Tour de France
- Thread starter Rupert
- Start date
Saw a different Alpecin ad tonight. The tag line I can't remember exactly but goes something like "designer drugs for your hair". Pity they don't use that in the cycling.
Cobalt Chloride for increasing EPO
by: Anthony Roberts
Cobalt Chloride is currently available without a prescription, is untested for, not banned or illegal, and increases EPO (erythropoietin) as effectively as many prescription/banned/illegal alternatives. As you probably surmised by the name, it presents as a dark blue substance, although it reacts chemically with water (and other liquids) to change its appearance. If you ever had an "invisible ink" spy kit as a child (or adult, I suppose), you're probably familiar with the stuff already.
Cobalt is a constituent of vitamin B-12, and as a result, there is no RDA for it - but we'd be talking microgram amounts if we were discussing how much you could expect to find in your diet. Generally, you're not going to find the stuff listed on any multivitamins, and you'd be talking to a chemical supply house if you were trying to get your hands on it.
Cobalt also has another property which has gone relatively unnoticed by athletes: it increases EPO when taken orally. This ought to be somewhat obvious, as it has been used to treat certain types of anemia, which is characterized by a lowered red blood cell count. Here's how it works:
Hypoxia Inducible Factor and the HIF pathway are responsible for the expression of a variety of physiological responses to oxygen deprivation and conditions of lowered oxygen intake - similar to what would be seen with altitude training, which itself relies on adaptations mediated by this pathway to stimulate an increase in endogenous EPO and red blood cells.
Typically, the mediator of HIF undergoes rapid degredation under conditions of adequate oxygen intake. However, in an oxygen-deprived environment, it remains active for much longer and sets off a sequence of events that (among other benefits) activates the gene for producing EPO that promote efficient adaptation to hypoxia. Cobalt chloride appears to mimic the oxygen-deprived state at the genomic level, thereby causing the HIF mediator to remain stable enough to initiate increased EPO production.
In a rodent study published in 1947, a daily subcutaneous injection of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight, over 6 weeks, produced a 30% increase in the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin. To mimic that effect orally, the scientists needed to bump the dose to 40 mg/kg (a dose that when administered subcutaneously resulted in death by day eight).(1)
However, a study published a few years later, by the same scientists in 1954, has suggested that polycythemia (an increase in the proportion of red blood cells) of up to 20% can be realized with a mere 120-150mgs/day. (2)
In terms of detection time, there is no current test for "cobalt doping" although we can reasonably expect that it would be a difficult one to engineer. Cobalt displays an absorptive half-life of 0.9 hrs, with an elimination phase half-life of 3.9 hrs and a terminal elimination half-life of 22.9 hrs. (3)
So it appears that Cobalt is an effective way to produce effects similar to EPO - a huge boost for endurance athletes or anyone needing increased stamina. Unfortunately, while it is legal and widely available, I don't know anyone who's experimented with it, and I'm hesitant to fully trust research from half a century ago.
by: Anthony Roberts
Cobalt is a constituent of vitamin B-12, and as a result, there is no RDA for it - but we'd be talking microgram amounts if we were discussing how much you could expect to find in your diet. Generally, you're not going to find the stuff listed on any multivitamins, and you'd be talking to a chemical supply house if you were trying to get your hands on it.
Cobalt also has another property which has gone relatively unnoticed by athletes: it increases EPO when taken orally. This ought to be somewhat obvious, as it has been used to treat certain types of anemia, which is characterized by a lowered red blood cell count. Here's how it works:
Hypoxia Inducible Factor and the HIF pathway are responsible for the expression of a variety of physiological responses to oxygen deprivation and conditions of lowered oxygen intake - similar to what would be seen with altitude training, which itself relies on adaptations mediated by this pathway to stimulate an increase in endogenous EPO and red blood cells.
Typically, the mediator of HIF undergoes rapid degredation under conditions of adequate oxygen intake. However, in an oxygen-deprived environment, it remains active for much longer and sets off a sequence of events that (among other benefits) activates the gene for producing EPO that promote efficient adaptation to hypoxia. Cobalt chloride appears to mimic the oxygen-deprived state at the genomic level, thereby causing the HIF mediator to remain stable enough to initiate increased EPO production.
