"Cuanto menos talento tienen, más orgullo, vanidad y arrogancia tienen. Sin embargo, esos tontos siempre encuentran otros tontos para que les aplaudan."
- Erasmo de Roterdam
Doping didn't disappear from pro cycling.
It may have just moved to 2,500 metres.
This morning I interviewed James Witts, author of a new book called Dope. Halfway through the conversation, he described something I'd never heard in all my years around this sport.
He calls it "the altitude alibi."
Here's how it works.
Every spring, pro riders disappear to the same places. Mount Teide. Sierra Nevada. Weeks at altitude preparing for the biggest races of the year.
The logic is simple. Altitude exposure raises your hematocrit. More red blood cells, more oxygen, more power.
Except there are two problems nobody talks about.
Problem one: altitude doesn't work for everyone. There are genetic responders and non-responders. Some riders come down from the volcano flying. Some come down with nothing to show for three weeks of their season.
Problem two: altitude forces a trade-off.
At camp, you have a choice of protocol. Sleep high and train high, or sleep high and train low.
Sleep high, train high: you maximise the altitude adaptation. But the thin air caps your power. You can't train at full intensity, so you lose the training adaptation.
Sleep high, train low: you descend to do your sessions at full intensity and keep the training adaptation. But you give up some of the altitude effect.
You can't fully have both. Every altitude camp is a compromise.
Now here's where James's argument gets dark.
The biological passport, the system designed to catch dopers, doesn't test for drugs directly.
It tracks a rider's blood values against their own baseline. Deviate too far from your own normal, and you get flagged.
But when a rider is at altitude, the passport expects the deviation. Rising blood values are exactly what altitude is supposed to produce.
James believes some riders have worked out what that means.
Go to altitude. Microdose EPO. The passport reads the change in your blood as a natural altitude response.
Then train low, at full intensity, and take the full training adaptation - because you no longer need the mountain to raise your blood values. The drug does that part.
The altitude camp isn't the preparation.
It's the alibi.
I've spent years interviewing World Tour coaches, sports scientists and pro riders. I have never heard it framed like this before.
The full conversation goes much deeper: what the passport can and can't see, why microdosing is so hard to catch, and what it all means for the sport we love.
It drops soon on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Follow along so you don't miss it.
His book is called Dope: How Drugs Changed Sport. Worth your time.
P.S. Genuine question for you: can the testers ever catch up in this game or cat & mouse?
Miren la diferencia de publicaciones de @ladataec, pasquín financiado por el Gobierno y que es manejado desde la carcel por Geovanny López, que está sentenciado por femicidio.
Cuando Cynthia Viteri era precandidata a la alcaldía de Guayaquil por Centro Democrático la atacaron por el caso que ella tiene en Fiscalía, pero después que Cynthia Viteri aceptó ser precandidata por ADN a cambio de no ir presa por peculado, salió la misma Data a decir que "es una mujer de experiencia".
El enemigo de nuestro mundo no es China ni Rusia; son los oligarcas gløbalistas que intentan esclavizarnos.
Y ningúno está en prisión por su CRÍMENES contra la humanidad
🔥🔥🔥🔥☄️
¿Y porqué ahí los jueces como Patricio Maldonado no hacen nada?
¿Y porqué ahí @JohnReimberg NO va armado hasta los dientes con casco, botas, brújula y GPS?
Todo muy rarooop
Pilas gente
Diana Atamaint, la hija del trujillato, se va por la puerta de atrás luego de arruinar la democracia del Ecuador.
No me cabe duda que su salida es por la metida de mano que le dará Cabrera a estas seccionales. Esta será igual o peor que el adelanto que se invento su excoidearia.
Por cierto, su hermanito sigue siendo consul en Estados Unidos. La verdadera izquierda en plena acción 👇🏼
🆘NOBOA, ES GÁNSTER DE MIAMI, SEGÚN WATERS🆘🆘
#Atención
En histórica entrevista del gran periodista @TuckerCarlson con el notable músico, compositor, cantante y activista político británico, @RogerWaters, dijo que, #DanielNoboa, tiene nexos con la "Mafia de Miami".
🇺🇸 Reporter: "Israel wanted to assassinate you during those Pakistan talks?"
🇮🇷 Araghchi: "I knew. Made a last call to my family." 🔥
🇺🇸 Reporter: "So why’d you go?"
🇮🇷 Araghchi: "We’re Iranians. We don’t fear death for our nation. We went for peace. Now you see the real cancer." 🔥
That’s real courage. Mad respect 🫡
🚨🚨Von der Leyen exige a los europeos que preparen a sus hijos para la guerra.
Cobra 36.000€ al mes. Tiene 7 hijos. Ninguno irá a la guerra.
🔴Uno de los hijos de esta tiparraca es CEO de una empresa de armas. Solo le mueve la codicia, a costa de nuestras vidas.
Pregúntate por qué ningún medio te habla de esto.
La UE es una monstruosidad que sangrará a todos los pueblos de Europa. 🔥