Tests measure the amount of EPO in the blood stream-- a haematocrit level-- but are unable to differentiate between amounts of EPO occuring naturally and those added through drug taking.
22.
In 1997, the Union Cycliste Internationale ( UCI ) instituted a new rule that riders testing above 50 % haematocrit were not only immediately disqualified, but banned from racing for two weeks.
23.
Significant associations were also between cognitive function and blood rheology and negative associations with both haematocrit and plasma viscosity, but not with the thrombotic potential of blood, as indicated by fibrinogen level.
24.
If haematocrit levels ( volume of red blood cells ) got dangerously high, they would re-inject plasma as well, enhanced with EPO, to dilute the red blood cells and avoid detection.
25.
The rules regarding haematocrit testing for track cycling were subsequently changed as the resting period before an event can cause the red cell volume to exceed 50 %, with subsequent blood tests often proving the riders to be clean.
26.
The rider was suspended by his team who released a statement saying that the haemoglobin and haematocrit levels appeared low, due to anaemia as a result of bleeding that the rider had suffered in April 2009 due to haemorrhoids.
27.
The specific markers the module tests for include haematocrit, haemoglobin, red blood cell count, percentage of reticulocytes, reticulocytes count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean red cell distribution width, and immature reticulocyte fraction.
28.
In 1994, his haematocrit values fluctuated from 40.7 % on 16 March, early in the season, to 54.55 % on 23 May, during the first stages of the Tour de France, where he won two stages; and over 60 % in October, after the accident in the Milano Torino.
29.
Robert Millar, former racer, later wrote for " Cycling News " that the 50 % limit was " an open invitation to dope to that level ", pointing out that normally haematocrit levels would start " around 40-42 % " and drop during the course of a " grand tour ", but after EPO, they were staying at 50 % for " weeks at a time ".
