Two interesting quotes from Tyler Hamilton:
VN: Going back, there has been a growing sentiment that the field of play during your era was somehow level. The argument is that all of the riders had access to the same PEDs, so things were equal. What are your thoughts around this sentiment?
TH: That’s not true. I can only speak for the WorldTour level, the Tour de France level where I was at, I can’t speak for the domestic teams. Doping was prevalent but it wasn’t all EPO. The GC guys were getting blood bags, and had better doctors, and more information, worked with stronger “trainers” as they called them or doctors. So that was an advantage for sure. Things were not equal...
TH: ...Say you took EPO for a year, 10 years later, you’re still strong because of that one year. You were able to train harder, longer, all of that and you have a bigger base, if you really break it down and want to be ethical about it. It’s impossible to say or to prove because we really don’t know the whole truth...