Lotto-Soudal's Tim Wellens says cyclists using inhalers are cheating

Disagree entirely Lev, you suggest it is merely 'luck' that makes the elite athletes elite, it is not. You need to remember that the rules apply to you and I too then when entering a BC event or getting membership; so I have to stop taking insulin or riding my bike? You could be tested after a coffee stop and be sanctioned for too much caffeine? Where would we then draw the line, the foods athletes eat are not natural, the post race care they receive is not natural?

As for Froome and the explanation, you are totally wrong, as is the test. The test is to determine how much he put into his body by looking how much the output is and the 2 things do not exactly correlate due to a myriad of other factors. If Froome took 3 puffs of his inhaler tomorrow and the reading in his test showed 50,000 he would return an adverse result and not broken any of the rules. Why then do you think he should be punished if they can prove beyond reasonable doubt why the test returned an adverse result? 

Only problem for those physically perfect Titans who believe the medically weak and imperfect have no place competing, ie those with asthma, is that no study shows performance enhancement from inhalers.

The levels of facetiousness on this thread are ridiculous. No, you using an inhaler when riding on Zwift is not comparable to Froome at the Vuelta. Wellens has a point, if your problem is chronic then getting ongoing medication is not natural.  A large part of being an elite sportsman is having the right body type and finding the right sport at the right age. There is an element of luck about it, many of us are not lucky enough to find that slot or have that body; if you have sports induced asthma then you (Froome) are getting an ongoing boost over and above your natural baseline ability already by taking any medication. Froome should be punished for overstepping the mark, even if there is some reasonable explanation. If his breathing was so bad he had to exceed the medical guideline then he shouldn't have continued. After all Contador got banned for having nanograms of Clenbuterol in him, so we need a new bad-guy in the pack.

A few puffs of an asthma inhaler can make you win the Vuelta a Espana, .....is that so Tim?

Positioning is still vital in Zwift, for covering breaks or keeping in the draft whilst in a group

I am sure that Jimnm's rant is a tongue in cheek joke

No caffeine? No protein? No operation for Valverde?

Simple answer ban all drugs. This creates a fair playing field. Then you have a black and white scenario. 

If your not fit and healthy ride a bike but don’t compete. 

Unless I am misreading his comments, he seems to be confusing a blue inhaler with cortisone.

WADA have a proscribed list for a reason, and salbutamol in inhaled form, is not banned. It seems that Tim knows better than the experts.

Drug use and misuse are two different things and he seems to have conflated those as well.

Tim likes it black and White. Sory the real world is a tad more complex than Tim. By the way Tim which study shows any performance enhancement? Oops none of them do you simple fellow. So lay of slagging people with asthma who want to race just like a prime healthy physical specimens like you.

The problem with demonising the use of asthma inhalers is that it creates a climate in which an asthmatic athlete may feel uncomfortable using their medication and may suffer significant harm as a result of not doing so.

So sometimes when your legs feel a bit heavy before a ride try taking a couple of paracetamol and I can guarantee you will your legs will be invigorated in no time. Is this cheating ? ? ?

If inhalers are banned, coffee (caffeine) should be banned.

Caffeine is a massive performance enhancer, most the pros have a few cups of coffee before a race.

Caffeine is a great performance enhancer for mere mortals like us here.

Everybody will suffer symptoms of asthma. excercising at extremes will exacerbate these symptoms ergo: a cyclist riding up hill, or in cold climates will show symptoms of asthma, eg shortness of breathe, chest pain, coughing etc and if that cyclist belongs to a  team that has a understanding Doctor can get prescribed salbutamol. and asthma is widely recognised as a lifelong condition, they will always be able to get that prescription.

So young Mr Wellens may be right, to a point.

one thing i have never really understood though is that excercise can help alleviate symptoms of asthma. stronger lungs, better able to deal with symptoms of asthma in my own personal experience this is true. so im a little puzzled to see competitive cyclists coughing and ahem wheezing and using any kind of pumps; This is maybe where Mr wellens is correct..

Of course no real evidence out there that salbutamol assists athletes.

im not a doctor, but have a been prescribed salbutamol blue pump beclomestasone brown pump for EIA

Using an inhaler brings you back to where you were doesn't it? 

If he doesn't want to use one then fine, but used within the rules it's not against the rules. 

A very tricky subject, TUEs and restricted use medications/supplements. If a pro falls, breaks his/her collarbone, but is on a team or has the personal resource to fund bone implants/hyperbaric chamber treatment are they "cheating"? They've returned to competition quicker than the "man on the street" surely. If a rider/team decide that they will only race using "normal" food and drink. No sports supplements, gels etc. And they find they are never competitive against teams who do using sport nutrition can they claim that everyone else is cheating? If Ray Booty raced a TT on his standard drop bar machine against one of today's TT racers on full aero bike and kit could he say he'd been cheated?

I'm not using the above in defense of anyone exploiting/exceeding the rules. Just trying to illustrate the difficulties of the binary standpoint.

He's just trying to turn quitting into virtue signalling. Truth probably is he would have quit with or without meds.

Wiz, my point was that Wellens is basically saying if you need a drug, don't ride. The fact that the Novo athletes can put themselves thru such punishment amazes and inspires me. As someone rank average that can have a bad day and empty the tank quicker than worse riders than me, I don't know how they can be so damn good to compete in elite sport.

Other than that, you're wrong. Insulin is on the banned substance list as it can give you massive training and muscular gains if used right (wrong).

He is just trying to justify his own decisions. I’ve had asthma for 30+ years and rely on the doctors prescriptions to ensure my symptoms are kept in check. As long as the prescriptions are issued and medicines used accordingly, that’s fine. What needs to be tackled here is incorrect diagnosis, false prescriptions and athletes who don’t need any medication using it for competitive gains. Don’t penalise those athletes who genuinely need the medicines to manage their condition.

I've suffered from Asthma since a child, but in the last 10 years it has pretty much gone, due to me building a house with solid wood floors and no carpets( so mine was more allergen induced). However there is a month period around June which triggers my asthma again and I have to take alot of inhalers to suppress the symptoms. Does that make me a doper because I keep racing on Zwift? So many causes which trigger an asthma attack

He is making a sound point.

Many, not all, riders are ABUSING the inhaler not USING it for medical reasons.

An inconvenient truth for Froomey's fans, I'd suggest.

Pro cyclist's are just as guilty as any other sportsmen/women of cheating.

The diving footballer is just more conspicuous.

It's not as if cycling has a lily-white history.

They are professional and will do what it takes to gain an advantage. 

Success=Money&fame.