Skip to content

Eufemiano Fuentes, Operation Puerto and the scandal that transcends cycling

With controversial Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes going on trial, Sky Sports looks at the case

Thanks to Lance Armstrong and his not-so-humble doping confession, it almost slipped in under the radar.

Latest Cycling Stories

Blood doping

The bags of blood found in Fuentes' offices pointed towards a large-scale blood doping operation. But what exactly is blood doping?
What is blood doping and why is it used?
• Blood doping is used to increase the amount of oxygen that reaches an athlete's muscles, thereby enhancing both performance and endurance. • This is achieved by adding extra red blood cells to the blood. • Red blood cells are added because they contain hemoglobin, which is what carries oxygen to muscles. So the more red blood cells and hemoglobin you have, the more oxygen reaches your muscles. • Oxygen aids performance by improving the process of converting sugar molecules stored in muscles into energy. • Conversely, a lack of oxygen in the muscles during exercise causes the creation of lactic acid, which accelerates fatigue. • So at one end of the scale, blood doping delays fatigue, while at the other, it elevates an athlete's peak athletic performance. • There are two methods of blood doping: blood transfusions or injecting the hormone erythropoietin (EPO).
Blood transfusions
• A few weeks before a race or event, a doping athlete will take about 14 ounces of blood out of their body and freeze it. • The body realises the blood is missing and so produces extra blood to replace it, returning levels to normal. • Just before the race or event, the athlete returns the stored blood back into their bodies. • This extra blood means extra red blood cells, extra hemoglobin, extra oxygen carried to the muscles, extra energy created, better performance and greater endurance.
EPO
• Athletes can also increase their red blood cell levels by injecting EPO. • EPO causes bone marrow to create more erythrocytes, which in turn create extra red blood cells and, consequently, hemoglobin. • The red blood cell content of blood is normally 40-45 per cent, but EPO can raise that to over 50 per cent. • EPO use is easy to detect, so users tend to inject small doses over time to disguise its presence.

Around Sky