You often hear it said on this forum that some riders had a better programme than others. Not just Lance (though i use him because he dominated the longest), but at other points Pantain, Heras, Landis etc etc
My knowledge on doping is limited compared to others on this forum. I know epo raises the red blood cell count which helps the blood take more oxygen to the muscles, hence perform at a higher level while giving the same effort.
I know Lance used epo, at least in the beginning, and later relied more on blood transfusions.
So what gave Lance (and others) the better doping programme? did he just use more epo? if so why didnt Ullrich and Pantani and Basso etc use more epo. Did he have higher quality epo? if so how comes others never got hold of this?
All these guys had good doping programmes. Were Ullrich doctors just not that good? Wouldnt they be able to at some point during those 5 or so years where he came 2nd ask what Lance had that they didnt? Were they more concerned for their riders safety.
And during the Blood transfusion years, were they behind then also?
Where they more scared of getting caught (while Lance had his relationship with the UCI)? This might be the answer many give but it seems to me a lot of the other riders didnt have much care for their own health so would they limit the risks just because they didnt want to get caught, especially since so many were getting away with it?
My knowledge on doping is limited compared to others on this forum. I know epo raises the red blood cell count which helps the blood take more oxygen to the muscles, hence perform at a higher level while giving the same effort.
I know Lance used epo, at least in the beginning, and later relied more on blood transfusions.
So what gave Lance (and others) the better doping programme? did he just use more epo? if so why didnt Ullrich and Pantani and Basso etc use more epo. Did he have higher quality epo? if so how comes others never got hold of this?
All these guys had good doping programmes. Were Ullrich doctors just not that good? Wouldnt they be able to at some point during those 5 or so years where he came 2nd ask what Lance had that they didnt? Were they more concerned for their riders safety.
And during the Blood transfusion years, were they behind then also?
Where they more scared of getting caught (while Lance had his relationship with the UCI)? This might be the answer many give but it seems to me a lot of the other riders didnt have much care for their own health so would they limit the risks just because they didnt want to get caught, especially since so many were getting away with it?