Froome and the Inhaler

Yes Chris I know that feeling
Yes Chris I know that feeling well. Several times I’ve gone off to the doctor with limited breathing either due to asthma or chest infections and they’ve tested me, replied that I’m reading above average perfectly well and then it’s been very hard to convince them, because they’ve not kept records, that my lung function in terms of flow and capacity was at least 25% below my normal.

I think there is still so little understanding of individuals different levels in so many areas of physiology – hence the biological passports programme and even then as seen recently with Henao there is more to be learned.

shay cycles wrote:
If I wrote

shay cycles wrote:

If I wrote a book about cycling I doubt the inhaler would get a mention either.

But hey! this is a Team Sky Rider and also one of our own so he must be cheating mustn’t he?

This is a pro rider who said in 2013 he is on a “personal mission to show the sport has changed”, riding for a self-proclaimed clean team that promised transparency and a zero-tolerance.

And yet he (and his team) failed to recognise the importance of transparency around Froome’s asthma? Does Petacchi’s ban not ring any bells for them as to why this could be important?

But then, I suppose that was in the dark days – Froome’s ‘personal mission’ seems to consist of winning in the current era which must be clean, well….because….it’s the current era – Afterall, Froome has said that he understands why people still question him and his team, but suggests that “the questions should be asked of people who were winning races five-ten years ago when we know doping was more prevalent”.

That’s transparency for you!

That’s why I’m not a Sky fan.

daddyELVIS wrote:
3. At the

daddyELVIS wrote:

3. At the point he took a puff, he didn’t look like he was suffering, and if he was he recovered well.

If you get asthma you can often feel it starting before others would notice – and I imagine a professional cyclist is probably more aware than most how his body behaves so even faster to pick it up.

Additionally, Froome probably has a phenomenal lung capacity so even when a bit wheezy probably still performs better than the average person. An attack makes it harder to breathe than it normally is _for that person_. My wife has fairly bad asthma but is fairly fit from cycling and jogging. According to her peak flow results she has better lung capacity than most of Britain even whilst she is having an attack. She feels it is hard to breathe though and has a massive drop from her normal levels.

As for quick recovery – salbutomal (sp?) is amazing stuff. It is really quick acting if you can get it in.

I too have an inhaler for
I too have an inhaler for asthma – in my case it seems to be an alleric asthma aggravated by exercise.

Strangly, although I’ve had inhalers for around 35 years, I’ve also never mentioned them publicly – not in blogs, or social media not in any of the writing I do as a hobby or for work.

If I wrote an autobiography I doubt the inhalers would get a mention and I’m sure there would be plenty of other stuff that wouldn’t either.

If I wrote a book about cycling I doubt the inhaler would get a mention either.

But hey! this is a Team Sky Rider and also one of our own so he must be cheating mustn’t he?

approx. 8% of adults have
approx. 8% of adults have asthma. That proportion somehow appears to be much, much higher in pro cyclists.

“At times, UCI officials “have graded up to 80 percent of riders as asthmatics. The only surprising thing is that the world is so stupid to believe that,”
Werner Franke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Franke

Correct me if i’m wrong, but
Correct me if i’m wrong, but did The Climb not get released till 5th June and you have read it already ?, there’s me thinking you didn’t like Sky….

Just making observations 😉

Al__S wrote:the fundamental

Al__S wrote:

the fundamental fact is that ventolin inhalers have no effect on someone that does not have constricted airways. They cannot open your airways up any more than as big as they should be. That’s why WADA doesn’t care about them.

Indeed. I am asthmatic, but it is very well controlled and I hardly ever need my blue inhaler. If i do end up using it then the best that happens is that my breathing gets back to somewhere near normal.

Also one puff or so is nothing.