Team Sky totally not suspicious at all with this Sergio Henao thing...

[FlashUNC]

Now for the second time he's being pulled from competition because of weird blood results, and Team Sky hasn't published the promised report they said they'd have after the first case.

Yes, pay attention to the minor domestique, not our tour winners or classics rider who's suddenly top 10 on Tour mountain stages or anything...

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/henao-withdrawn-from-competition-by-team-sky-while-ucis-cycling-anti-doping-foundation-studies-blood-values/

[MattTuck]

ven diagram of suspicious stuff. ;)

But seriously, that is more for fun. Getting a journal article published can be hard and take a long time.

[Lewis Moon]

High Altitude Hummingbirds have Bigger Wings (http://www.livescience.com/3765-high-altitude-hummingbirds-bigger-wings.html)

Not beyond the realm of possibility that better O2 transport might have been a selective element in high altitude populations. We would, however, be talking about very large timeframes.

[FlashUNC]

Fair enough, but wouldn't, say, Nairo Quintana have the same issues?

Seems a bit odd its just one guy on Sky having this issue, when there are several South Americans riding in the Pro Tour these days.

[Lewis Moon]

Fair enough, but wouldn't, say, Nairo Quintana have the same issues?

Seems a bit odd its just one guy on Sky having this issue, when there are several South Americans riding in the Pro Tour these days.

Nature is not homogenous. Not everyone can run fast, jump high or even think their way out of a wet paper bag, although those things were probably selected for during our evolution.

[FlashUNC]

Nature is not homogenous. Not everyone can run fast, jump high or even think their way out of a wet paper bag, although those things were probably selected for during our evolution.

Yes, but they're arguing altitude plays a role at a fundamental level, much like your hummingbird example. Quintana lived at altitude, just like Henao.

[Black Dog]

Yes, but they're arguing altitude plays a role at a fundamental level, much like your hummingbird example. Quintana lived at altitude, just like Henao.

Altitude can act as a selective pressure. Look at the Sherpas; they have a very high hematocrit as a result of natural selection. It is not just a physiological response to altitude, they keep a high hematocrit even after extended periods at low elevations.

[batman1425]

Environments apply selective pressure, but each given individual will respond differently to that pressure, especially over short generational periods of time. Given enough time with a selective pressure, you would expect broad adaptation of an advantageous trait - but that takes many, many, many generations - and a competitive advantage for individuals with those traits for creating offspring.

Quintana may have other underlying genetic factors which lessen or reverse the effects that are phenotypically present in Sergio. Or perhaps Quintana's family has more folks that lived in low altitude environments. Countless other possibilities for why 2 people that "live" in the same area have different phenotypic traits. Genetics at this level are far to complex to predict in any appreciable way with out sufficient n's.

[ultraman6970]

Henao came up with this blood thing last year right?? yes he was :D

[KJMUNC]

Look at the Sherpas; they have a very high hematocrit as a result of natural selection.

When is someone going to go grab a few of those guys and start a team. Team Sherpa.....TdF 2020!

[Joxster]

Altitude can act as a selective pressure. Look at the Sherpas; they have a very high hematocrit as a result of natural selection. It is not just a physiological response to altitude, they keep a high hematocrit even after extended periods at low elevations.

Over a three week tour your HCT level naturally declines, its those that maintain their HCT levels over three weeks that are suspicious

[jpw]

is the max 50%?

who set that number? it sounds arbitrary.

[ldamelio]

is the max 50%?

who set that number? it sounds arbitrary.

It's two standard deviations from average and thus technically denotes abnormal (< 5% of the population). It was chosen when testing for EPO and analogues was not yet invented. It is still useful as a screen to catch folks possibly using hematopoietic drugs for which there is no testing without formally accusing them in case they are one of the 5%. That's how the 'normal' range for most quantitative lab values is set. A small proportion of the population will be above or below the range (but usually close to top or bottom normal) without actually having a medical condition.
Hematocrit also rises transiently with dehydration (it's a ratio of PRBC to plasma) so it is possible to transiently increase ones Hct a few points after a hard ride or race. No performance benefit in this situation; RBC mass and oxygen carrying capacity are unchanged and blood volume is lower. The number changes upward but the athlete is just dehydrated transiently which will hurt performance. Thus, it is possible to have a Hct above 50% or a change from baseline without doping.

All this is just for information, not taking a stand on Henao as I'm not informed on the specifics of his case (and am generally tired of the doping topic and most of pro cycling outside the Classics).

[chiasticon]

Team Principal Dave Brailsford said then that the team had contacted the UCI and the Cycling Anti Doping Foundation [CADF] over the matter, and that independent scientific research would be commissionedhow much money does Sky have that they can just randomly hire an "independent" group of research scientists for ten weeks to look into this?

[guido]

Probably related to the secret training method SKY talked about this spring but couldn't give any details on...

[bikingshearer]

how much money does Sky have that they can just randomly hire an "independent" group of research scientists for ten weeks to look into this?

On the other hand, it doesn't cost a thing to say you're going to hire an "independent" group of research scientists.

Just sayin'.