New Research Indicates EPO Gives No Performance Advantage

[MacB]

Sorry, I completely misunderstood your post.

still back off though Tigger

 

[KneesUp]

I'd guess if you were a amateur rider maybe it won't make a difference.But if you were at the top of your game "every little helps" ?
If it was as the article says does that mean Lance can keep his jerseys....nah.

You don't need to guess with regard to ameteur riders, as that is what the researchers did, and concluded that it has no benefit over the placebo.

I'm not sure on the implications for those who have lost titles for using it. On the one hand it was against the rules, but on the other, if it produces no benefit it's an interesting one.

That said, the placebo effect must be very strong - when yo read testimony of people like Lemond saying that once EPO came in he was struggling to stay with the peleton and being dropped on climbs by sprinters that's hard to square with the drug having no effect other than mental, but then the mind is a poweful and curious thing.

 

[mjr]

More criticism http://www.velonews.com/2017/07/commentary/commentary-new-epo-study-has-serious-flaws_442870 including that the cyclists couldn't be racers (due to doping) or training much (due to power requirements set by the experimenters).

 

[Globalti]

Where's that American article by the amateur who decided to try EPO? He explains that you can't just inject the stuff and expect an instant improvement, there's a stack of ancillary things you have to take to get the best advantage from EPO.