusions were not autologous they were heterologous, at least for the men. What is misleading in that?
** A person sent me an e-mail stating that Jan Ullrich was not a product of East German athletics. However, John Wilcockson summarizes the evolution of Jan Ullrich and explains the upward mobility of young promising athletes within the German Democratic Republic:
Source/Quote: 23 Days in July, John Wilcockson, Da Capo Press, 2004.
"Becoming an athlete was the best passport to prosperity for a child in the German Democratic Republic, so Jan Ullrich became part of the country's elite sports program. Jan Ullrich won his first bike race at age 11, and two years later he became the East German national scholastic cycling champion in track racing. That breakthrough win earned the 13-year-old Jan Ullrich a place at SC Dynamo, a sports school in East Berlin. There, he met coach Peter Becker, a strict disciplinarian, and made friends with a skinny youth called Andreas Kloden, who was eighteen months younger than Jan Ullrich and came from Mittweida, a city in southeast Germany. Under Peter Becker's influence, both cyclists thrived, with Jan Ullrich winning the national youth and junior championships in both road and track." P.59-60.
"Wolfgang Strohband, Jan Ullrich's manager, dipped into his own pockets to set up Jan Ullrich and nine other East German cyclists in Hamburg. Wolfgang Strohband was hoping that his riders would be good enough to compete at the 1996 Olympics." P.60.
Jan Ullrich moves to the west in 1989, two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Peter Becker remains his coach.
Now, this clearly establishes that Jan Ullrich was a product of the East German sports system that had an emphasis on Olympic competition. Jan Ullrich turned professional and rode for Team Telekom placing second in the 1996 Tour de France General Classification behind teammate Bjarne Riis, @1 minute 41 seconds. Jan Ullrich won the Tour de France in 1997. Team Telekom was run by Walter Godefroot and Jan Ullrich's personal trainer and the coach was Rudy Pevenage. After Jan Ullrich tested positive for Ecstasy, a popular rave drug in an out of competition test, he was sacked by Team Telekom and served a one-year suspension. When Jan Ullrich returned to cycling in the 2003 season, he refused to accept a diminished contract from Team Telekom, and he signed a contract with Team Coast. Team Coast went bankrupt, so Jan Ullrich negotiated a deal with Bianchi Bicycles for a one-year sponsorship, taking Rudy Pevenage from Team Telekom. Jan Ullrich raced with Bianchi Bicycles in the 2003 Tour de France, finishing second in the general classification, and he might have won the race had he not fallen in a roundabout during the rain and oil soaked final time trial. When Jan Ullrich returned to Team Telekom in 2004, as punishment for what Walter Godefroot considered treason, Rudy Pevenage was banished from Team Telekom: although Jan Ullrich continued to employ Rudy Pevenage as personal coach and trainer. During the 2004 Tour de France, in the early stages, Jan Ullrich suffered a mysterious illness and high fever that most attribute to a bad blood transfusion supplied by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes of Operation Puerto fame. In 2006, Jan Ullrich was denied entry into the Tour de France because Spanish drug police raided the offices of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes and found records and blood samples labeled "son of Rudy." Jan Ullrich was subsequently banned by the Switzerland Cycling Federation for two years after the Spanish investigation confirmed the DNA of the "son of Rudy" blood samples matched Jan Ullrich. Jan Ullrich retired from cycling shortly afterward. Thus ended the career of one of the greatest cyclists of all time. It seems amazing that Jan Ullrich who tested positive for Ecstasy in an out of competition test and served a suspension, a man who was uncertain about continuing his career in cycling from injury, a man who backed his automobile over a bicycle rack in frustration, a man whose relationship with his longtime girlfriend Gabby was on the rocks and uncertain of continuing, could, after recovering from all of these misfortunes, risk all by paying Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes money to supply him with doped blood.
*** A critic wrote me an e-mail complaining Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond rode at a snail's pace compared to the Marco Pantani record ride up L'Alpe d'Huez. Before the 1986 L'Alpe d'Huez stage Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond made a deal: Bernard Hinault would set the tempo up the climb and win the stage. In return for the stage win, Bernard Hinault agreed not to attack Greg LeMond in any of the future stages, including the final time trial, thus ensuring Greg LeMond a Tour de France victory. Greg LeMond did not set the tempo up L'Alpe d'Huez even though he boasted after the stage he could have put five minutes on the badger! Thus, we will never know how fast Greg LeMond might have climbed L'Alpe d'Huez in 1986. But a quick examination of the stage results is suggestive. Bernard Hinault, 5:03:02, (2) Greg LeMond, same time, (3) Urs Zimmermann, +5.15, (4) Jose Reyes Montoya, +6.06. If Greg LeMond boasts he could have distanced Bernard Hinault by five minutes, then he could have beaten Urs Zimmermann by ten minutes, fifteen seconds! Immediate red flags are detected here. Therefore, the Marco Pantani record ride can be compared to an exhausted Bernard Hinault, but not to a invigorated Greg LeMond. However, I am convinced Marco Pantani was using rEPO, or blood transfusions, or a combination of the two. This may have helped Marco Pantani set the record up L'Alpe d'Huez. After all, Marco Pantani was booted from the 1999 Giro d' Italia for hematocrit over 50%. Let us just say the 1986 ride up L'Alpe d'Huez, even at a Bernard Hinault snail pace, Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond dropped the entire peloton by over five minutes, and the badger passed Urs Zimmermann for second place in the general classification. What is misleading in that?
