This was sent to me by a friend in NYC . It was apparently posted in a
forum somewhere on the web; where I don't know.\
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Jacques Anquetil once said "the Tour de France is not won on mineral water
alone". Eddie Merckx failed three drug tests: 1969 Giro di Italia,
(Reactivan) DQed; 30 day suspension 1973 Tour of Lombardie, (Ephedrine);
DQed from race 1977 Fleche Wallone, (Permoline).
Sabino Padilla's paper on Indurain's 1996 Hour Record offers some very
compelling evidence of systematic doping by the cycling's top stars. Padilla
provides documented data on the physical characteristics of Merckx, Moser,
Obree, Indurain, Rominger and Boardman:
Cyclist Distance Date Mass, kg CX, m2 Power, W
Merckx 49.432 10/25/1972 72 0.2618 380
Moser 51.151 1/21/1984 76 0.2481 400
Obree 52.713 4/27/1994 71 0.172 359
Indurain 53.04 9/2/1994 81 0.2441 510
Rominger 55.291 11/5/1994 65 0.1932 456
Boardman 56.375 9/6/1996 69 0.1838 462
His primary conclusion was that even in an aero position, Indurain's large
body presented much more resistance than the others, accept for Merckx and
Moser who did not employ aerobars, although Moser's bicycle and position
were radical in 1984. The use of aerodymanic equipment and position has
obscured the fact that something else is going on.
When normalized for power to weight ratio, the following is obtained:
Cyclist W/Kg
Merckx 5.3
Moser 5.3
Obree 5.1
Indurain 6.3
Rominger 7.0
Boardman 6.7
Both Merckx and Moser set their records at altitude in Mexico City, which at
8000 feet would present about a 10% power loss. Hence, Merckx and Moser's
sea-level power was around 5.8 W/Kg, 9% less than Indurain, 15.5% less than
Boardman, and 21% less than Rominger. Only the amateur Obree has a
power-weight ratio consistent with Merckx and Moser, and by employing a
radical position he was able to set an hour record. One can only conclude
that Indurain, Rominger and Boardman all employeed some type of hematocrit
manipulation when setting their records.