A thread on Indurain's doping

[blutto]

Well, EPO was approved by USFDA in 1989. Maybe he was an early adopter in smaller quantities. He made 2 large steps, from relative obscurity to super-domestique (top 20 Tour and top 10 Vuelta) and then from super-domestique to multiple GT winner. The first occurred when EPO was first produced, the second when it really hit cycling.

...actually was approved in Europe in late 88 and stocks from clinical trials were were being jobbed around in the cycling community earlier than that...though that in itself doesn't prove anything specific...just an important part of the background that existed at the time and against which some miracle turnarounds in performance could be judged...

Cheers

blutto

 

[bobbins]

Wasn't it around since 1987. Sure I heard something about it being available since then.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

If one takes that view it requires a massive leap. EPO was only approved by the FDA in 89 yet a relatively obscure Spanish pro was the first to use it? Pull the other one! Indurain had modest results initially but he turned pro at 20 in an era when many pros were simply cannon-fodder and were it able to ease their way into the swing of things. Sean Kelly turned pro in 76 but took a couple of years to get that elusive first victory. He wasn't exactly prolific until 1980/81. Strangely about the same point of his career as indurain's blossoming. Maybe that was down Tia new variety of speed or cortisone?

I believe Kelly's first pro race was in February, 1977. He took a stage and the points competition at the Tour of Romandy that year - according to memoire du cyclisme.

I've had a look at the Tour de l'avenir on youtube. I haven't been able to find the final GC results... best I can find is that Indurain won, Patrice Esnault came second, and Alexei Grewal came thrid. The only other riders I recognized in the race were Roy Knickman and Laudelino Cubino. Other than Cubino, there aren't any noteable grand tour GC results with the guys I've listed above... so, it's a little hard (for me, atleast) to figure out how much importance to put on Indurain's victory at l'avenir.