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SPORTS Friday 30 June 2017
Doping drug gives no edge to serious cyclists in study

By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Previous studies of EPO in the group’s ban on EPO.
AP Medical Writer sports have been flawed, “We would need much
The blood booster at Heuberger said. Partici- more than this,” Rabin said.
the heart of the Lance pants weren’t trained ath- “The scientific community
Armstrong doping scan- letes, knew they were get- will receive this with a lot of
dal does not improve ting EPO, or testing was skepticism.”
real-world cycling perfor- limited to short bursts of EPO, produced naturally
mance, according to the strength and endurance. in the body, enhances the
most rigorous study yet of EPO is among more than ability to carry oxygen to
how the protein EPO af- 300 substances banned the muscles and is thought
fects athletes. by the World Anti-Doping to increase endurance.
The results, published Thurs- Agency. Doctors use a manufac-
day in the journal Lancet Cycling’s anti-doping unit tured version to treat ane-
Haematology , may con- is again gearing up for mia related to cancer or
vince some to pay more at- comprehensive testing at kidney disease. It thickens
tention to the harms of sup- this year’s Tour de France, blood, too, which can raise
posed performance-en- planning an average of the risk for heart disease
hancing drugs by punching eight tests per day, always and stroke.
holes in the myths surround- including the race leader For the test, the Dutch sci- This Sunday, July 19, 2015 photo made with a slow shutter speed
ing them, researchers said. and winner of each stage, entists used gold-standard shows riders during the fifteenth stage of the Tour de France cy-
cling race in Valence, France.
Dutch scientists staged a plus six others. The race methods as if they were
bike race up a mountain starts Saturday in Duessel- studying a new drug for a None knew whether he Researchers and cyclists
to study whether erythro- dorf, Germany. medical condition. was getting the real stuff traveled from the Neth-
poietin (EPO) lives up to its One support rider already “The medicine is EPO and or dummy injections. Re- erlands to France for the
reputation, transporting a has been dropped from his the disease is slow cycling,” searchers gave the EPO main event. On race day,
large group of avid cyclists team after an out-of-com- Heuberger said. “Can you group enough to increase the cyclists rode for 110 kilo-
to southern France in a tour petition test was positive for really improve cycling per- their levels of hemoglobin, meters (68 miles) together,
bus and putting on a gruel- EPO. In 2012, formance with EPO?” the part of blood that car- then raced for 21.5 kilome-
ing day of cycling for them. Armstrong was stripped of Professional athletes were ries oxygen. ters (13 miles) up Mont Ven-
“It was hectic and stressful, his seven Tour de France ti- impossible to study be- To nobody’s surprise, the toux, a peak that’s often
but also a lot of fun and ex- tles for doping and he later cause they’re barred from EPO group did better on part of the Tour de France.
hilarating,” said Jules Heu- admitted to using EPO and taking EPO. Instead, the a short, high-intensity test Those who’d had EPO in-
berger of the Centre for other banned substances. scientists recruited 48 ama- in the lab where they ped- jections were 17 seconds
Human Drug Research in The anti-doping agency’s teur, but well-trained male aled on an incline until slower on average com-
Leiden, Netherlands, who science director, Olivier cyclists willing to take shots they were exhausted. But pared to cyclists who got
led the effort and describes Rabin, said he would read for eight weeks then race the two groups performed dummy injections. Most of
himself as “an active, fa- the study with interest, but up a mountain in southern equally on a 45-minute en- them guessed wrongly that
natic cyclist.” doubted it would change France. durance test inside. they got the fake shots. q
1980s Oilers enforcer Dave Semenko dies of cancer at 59

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) sil McRae and Tim Hunter, dition rapidly deteriorated.
— Dave Semenko, the Ed- who served a similar role for “Unfortunately, this wasn’t
monton Oilers tough guy the rival Flames. his fight to win,” Hall of
who protected Wayne Oilers executive Kevin Fame defenseman Paul
Gretzky during the 1980s, Lowe, a star defenseman Coffey said. “It’s a terrible
has died. He was 59. on Edmonton’s Stanley Cup disease.
He died in Edmonton after champion squads, called He’s the biggest guy I’ve
a short battle with cancer, Semenko the “Wayne seen taken down that fast.
the team said Thursday. Gretzky of the tough guys” But he did it with dignity,
“His legendary toughness in his book “Champions.” surrounded by his (loved
on the ice is surpassed only “He really kept us all ones).”
by his kindness and caring grounded,” Lowe said Semenko spent the bulk of
for others, and his equally Thursday at a press confer- his career with the Oilers,
legendary wit and sense of ence with some of Semen- finishing with the Hartford
humor,” the Oilers said in a ko’s former teammates. Whalers and Toronto Maple
statement. “He had an incredible wit Leafs. The 6-foot-3 winger
Semenko was the body- In this Oct. 21, 2016, file photo, former Edmonton Oilers hockey and he reminded us often from Winnipeg, Manitiba,
guard for “The Great One” players Wayne Gretzky, left, and Dave Semenko joke around of who we are, and not had 65 goals, 88 assists
for parts of 10 seasons during a practice for the NHL’s Heritage Classic Alumni game in allow for our heads to get and 1,175 penalty minutes
with the Oilers in the World Winnipeg, Manitoba. bigger than they were.” in 575 regular-season NHL
Hockey Association and Associated Press “The greatest of all time are games.
NHL. He helped Edmonton the toughest player I knew In an era where hulking up in the (rafters) at Rog- He had six goals, six assists
win the Stanley Cup in 1984 and yet the biggest teddy enforcers roamed the ice ers Place, but those greats in 73 playoff games.
and 1985. bear you would ever know. alongside the league’s top couldn’t have done it with- “I loved Semenk like we
“One of the first Oilers I met A beloved Oiler that will stars, Semenko was one of out the support and aid of all did,” said Hall of Famer
in 1978, I didn’t know at the be missed dearly because the toughest. And he had Dave Semenko.” Mark Messier, a longtime
time the impact he would of his kind heart and funny plenty of competition, of- Lowe said the cancer was teammate. “He was a
have in my life and my ca- sense of humor. He made ten going toe-to-toe with detected about three great teammate, a loyal
reer,” Gretzky said. “He was us all better people.” the likes of Bob Probert, Ba- weeks ago at a medical friend, a loving father and
appointment, and his con- a worthy champion.”q