Hematocrit of the most famous riders

[cyclissimo]

Google Results:

'Eddy Merckx Doping' = 55,700 hits

'Lance Armstrong Doping' = 273,000 hits

Merckx asshole = 1,460 hits

Armstrong asshole = 298,000 hits

Hmmmm...

 

[cyberlegend1994]

Bing results...

Lance doping - 315,000

Eddy Merckx Doping - 42,500

No Positives Doping - 286,000

 

[bbattle]

For me this would be pointless.
When I was 23 years old, I was measured 50.5 once at a clinic and I have never been a profesional sportman and neither doped. I used to run 5 km every morning back then, but other than that I don't think living at 700 meters above sea level had much to do with it. So you go fiugre out.

Three years of physicals at work showed my 'crit levels at 46, 44, and 48. I must've been dehydrated.

The website le-grimpeur.net is full of excellent articles about climbers. Included is a series on doping with a lot of info. on epo use. Epo hit the peloton in the early 90's and some riders had recorded 'crit levels in the high 50's, even above 60. There are quite a few "normal" levels for a number of riders included, usually in the low to mid-40's.

Damiano Cunego is the only rider I know of that has an exemption for his naturally high hematocrit level of just over 50.

You might try searching the Columbia and Garmin websites for drug testing data. At least some of the riders like Wiggins posted their data online. Other teams may have done so, too.

 

[poulidor]

An interresting about evolution of riders' hematocrit :

When Festina scandal happened in 1998, gendarmes' actions had scared a lot of riders so they came on next TDF without drugs (and EPO) in their luggage but they had filled their body before the first stage.

That is a screen copy but that is available by google books
more on Cyclisme et optimisation de la performance- Grappe

There is matter to compare to Lance Armstrong's 2009 blood values

 

[swampy1970]

There is matter to compare to Lance Armstrong's 2009 blood values

You could say that about Wiggo too. Given that hemoglobin and hematocrit ratios stay pretty constant it's interesting to see in his value that during the Giro there was a drop off but in the Tour that wasn't as pronounced. Maybe, as many said, the Tour wasn't as hard this year, especially compared to the Giro. Recent Tours have lacked that 'war of attrition' quality.

Bradley Wiggins' Tour de France blood values | Latest News | Cycling Weekly

In Wiggo's case it's nice to see the off-score remain well under the limit and not rise.

 

[Eldrack]

The only reliable measure of how fast a rider is going uphill comes from their power output relative to their weight. For two riders with the same power to weight ratio one might have higher V02 max whilst another might have a lower V02 but higher efficiency. Having an exceptionally high V02 max is good, but not everything. In the end it's the watts you put out that count.

 

[poulidor]

Evolution of hematocrit on TDF : datas collected in Frederic Grappe's book

Some good reasons to stop publication of his values :

A comparaison between Lance Armstrong hematocrit and a1999 french team when EPO were still used !