**** Did the International Olympic Committee employ Francesco Conconi to develop a test to detect synthetic EPO?
Source/Quote: Wheelmen, Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O' Connell, Gotham Books, 2013
"Before the 2000 Tour de France began, there were rumors in the peloton that a new prototype test for EPO had been discovered and would be used during the race. This was the test that the International Olympic Committee had commissioned Francesco Conconi, the so-called fox in the hen house to develop." PP.135-136; italics added.
Here is some additional evidence concerning Francesco Conconi and his supposed development of a test to detect synthetic EPO.
Source/Quote: Seven Deadly Sins, David Walsh, Atria Books, 2012.
"So in the surreal world of Italian sports politics, it came about that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) itself asked a German pharmaceutical company to supply [Francesco] Conconi with EPO so that he could carry out the research which might lead to an EPO test. This generosity would see the creation of [Francesco] Conconi's infamous 'EPO file,' his 'study group of 23 amateurs' who were in fact 22 professional athletes and himself, that EPO, courtesy of the IOC was used to cheat. Welcome to the brave new world and its Orwellian dialect of doublespeak." P. 121.
Then there is the great Irish champion Stephen Roche.
"Stephen Roche's career had been highly successful and in 1987 he won the Giro d' Italia, Tour de France, and World Championships, a treble previously achieved only by the legendary Eddy Merckx." P.95.
But unfortunately Stephen Roche was linked to Francesco Conconi:
"In an inquiry into the Ferrara based doctor, Professor Francesco Conconi, Ireland's Tour de France winner Stephen Roche was listed among twenty-three riders in what would be called the EPO file. Stephen Roche was in the EPO file under his own name but also under aliases, two of which were Ronchi and Roncati." P.95.
Source: 50 Years of Hematology: Research That Revolutionized Patient Care, American Society of Hematology, 2008.
As David Walsh states in his book the Francesco Conconi notations concerning Stephen Roche probably occurred in 1993 and 1994. This fact does not prove Stephen Roche had any contact with Francesco Conconi prior to 1991, or that Stephen Roche blood doped to win the Tour de France! But if Stephen Roche chose to blood dope in 1987, blood transfusions would be the method of choice, not synthetic EPO. A method was found to mass produce recombinant EPO in 1983, but EPO was not approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration until June 14, 1989. Even if Stephen Roche and Francesco Conconi had a association prior to 1989, unless Francesco Conconi obtained medical research synthetic EPO by illegal means; or in a European country where EPO had been approved for medical use; or on the black market, there is zero chance synthetic EPO was used by Stephen Roche to dope in 1987.
Source: Stephen Roche and David Walsh, Late Late Show, 2002.
Source: Poison in the heart of sport, David Walsh and John Follain, 2002.
On the Late Late Show, David Walsh accuses Stephen Roche of using synthetic EPO based on Francesco Conconi's 'EPO file'. Stephen Roche presents his random UCI synthetic EPO test results. The old EPO tests developed by professor Francesco Conconi measured "transferrin receptor concentration.". Transferrin receptors regulate re-uptake of iron in the cell. "Transferrin receptor concentration, according to the Conconi study, an untreated athlete (one without EPO) could not have a transferrin receptor concentration higher than 3.1. The report concludes that 'the increased concentration of the transferrin receptor could be employed as an indirect indicator of EPO misuse in Sports.'" David Walsh claims that the Francesco Conconi study records include measurements from Stephen Roche under an assumed name that were above the 3.1 transferrin receptor threshold. Thus indicating Stephen Roche used EPO.
"EPO is the perfect drug. EPO has a half-life of four hours." Lance Armstrong.
Obviously, this statement has profound implications for testing. Theoretically, a rider could take a shot of EPO and ride the entire stage and test clean. This statement also has implications for Stephen Roche.
