Jonathan Tiernan-Locke reportedly given more time to answer blood value concerns

bikeboy76 wrote:

Makes you wonder what a 'natural' variance in Haemocrit levels is allowed. This was a cheap shot at Froome this summer that he had not developed naturally. I remember some saying that he had not blown up at 23 so it can't be real. In which case, why have races, just have a blood test to find out who would be the best.

Hematocrit is just one piece of the puzzle. How fit and strong you are, your bodies natural ability to adapt, change and recover are all part of these things. VO2/Max is a strong indication.

A lot of recovery and adaptation are covered by steroids boosting the bodies process to heal itself and change to the demands put on it, which is why Armstrong/Hamilton didn't use EPO alone. So you may start a race with a high hematocrit (naturally), but because of the effort you put in to race a three week event you end up depleted because your body cannot sustain that level of output (either the muscle suffer, or hematocrit drops - the stress affects the tissue and the rider should become weaker over this period - I think it odd that all riders are not tested at the beginning and end of a race to mark for a natural fall - Armstrong blood doping would have been picked up a lot earlier).

We are also different from out fellow human beings, being variously taller, shorter, stronger, thinner etc. Hematocrit does not have an equalising effect on this. This is effectively your VO2/Max. If your blood vessels are bigger/wider or more efficient in the tissue you need it in (our bodies do not have uniform sensitivity to hormones) then you will have a natural advantage. This is what Greg Lemond based some of his evidence on. But what we see is riders improving their VO2/Max dramatically when they become pro - the corollary is that they have doped.

That is why riders used to have different hematocrit levels, but they would both be competitive with each other. If the one who has a low hematocrit then gets EPO, he may boost his blood and due to his other advantages out perform his once competitive rival.

The point is that most athletes have usually trained themselves up to their peak by a young age and that very few natural gains from tweaking their regime can happen. But in reality, when they hit pro and drugs get on the menu the performance gains are staggering - so people are right to question Froome's early form compared to his current form.

notfastenough wrote:

He's struggled generally this year though - he said the training routines didn't suit him at Sky

Is this before or after he moved from Endura? I think he made these comments after, as a way of excusing his performances/lack of success following the move. I just say this, because it seems odd that he would say this before the move and then move to the team where the routines don't suit him (after having trained with them prior to it). So it seems odd that he has stated this afterwards - it is just an excuse.

What is his injury? Do we know? Or has this been a convenient way of sidelining him due to anomalous blood samples from testing within the team. (You know that testing within a team is probably as much about making sure their riders appear clean than actually being clean).

I sort of wonder how serious this is where they have to give him more time. Either there is something serious amiss, which they feel warrants some deeper research and serious explanation, in which case I can understand giving him time to some extent, or else if it is minor then why give him any additional time at all - an explanation should be evident, unrehearsed and ready-to-hand.

Everything we know about him is 'released' from a PR person so you do have to slice through the bs sometimes. My patience with all of this is pretty thin, and I dislike the fact that people seem to make apologies for him. I am not condemning him, but let us put it this way, the fact that he is in this position (given the sports reputation, and problems testers have) does not make him look very good one bit.

Before. When he was at Endura and winning races his Haemocrat level must have been higher than it has been at Team Sky this season, where he has struggled this year. Good young rider, so hope he is clean.