Originally Posted by aggs:
“Yes, wasn't EPO supossed to mimic the effects of training at altitude - and then when it was detectable the next thing was to actually train at altitude but give the red blood cell rich blood which was kept ready to be transfused when an altitude boost was needed?”
There were all sorts of variations involving blood transfusions. In the early days EPO was very often fatal, because more blood cells means more blood coagulation, and a greater risk of heart attacks. At one point they worked out that you could lower the risk of heart attacks by exercising every eight hours, so teams were getting up at 3 in the morning, doing an hour or so on exercise bikes, then going back to bed again. You can judge the extent to which the UCI and the media were turning a blind eye when all this was going on in 2-star hotels dotted around the motorways of Europe.
What put a stop to it was Italy and France passing laws that put the criminal liability on the team managers, doctors, physios etc who were supplying the drugs, rather than on the cyclists.