Stephen Roche wanted to prove he rode clean. A quick glance at Stephen Roche's test results shows a decrease in EPO values between tests taken early (above threshold) in the day as opposed to later the same day (below threshold). This change could be accounted for by EPO four hour half-life decay rates, or basic metabolism, or by introduction of masking agents, saline solutions, or any number of other unknown variables. The variations in values do not necessarily indicate problems with the testing methodology: primitive as the tests were at the time. Stephen Roche presents a unconvincing case. The test results indicate that Stephen Roche may have used synthetic EPO on the days indicated on the tests. David Walsh has a valid case to suspect Stephen Roche of doping.
However, even if the unproven assumption that Stephen Roche was working with Professor Conconi in 1987 is true, EPO doping was not available in 1987. However, other methods of doping were available, some of these doping methods were undetectable to the testing methodology of the day.
By the way, if you want to know how much Francesco Conconi contributed to the synthetic EPO test solution, contact the IOC.
Source: 50 Years of Hematology: Research That Revolutionized Patient Care, American Society of Hematology, 2008.
However, it is important to note that synthetic EPO was commercially available in the United States just prior to the depart of the 1989 Tour de France and was readily available world wide prior to the depart of the 1990 Tour de France. Greg LeMond won both Tours. Greg LeMond beat Miguel Indurain in the 1990 Tour de France. Greg LeMond has accused Miguel Indurain and the peloton of doping with synthetic EPO during the 1991 Tour de France because Greg LeMond struggled to keep pace with Miguel Indurain and the lead group. But proof exists that synthetic EPO may have been available to professional cycling during the 1989 Tour de France.
***** Francesco Moser was an Italian time trialist. Eddy Merckx complained his 1972 one hour world record ride was beaten due to a combination of factors. Medical treatments from Francesco Conconi. The medical supervision of Professor Antonio Dal Monte; official doctor of the Italian Cycling Federation. Medical assistance from star student Michele Ferrari. Add the aerodynamic design of Francesco Moser's bicycle, moon disc wheels, plus the fact a concrete Mexico City velodrome floor was resurfaced with a special preparation which would reduce friction, as the deciding factors for Francesco Moser setting a new world record one hour ride in Mexico City in 1984. Eddy Merckx stated he trained with oxygen tanks to mimic the atmosphere of Mexico City; the old "live low, train high" method. Eddy Merckx also stated after the ride he could not walk for eight days, while Francesco Moser was back on the bike four days later. Francesco Moser admitted he used blood transfusions to break the hour record. Ah! The miracles of modernization.
The reaction to a thirty-one-year-old man, Francesco Moser, smashing the world one hour record of legendary Eddy Merckx, stunned the cycling world!
Source/Quote: The Fabulous World of Cycling: season 1984, Eddy Merckx and Leon Michaux, Winning Production, 1984. PP. 4-13.
"It was a triumph: In the world of cycling, where nobody believed [Francesco] Moser had a chance, the news had the effect of a bomb. When Moser went back to the track four days later, astonishment changed to stupefaction, and people started wondering about the technical and medical breakthroughs of the record, which was extended to fifty-one kilometers, one hundred and fifty-one meters." P.12
The UCI allowed all of this nonsense, even though the radical design of Francesco Moser's bicycle and the use of moon disc wheels were a direct violation of UCI Article 49, which states, "anything that might improve penetration through the air is forbidden."
Indeed, there is a disparity between the modern accepted notion crafted primarily by Greg LeMond that the 1980s was the era of cycling drug abstinence and the consensus of cycling enthusiasts in 1984 who recognized that this incredible increase in performance by Francesco Moser was explosive. People were stupefied with astonishment. It was not just the radical design of Francesco Moser's bicycle that accounted for this stupefaction, or the moon disc wheels, or the coefficient of drag, or the special preparation applied to the track, or the aerodynamic suit and helmet. No indeed! People were questioning the medical preparation of Professor Francesco Conconi, and the medical supervision of Professor Antonio Dal Monte; official doctor of the Italian Cycling Federation; with increasing alarm! Eddy Merckx was not fooled: he complained if he was provided with an equal medical and technological playing field his one-hour world record would have lasted for a thousand years! Here is another example of how doping can trump athletic ability, a lesson the 1984 USA Olympic Cycling Team was fully aware of. Absurd to suggest the professional peloton was ignorant of the fact blood transfusions increased performance in 1984; when it has been officially documented by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); blood transfusions had been in use since the late nineteen-seventies! Equally absurd would be the notion once the performance-enhancing qualities of blood doping were known, the temptation of using blood transfusions in the nineteen eighties was considered taboo by the professional peloton! Only a simpleton would accept the Greg LeMond premise the nineteen-eighties were cleaner than any other decade in cycling or the fact that Greg LeMond was the only clean Tour de France champion, simply because he rode during the nineteen-eighties!
It helps to read the books before you make unsupported statements and send out unsolicited e-mails!
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