Froome came to mind first and is a case to which I can relate, since I too 'suffer' from EIA. That's why I stated "as one of many, many examples. About 2 - 9 % of the population have exercise-induced asthma. Your stated 50 % (the last number I came across was 40 % and was a few years back, likely from TdF starters) is a prime example where the sport stands. Wasn't my intention to present him as the only one playing "fair" games.Lazarus wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 12:39 pm
I think 50% of the peloton have stress induced asthma so no need to signal him out. This is an unlikely high number when compared to the normal population. I thought they could have 6 uses of an inhaler in 12 hours and 12 in 24 as I am not asthmatic is have no idea if this constitutes abuse or not.
Either way they are all dancing along the edge or using only the "fair" substances [pain killers caffeine etc. supplements shakes protein drinks etc.]That give a performance advantage and not the unfair advantage PED and EPO etc.
As for the rest they do biological passports so they do blood test and it’s odd you criticise a sport with regulations and tests. Considerable efforts have gone into making pro cycling clean again - i very much doubt any other sport goes to the lengths they do
IMHO it’s a certainty people are using drugs to do these [though I don’t know who] - whether these are legal and or acceptable [caffeine] or illegal and cheating I doubt we will ever know for sure as I doubt anyone will do a full disclosure
Fair and unfair drugs – it's an illusion. As is drawing a line in certain levels of blood or urine concentrations. Everybody responds to a certain blood level of a drug differently and has a different elimination rate constant. Well… all in all different pharmacokinetics. Knowing a bit about this science shows the immense complexity of drugs and how it's absolutely not a black and white world with fair and unfair drugs. What the regulation bodies are doing is just a mere "try" to control something you can't actually control, sometimes based on just one paper with a clinical trial of too few probands to call it statistical.
This is also displayed by the many drugs and concentrations which are banned by WADA, then just a few years later being released again. Or hormone level values being regularly adjusted… The difficulty not just shows in quantity, but even in quality.
It seems that as long as there's lots of money and fame to be won, a mess on the way there will always be made.
Yes, they do blood tests but apparently, they didn't test him on said substance.
Running blood tests doesn't automatically mean, that you test every possible drug. Even modern blood analysis systems still don't work like K.I.T.T. and Spaceship Enterprise with analysing substances.
What's clean drug? Spiking a diet with beetroot and garlic? Caffeine abandonment to be more sensitive when you race? A drink containing higenamine? CBD oil? Altitude training? Salbutamol? It remains a huge gray area. Then there's also the much (ab)used therapeutic use exemptions, which add more gray area to the issue.
I also have exercise induced asthma. Cold temperatures constrict my breathing significantly, but not in a dramatic way. Meaning I can't use the vital capacity of my lung and once I back off a bit, I get coughing fits for about 5 – 10 min. I sometimes inhale a drug called Seretide (contains salmeterol, very similar to salbutamol, but acts longer) and even though I'm close to the boarderline of EIA, I feel a difference after inhalation. When I was diagnosed with EIA I read through the various options of treatment and after some years Froome's case popped up with his crazy concentrations from which I really do wonder how one can inhale so much to get those concentrations. Concentrations more than twice as high as the max possible concentration achieved by excessive inhalation (during a not statistically relevant trial on which the max concentration level defined by WADA is based). Only with oral administration of salbutamol pills (which are banned by WADA) one can achieve Froome's values.
I see interesting opportunities in the freedom to take what we/they want during bikepacking events/races. Experiments with drugs combined with a very low sleep threshold could brake boundaries in ultra endurance performance and medical possibilities.
I woundn't be surprised if Sofiane is 'clean' (safe for accepted drugs like regular pain killers, caffeine etc.), but would find it admittedly more interesting if he was experimenting with substances beyond the regular.
Puts my long post into one sentance. Very much my point of view too.Fat tyre kicker wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:54 pm 6 uses of an inhaler in 12 hours and 12 in 24 is very much overuse,
I've been asthmatic for 31 years and not used that much when I've been
Hospitalised (once) with a severe attack.