Message #2455

[hilljockey]

Basso's Blood Values Publicised
Recent Giro winner Ivan Basso has lived up to his transperancy promise by publishing his blood values from the biological passport program in the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport this weekend. The results show that his hematocrit level in Amsterdam before the start of the race was at 43% hematocrit & 13.9g/dl haemoglobin, the second control was on the second rest day (40.9, 13.3) and the final control was in Verona on the morning of the last stage (38.7, 12.9).

So overall a 4.3% drop in hematocrit during the 3 week race - totally normal according to the experts and evidence of a 'good possibility' of a clean result. According to the UCI the blood levels have dropped significantly throughout the peloton since 2008 - after the introduction of their biological passport system and a 3-6% drop is exactly what they expect to see after a Grand Tour.