The doping/transfusion schedule for 3 days in the mountains

[masking_agent]

I'm curious to know from watching the 2011 Giro, stages 13, 14, and 15 were all mountain stages. So what would be the most accurate doping regime for 3 straight tough days in the mountains ?

microdoses of EPO ?
blood transfusion before the start of stage 13 ?

If blood transfusion, would the effects last until the end of stage 15 ? accompanied with testosterone at night ?

How long do the blood transfusions last ?

Thanks for any approximations / insight to this..

 

[python]

let me play ferrari for a minute

the perfect doping scheme during a scenario described would of course have to be balanced against the risk a doper would be willing to take to thwart the authorities/police surveillance and dupe the testers.

tyler's book and the affidavits of other witnesses provide us with some ideas for a realistic speculation in 2011 (as opposed to early '00 when passport was not around)

the basic assumption for a doping scheme would be based on one fresh bb raising hct by 3% and a rider dropping his hct at a rate of 2% per week (which imo is too high but let's use tyller's numbers). I will assume that microdosing epo (even as little as 500 iu intravenously during a night was too risky in 2011 italy b/c the carabiniery, unlike the uci, could break in at night).

so, one half a unit before stage 11 followed by another 1/2 unit right after stage 15 with the 3 week in mind should be safe a not visible by a passport.

as to other doping agents, it all depends on too many factors...

 

[masking_agent]

so nothing the night before the stage ? Interesting. Didn't think the effects would last from stage 11 to stage 13, 14, and 15.

 

[DirtyWorks]

so nothing the night before the stage ? Interesting. Didn't think the effects would last from stage 11 to stage 13, 14, and 15.

If you are talking about EPO, then yes it works over multiple days. Taking a drug like EPO in amounts that would fire off an adverse analytical finding on day 0 will most likely return false negative on day 1 with every day after an even greater likelihood any testing returns negative. Meanwhile, you get to enjoy the benefits of oxygen vector doping. This is a drug-by-drug thing though, so don't generalize.

Evading a positive through well-timed administration is a key strategy in doping. In this sense, the ride back to the hotel in team bus becomes a very effective location for micro-dosing. The morning of an event is another critical time for some drugs that the UCI won't bother testing.

 

[airstream]

IMO nothing changes drastically in comparison to hardcore transfusions era. 500 milliliter BB's are probably replaced with 100-150 ml ones. So everyone would actively microdose before each of 3 stages, using lesser portions of blood though. Naturally UCI keeps silent, otherwise 40-50 guys would have to be eliminated from the race, if one would want to fight against doping not only declaratively.