In a rodent study published in 1947, a daily subcutaneous injection of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight, over 6 weeks, produced a 30% increase in the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin. To mimic that effect orally, the scientists needed to bump the dose to 40 mg/kg (a dose that when administered subcutaneously resulted in death by day eight).(1)
However, a study published a few years later, by the same scientists in 1954, has suggested that polycythemia (an increase in the proportion of red blood cells) of up to 20% can be realized with a mere 120-150mgs/day. (2)
In terms of detection time, there is no current test for "cobalt doping" although we can reasonably expect that it would be a difficult one to engineer. Cobalt displays an absorptive half-life of 0.9 hrs, with an elimination phase half-life of 3.9 hrs and a terminal elimination half-life of 22.9 hrs. (3)
So it appears that Cobalt is an effective way to produce effects similar to EPO - a huge boost for endurance athletes or anyone needing increased stamina. Unfortunately, while it is legal and widely available, I don't know anyone who's experimented with it, and I'm hesitant to fully trust research from half a century ago.
Gee my Science teacher never looked that good, nor did my fellow female classmates! lol
This could be the new talking point.
This could be the new talking point.
Mine did! We all had the hots for her.
Anyway, with this being a few weeks away I've been given an indication that SBS should be doing the fantasy game - as well as another site in Australia. So could go with 2 different sites. One with lots of people in, the other may not have lots of people in. We'll see what happens over the coming week or two.
Yeah, I heard that they were having a fantasy competition on their cycling podcast.
I've been waiting for it to appear as I'd love to have a SCC League again this year. With prizes to be won in Australia!!
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I'll be in for it.
I have also had a look at the fantasy comp on www.velogames.com
Not sure how it compares to the format that SBS run with (assuming they use the same format as in the past).
I have also had a look at the fantasy comp on www.velogames.com
Not sure how it compares to the format that SBS run with (assuming they use the same format as in the past).
I've entered the Velogames comps for the Giro and the Classics but I don't particularly like the format for the GTs.
You select your team before the race and that is it - no transfers at all. If a rider crashes out in the first day or so, tough.
I ended up losing 4 riders from my team in the first week of the Giro.
Sportsdeck, who run the Real Dream Team comp, also have a TdF fantasy comp going. The format is OK but I reckon the one we entered last year, on RCUK, was better. As far as I can tell there are no prizes. Here is a link: http://tdf.udt.co.za
IIRC the format SBS used to use is the same as the RCUK one. It is my preferred choice. I haven't been able to find a 2016 RCUK comp either.
You select your team before the race and that is it - no transfers at all. If a rider crashes out in the first day or so, tough.
I ended up losing 4 riders from my team in the first week of the Giro.
Sportsdeck, who run the Real Dream Team comp, also have a TdF fantasy comp going. The format is OK but I reckon the one we entered last year, on RCUK, was better. As far as I can tell there are no prizes. Here is a link: http://tdf.udt.co.za
IIRC the format SBS used to use is the same as the RCUK one. It is my preferred choice. I haven't been able to find a 2016 RCUK comp either.
It's more the game developer having the game up late than the sites themselves. RoadcyclingUK has theirs up now.
https://roadcyclinguk.com/sportive/roadcyclinguk-fantasy-tour-de-france-2016-coming-soon.html
SBS will have theirs up Tuesday. Obviously the game developer has been a bit late.
Both are the same. May as well enter both?
https://roadcyclinguk.com/sportive/roadcyclinguk-fantasy-tour-de-france-2016-coming-soon.html
SBS will have theirs up Tuesday. Obviously the game developer has been a bit late.
Both are the same. May as well enter both?
Your mates with Baden Cook?
I remember his green jersey win. What a win. Won it on the last day by coming 2nd in a sprint finish on the Champs. Just beat out Robbie McEwen. Last time the green jersey was close.
Good odds for Nibali but not unrealistic. Won the Giro and hard to back up for the tour. Has said he's riding to support Aru.
Yeah mate he's my high school mate. We're standing side by side in year 7 photo. I watched him win the green with my mum in Darwin on TV. Even she sat up for it- pretty surreal seeing that happen to someone from back home.
Ah well if Nibali is riding to support someone else then puts a bit of cold water on him. I'll ask Cookie!