Came to think of this now 11 year old article from norwegian VG.no. Ex pro road cyclist Mads Kaggestad shares his insights after being a WADA guinea pig, and even though theres not any concrete numbers besides a VO2 max, its an interesting read.
"After the flurry of doping revelations, you may have wondered what blood doping does to the body. Here, Mads Kaggestad (35) tells exactly how it feels.
In 1997, TV2's cycling expert was injected with EPO to help in anti-doping work.
The then 21-year-old Kaggestad received EPO under the auspices of the international anti-doping agency WADA. The aim was to find tests that could reveal cyclists who had used the substance, which stimulates the production of red blood cells and thus improves endurance.
- They were very excited about my results. I didn't get to know exactly how well I did, other than that I performed extreamly well, says Kaggestad.
- Could compete without being caught
After the project, he learned that he had had 90 in O2 recordings - off-season. It is a very high record, but Kaggestad also achieved it naturally later on.
- What was interesting was that everyone in the field knew about EPO and that there was no test for it at the time. The cycling association introduced a blood value limit, but even though I received EPO I was never close to it. I could compete with the substance in me without problems, says Kaggestad.
Biked from the teammate
He was one of two cyclists who took part in WADA's project. The other was Gabriel Rasch. For one month, three times a week, the two had injections. But while Kaggestad received EPO, Rasch only received saline.
- Gabriel also felt that things were getting better, but gradually my heart rate started to be lower than his. He also started complaining about my speed in training and said I needed to take it more easy. My workload was lower and I recovered faster. I generally had a lot of energy in my everyday life, I didn't get tired during the training and I felt light. It was as if I got into natural peak shape. When I drove hard, no one followed. There could have been many reasons for that, but it went quickly for me, Kaggestad explains
Kaggestad has previously told VG Nett that some suspected that he was involved in the EPO project to learn, but he believes that only positive things came out of the collaboration with WADA.
- I have never regretted that I was part of it. When you are asked by the highest anti-doping authority if you want to contribute to making a test against EPO, I think it is perfectly fine to ask. I was in the target group and wanted to help, says the 35-year-old.
- On the contrary, it has been very interesting, especially in my job as a cycling commentator, to have tried the substance. I know what it does to the body and can speak with certainty about it, he adds."
Edit: translation mistake