Some Empirical Notes on the Epo Epidemic in Professional Cycling

• Autores: Hein F. M. Lodewijkx, Bram Brouwer
• Localización: Research quarterly for exercise and sport, ISSN 0270-1367, Vol. 82, Nº. 4, 2011, págs. 740-754
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The 1990�2010 period in professional cycling is labeled by some as the epo epidemic. Surprisingly, performance enhancement by epo and blood doping is not that clear-cut for endurance athletes, leading to the question whether doping indeed strongly influenced cyclists� performances from the 1990s onwards. We examined the records (1947�2008) of the Tour de France, Giro d�Italia, and Vuelta a España (N = 181) and assessed the time it took riders to win the race. The findings revealed normally distributed performances and linear and quartic relationships in victors� performances over time that correspond with Brewer�s (2002) sociohistorical analysis of professional cycling, suggesting that effects of the epo epidemic on professional cyclists� achievements may be overestimated