You guys who were critical of Greg LeMond and supported Lance Armstrong owe Greg a big apology. Yes, Greg got in Lance's face on more than one occasion, and just wouldn't let the issue go. I'll admit that I had some doubts too but Greg LeMond has been vindicated, he was right all along about Lance's doping.
Greg looked at the power outputs and watts per kilogram of the top riders like Marco Pantanni (7.1 watts/kilogram), Flyod Landis (6.7 watts per kilogram) and Lance Armstrong (6.8 watts per kilogram) and knew they weren't possible without pharmaceutical intervention. My hats off to Greg LeMond for staying the course when it seemed everyone doubted him.
Regarding his comeback from anemia, maybe Greg was experiencing pseudo-anemia, a condition where the plasma volume expands by 20% and dilutes the blood, giving the false appearance of anemia because the blood is essentially "watered down". There are just as many red blood cells in the body, but per 100 ml of blood, they have been diluted by the expanded plasma volume, giving the false impression of a low hematocrit, low hemoglobin, and low red cell count. It's well know that hard training causes an expansion of the plasma volume. See the article below.
Sports Anemia
Athletes, especially endurance athletes, tend to have slightly low hemoglobin levels as judged by general population norms. Because a low blood hemoglobin concentration defines anemia, this has been called sports anemia.
But sports anemia is a misnomer because in most such athletes—especially men—the low hemoglobin level is a false anemia. The total volume of red cells in the body is normal, not low. Hemoglobin level is decreased because aerobic exercise expands the baseline plasma volume; this reduces the concentration of red cells, which contain the hemoglobin. In other words, the naturally lower hemoglobin level of an endurance athlete is a dilutional pseudoanemia.
Pseudoanemia is an adaptation to hemoconcentration that occurs during workouts. Vigorous exercise acutely reduces plasma volume by 10-20% in three ways. One, a rise in blood pressure and muscular compression of venules boost the fluid pressure inside the capillaries of the active muscles. Two, generation of lactic acid and other metabolites in muscle increases tissue osmotic pressure. These forces drive plasma fluid, but not red cells, from blood to tissues. Three, some plasma water is lost in sweat.
Ed Price, M.A., C.P.T.
Team Manager
Santa Cruz Wheelmen/Spokesman Bicycles