When a cyclist cheats in the TdF, how can they have a reasonable expectation of getting away with it?

Question

Obviously, there's a high profile case right now, but cyclists are smart enough to know that if they get caught, bad things will happen. How is testing conducted? Are random riders tested on random stages (thus making it a game of odds) or do all riders know when they're going to get tested? Also, are all riders tested? It seems to me that the performance enhancing benefits of steroid use are longer term, so it's unlikely that a rider would take steroids for a specific stage, and therefore they would be subsceptible to getting caught throughout the entire race.

Answer 1

The TdF tests at least three riders each day: The stage winner, the yellow jersey and anywhere from one to six riders chosen at random (the number changes from year to year). In addition, the TdF and International Cyclists Union have the right to test any rider at any time.

Italian cycling coach Michele Ferrari once said, "If it doesn't show up in the drug controls, then it's not doping."

Cyclists who cheat do so because they think they can get away with it.

Much of this results from the nature of drug tests. For example, one drug that is said to be commonly used is EPO (erythropoietin), which increases red blood cells. Until recently, the TdF didn't actually have a test for EPO (which only stays in your system for a few days anway). Instead they tested for high hematocrit levels in blood. They decided that if your hematocrit level is above 50, you fail the test (most healthy males in their 20's measure between 40 and 50). So, to avoid being caught, a cheating cyclist simply uses EPO or blood transfusions to get his hematocrit up to 50. Similarly, if the legal testosterone to epitestosterone level is 4:1, a cyclist might try to dope his way up to 3.9:1.

As Ferrari's quote indicates, there is some thinking that all of this is OK as long as you are within limits. In fact a retired professional cyclist told me that the riders who get caught are those that try to do it themselves (i.e., without the help of an expert) and make mistakes.

Answer 2

Alright, first i will answer your question, then give you my take on the situation of Landis, which is what probably spawned you to ask the question.

Floyd Landis didn't test positive for steroids, he tested for an illegal RATIO of testosterone to epitestosterone which was 11:1. The drug he took was sythetic testosterone itself, if you belive the test, and it would give you more power (muscles), and i think it will give you better muscle recovery. This is what body builders have with ratios of 100:1. Testosterone, taken over prolonged amounts of time, will give you the muscular features of a body builder, since it is the male sex hormone that gives males more muscular features than women. The drug is not a steroid, and non lethal. Most pro cyclits take this drug in between races, when it is not illegal, to escalate recovery time for upcoming races and training, since it is not easy to ride 100-150 miles per day for 20 days while racing.

Now, the effort he used on Stage 17 is completely possible and heres why. If you watched stage 17, he was eating and drinking like crazy, and if i kept eating energy gels and bars and use 70 bottles of water, i dont think i would bonk. On top of that, cycling includes strategy, something which he used for the race. It was a predominantly mountain stage, which means it is totally individually powered, no peloton drafting you, except on the short flat before the final mountain where he did lose time. And he is one of the best downhillers in the peloton, whihch means if one of the guys in the front of the peloton arent also one of the best descenders, he is yet again putting time on them. The other contenders didnt want to put out an effort on other climbs besides the last, so they took it easier and went slower and yet again, Floyd lost a little more time on the last climb because he was weaker, but made it up on the decent because he decends better than Satsre. Also, long solo breakaways are exactlly how people won the tour from the beggining to the years of Bernard Hinault, so people were doing this before performance enhancing drugs were used. His coach even said that that is the way he trains, long and solo after stage 17 in the oln post race show.

Epitestosterone, like testosterone can be taken as a drug, which means that you can have high levels of testosterone but a normal ratio. He tested for a suspicous ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. Now he would have to be so stupid that if he was doping, he forgot to take any epitestosterone the day he knew he was going to be under intesnse speculation because they do make their strategy before the race starts, and you would have to be really stupid to do that. So why wouldn't he, on the day he knew he would undergo intense criticism, forget to take epitestosterone to throw off the test. Most, if not all labs, only do ratio testing on Sample A, and if it is positive, then they do carbon testing on sample B, which tells you whether or not there is synthetic testosterone. I dont htink anyone, especially Floyd, would be that stupid, that if he was doping, forget to take epitestosterone with it, which would cause him to lose his carreer, dignity, place in history, and an inability to support his family, as far as cycling goes. Way too much pressure that if, you were doping, forget to do that.

In conclusion, the feat he accomplished was absolutley possible, if he was doping, why wouldnt he be taking epitestosterone with it, and cycling is extremelly important to the French. I am not a complete beliver of the French conspiracy theory either, but i do see it as a possibility. i have reason to belive Floyd didnt dope because of what i stated above. I didnt answer some parts of your question (the first part) becuause i felt they have been sufficently answered by previous comments, but i did answer te latter part of your question. I hope you look at my answer with an open mind, and dont shun me because i might contradict what you belive.

Answer 3

Cyclists know when they cheat, thats true, but what if the guys that do the test cheat, how come we don't even know who they are and they don't get mentioned at all