If you were a pro rider during the EPO era, what would you have done?

If I where in a team that had no doping well then id be clean,but if I was in a team similar to the US Postal team I prop be full to the gills of everything :-)

Taken it until they developed a test for it, after that not so sure

Lets be honest, you're a young rider who's worked his ass of to get a pro contract, and the next thing you know is you're being told by doctors and director sportifs that the only way you're going to be able to compete is by using EPOs. The choice between being famous and earning a mint, or staying clean and your opponents have the upper hand.

Part of the problem is how much people have already invested in the sport before the choice is presented to them. Another part of the problem is the youth of those facing the decision - I did terrible things to myself in my teens and twenties and there wasn't even money and fame at stake.

From reading David Millar's autobiography, I suspect most people would end up juiced.

i would no prob.you dont no who is no what these days even in amature sports.when i was in recruit training for the army not the irish army different one altogether i was introduced to all sorts.first was D-norpseudo ephedrine HCI 20.tried that before a run one day.it was serious cardio enhancer last for hours though.then i tried clenbuterol much the same as above but not as strong.calves kept getting muscle spasms and you run hot on it great for weight loss and keeps hunger at bay.then anavar was tried with all the above this helps in lean muscle mass and fatloss with little or know side affects.i mention the above becus they are prob used still today by cycling teams as they have a sort half life and are out of your system in a few hours.i could go in to in greater detail but thats what google is for.their all tablet form well the D-norpseudo ephedrine is drops.i could go into the injectable forms but id be here all day.i use the above at the start of the football session to get the edge.as one wise man said[if your not cheating your not trying]ha ha

bazermc wrote: »

With all this talk of who took EPO etc etc etc, I still dont really understand what it is other than a performance enhancing drug.

So question please, what exactly does EPO do to your body and how does it assist in cycling performance?

Others more learned than wot I am can expand on this, but it increases your red blood cell count so you can get more oxygen from your lungs to your muscles where it's needed for cycling.

And in answer to the OPs question, I'd have been whizzed off my tiny tits. I see no point in trundling along behind the peloton in a smug little cloud of moral superiority.

I probably wouldn't have doped and just come home and stomped all over the amateur scene.

I'd have bought it myself without talking to anyone. Then taken it once, just the once, in my hotel room alone.

epo is not classed as juice but performance enhancer juice is street name for anabolic steriods.

To all those who said they WOULD have doped with EPO. I think you are wrong. I think that regular-minded people would realise that the risk of death just to go faster on a push-bike is ludicrous. And it is.

This is th eoriginal no-brainer. I'd love to see IQ tests on people who took that risk. There's the moral issue too which I'd like to think would also have desuaded me from doping but, definitely the dying thing would have put me off.