EPO Works wrote:
Am I familiar with the cycling community? Yes. Am I a Cat I rider? No. Were Geroge Hincapie and Stephen Swart. Yes. Do they think EPO was necessary for Armstrong to compete on the tour? Yes.
"In one statement, former Armstrong teammate George Hincapie said he and Armstrong started using the blood booster EPO around 1995 or '96 because they felt they otherwise could not compete. Another cyclist, Stephen Swart, said in his statement that he knew his teammates on the 1995 Tour de France team were using EPO, including Armstrong."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2013/01/14/oprah-winfrey-lance-armstrong-doping/1834487/Do I think in an "ideal" drug free world Lance Armstrong had the talent to hang with the top 200 Tour de France Riders? Almost certainly.
Do I think his one of a kind killer instinct would have allowed him to be one of the 10-20 GC riders vying for the yellow jersey during his prime? Probably.
Do I think he would have plotted, gutted, and forced his way into one or two tour victories? Maybe.
In this drug free world would he have won seven tours, become an international superstar and multi-milllionaire. Absolutely not.
To your objections regarding epo performance study. I stated the limitations of the study up front. But the study shows epo works not just to increase red blood cell count but also to significantly improve endurance performance.
If you have a better study on elite cycling/ track athletes or otherwise I'd be interested in the results. Unfortunately, so would WADA and the IAAF and that study is not going to happen.
I don't understand why you or anyone else continues to buy into Lance's cult of exceptionalism propaganda. It has been demonstrated by reanalysis of blood samples, teammate statements and his own admissions that EPO and other drugs were absolutely necessary and critical to his success. Accept it and move on-