Team BKool CycleChat

[Daddy Pig]

That’s got nothing to do with what we’re talking about though.



No. Wiggins was taking a strong steroid specifically for asthma. It does improve performance, beyond an equal basis. And it’s highly questionable that he needed it. Take a look a recent Shane Sutton quotes. Dave Brailsford number two for decades. They gamed the system...

QuOTE]

The steroids he received are unlikely to increase his performance as they were given at the wrong time. You need them when you are training and not competing, and actually for a short term dose they will be of zero benefit other than acting as an anti inflammatory. It would be more likely that the potential side effects will be an issue. such as weight gain.

 

[Randyberlin]

Am I the only one who has to blow my nose several times during a race? Maybe I need some PEDs. Seriously I almost never have ride where I exert myself without a runny nose. I though it was normal.

 

[Aleman]

No @Randyberlin , I generally judge a routes difficilty and my effort indoors by the number of Kleenex I use.... A 5 Kleenex route is a really good effort!!!

 

[Crook Town AFC]

.... A 5 Kleenex route is a really good effort!!!

Fnarr Fnarr

 

[Whorty]

Is wheel-sucking performance enhancing?

Depends who you are sucking, and what performance you want to enhance

 

[Whorty]

at the moment a good proportion of the peleton have asthma as a result of being pro athletes so you want them to loose their job on account of their job.
regardless there would be grandfather rights or huge payouts
and next they would all have to have the same bike kit and pay and then it would all die anyway because it is a commercial entity

A really informative article here in CW - https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/the-truth-about-cycling-and-asthma-317941

As you say, a lot of Pro cyclists develop exercise induced asthma purely because they are athletes, even when they have had no asthma symptoms previously. Apparently swimmers are the same as the chlorine in the water can trigger a reaction and an attack. Another recent study of professional footballers also showed that a high % (I think 30%) also have exercise induced asthma.

It would be a real shame if when professional sportsmen have the symptoms triggered they are told they can't compete anymore (or risk a big attack and a serious health risk). I mean, how many of us, in our professional lives, would accept being told that we can't do our jobs anymore, even though there is medication to help us, because something in the environment we work in triggers asthma or similar.

He's another angle ... how would we deal with say a cyclist (or other sportsperson) who has such bad eyesight that they can't see their hand in front of their face, but they wear contacts and have pulled their eyesight to the level of 'able bodied' athletes? Do we ban their use of contact lenses too as it improves the performance of the athlete compared to when they don't wear contacts? It's all very grey but I don't think we should start banning everything just because of a few bad eggs who are cheating.

 

[<Tommy>]

You have to remember that prevention is better than cure... controlling asthma is more important than dealing with the consequences As by then it would be too late. By taking the TUE this is a way of ensuring that the asthma does not become an issue. At that level, even a small loss of air flow can create huge margins.

For what it’s worth Wiggins claims he took the cortisone for hay fever not his asthma.

In general though I just don’t think drugs that powerful should be prescribed if the athlete is going to compete while taking the treatment. In fact I believe if sky had signed up to the same code of conduct as many of the other pro teams he wouldn’t of been able to.

The steroids he received are unlikely to increase his performance as they were given at the wrong time. You need them when you are training and not competing, and actually for a short term dose they will be of zero benefit other than acting as an anti inflammatory. It would be more likely that the potential side effects will be an issue. such as weight gain.

The drug has been used historically amongst cyclists as they believe you can achieve rapid weight loss while maintaining the same power. Often riders will aim to lose weight in a controlled way as yours go on. I learnt that recently as team sky have been far more candid in the way they plan froomes grand tours. So it makes sense why it would be seen as a performance enhancing drug. Like I say, Senior players in team sky have suggested as much.

 

[Randyberlin]

I just googled and found this:

Getting a runny nose on the bike is a given. So we got to wondering whether there were any steps we could take to minimise the annoyance of a leaking schnoz while exercising, also known as exercise-induced rhinitis.

Edit: I'm thinking steroids for me.

 

[<Tommy>]

A really informative article here in CW - https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/the-truth-about-cycling-and-asthma-317941

As you say, a lot of Pro cyclists develop exercise induced asthma purely because they are athletes, even when they have had no asthma symptoms previously. Apparently swimmers are the same as the chlorine in the water can trigger a reaction and an attack. Another recent study of professional footballers also showed that a high % (I think 30%) also have exercise induced asthma.

It would be a real shame if when professional sportsmen have the symptoms triggered they are told they can't compete anymore (or risk a big attack and a serious health risk). I mean, how many of us, in our professional lives, would accept being told that we can't do our jobs anymore, even though there is medication to help us, because something in the environment we work in triggers asthma or similar.

He's another angle ... how would we deal with say a cyclist (or other sportsperson) who has such bad eyesight that they can't see their hand in front of their face, but they wear contacts and have pulled their eyesight to the level of 'able bodied' athletes? Do we ban their use of contact lenses too as it improves the performance of the athlete compared to when they don't wear contacts? It's all very grey but I don't think we should start banning everything just because of a few bad eggs who are cheating.

I mean.... really? Improving someone’s sight so it is the same level as a normal bodied person, compared to someone taking a drug to give them an advantage over everyone else?

 

[Whorty]

The drug has been used historically amongst cyclists as they believe you can achieve rapid weight loss while maintaining the same power. Often riders will aim to lose weight in a controlled way as yours go on. I learnt that recently as team sky have been far more candid in the way they plan froomes grand tours. So it makes sense why it would be seen as a performance enhancing drug. Like I say, Senior players in team sky have suggested as much.

The CW article I linked to says the same ... what is interesting (and what I think Wiggins alluded to) is if you use this drug in competition you need a TUE, but you are allowed to use the exact same drug out of competition, which is when you might be peaking fitness and weight loss.

Thankfully I hate needles (childhood research reasons ...) so never going to be a problem for me

 

[<Tommy>]

I mean.... really? Improving someone’s sight so it is the same level as a normal bodied person, compared to someone taking a drug to give them an advantage over everyone else?

It shouldn’t be a grey area at all. Guess what. Some people aren’t cut out to be pro athletes. Such is life. It’s tough out there.

 

[<Tommy>]

The CW article I linked to says the same ... what is interesting (and what I think Wiggins alluded to) is if you use this drug in competition you need a TUE, but you are allowed to use the exact same drug out of competition, which is when you might be peaking fitness and weight loss.

Thankfully I hate needles (childhood research reasons ...) so never going to be a problem for me

See my above post. It’s banned in competition unless under exemption because they believe it has very strong short term performance advantages.

 

[Whorty]

I mean.... really? Improving someone’s sight so it is the same level as a normal bodied person, compared to someone taking a drug to give them an advantage over everyone else?

But the whole point is (and research backs it up) that these drugs like salbutamol do not give an advantage. So taking many of these asthma drugs is no different in it's performance enhancing effects as contact lenses. So yes, really. The injected drugs are different of course.

 

[Whorty]

It shouldn’t be a grey area at all. Guess what. Some people aren’t cut out to be pro athletes. Such is life. It’s tough out there.

I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

 

[<Tommy>]

At the end of the day as I said earlier they’re all trying to get any advantage they can. And they will fly as close to the wind as possible most the time. Wiggins didn’t actually break any rules technically. But it smells so bad it has tainted is legacy 100%