Merckx index said:
In the SoS article on the passport, Ross didn’t quite get it all. He said transfusion reduces proportion of retics because you are putting more old cells into the system, with no retics. Actually, the main reason transfusion reduces retics is because the increased number of red cells suppresses synthesis of retics. It’s a homeostatic mechanism. Dopers use EPO to compensate for this. There is no known drug that can suppress retics, though. So when dopers withdraw blood, the resulting elevation of retics can only be hidden by following the withdrawal with a transfusion. That is one reason why dopers tend to do both, the other reason being that if a withdrawal is not followed by a transfusion you will be weak.
The June off-score could have resulted from a withdrawal/infusion cycle in which much more blood was put back in than taken out, in preparation for the Tour. No matter how good your program is, you aren't going to balance things out perfectly. But at this point this is just speculation. That off score of 110 is not that bad.
To the first bolded, I think you're on the right track. Withdraw/reinfusion are often paired. If done correctly you can bank large amounts of blood with very little disruption to ABP and you can maintain elevated levels of red blood for long periods of time.
To the second bolded, I can see why you would think this but I have a different theory. I think diluting HB is quite easy when you know when to expect the test. This is conjecture but...
...we see high HB in the tests shortly before and after the TdF. This is a dead giveaway to me. I'm guessing based upon the dates that these were more random OOC type of tests or somewhat of a surprise test in competition. I doubt it but did LA ride the TdS before the tour in 09 or the criterium circuit afterwards? It doesn't matter that much but it would be interesting to know.
I believe blood/ABP samples are often taken in the morning at the TdF and a small amount of urine samples are taken after the stage from the stage winner, jersey wearers, and a few totally randoms, etc. LA's HB values are very steady during the tour because they know when to expect testing. There are obvious limitations for testers when athletes are occupied for 5 plus hours of racing every single day. If they're to be ABP tested they know they'll most likely be tested first thing in the AM.
In other words, red blood is being manipulated all throughout the tour. It remains high all throughout June, July, and early August but ironically, it appears more normal during the race because athletes are more diligent and testers are more predictable. They're constantly diluting HB during the tour but let the guard down slightly when out of competition.
Retics don't really make sense until you backwards engineer them too. They are lowest during the tour which suggests to me they are really scared to use EPO during the race or only use it VERY sparingly which also makes sense. A badly timed urine test could spell doom.
LA's 2009 values in and around the giro and tour speak to me very clearly. They are a blatant example of manipulation. BLATANT!
I'm shocked at how effectively LA seemed to dodge allegations up until 2005 and how ineffectively he seemed to dodge them from 2008 onwards. He and his "team" went from doing everything right to do everything wrong during comeback 2.0. The only thing sloppier than their doping was their public relations. At one point the idiots published THIS data to his website. What a bunch of MORONS!
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