Lance Armstrong ruined career by taking banned drug that did nothing to boost his performance
Disgraced cyclist Armstrong stripped of seven Tour de France titles for taking EPO - but study reveals substance was useless
LANCE ARMSTRONG ruined his career taking a banned drug that did NOTHING to boost his performance.
Disgraced cyclist Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after he finally came clean to admit he had cheated throughout his career.
Central to his sustained campaign of doping was the use of erythropoietin (EPO) which is claimed to boost red blood cells able to carry oxygen around the body.
But a ground-breaking new study has found the controversial substance had no effect on sporting performance, meaning Armstrong was wasting his time.
The study, published in medical journal The Lancet, saw scientists work with a group of 48 cyclists taking on a series of gruelling rides, including the Mont Ventoux ascent.
Half the group were given an eight weekly course of injections of EPO, while the other half took a dummy substance.
The belief until now has been that EPO delivered increased oxygen to muscles, allowing more efficient performance and respiration in cyclists.
But the tests revealed at the end of the gruelling rides the average results of the two groups of riders showed no difference at all.
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Though the riders injected with EPO showed higher concentrations of haemoglobin, it did nothing to improve heart rate, body efficiency or breathing.
Jules Heuberger, who led the research at Holland's Centre for Human Drug Research, said: "It's just tragic to lose your career for something that doesn't work, to lose seven yellow jerseys for a drug that has no effect."
The belief among the scientists working on the study is the only advantage those who cheated using EPO could have gained was as a mental placebo where they felt they should be stronger.
Adam Cohen, first author of the report, said: "An important level of performance at this high intensity is the mental aspect.
"Quite possibly all the stuff he was taking was useless. Even less is known about much of it than EPO."
Armstrong also admitted to using human growth hormone, testosterone and cortisone during his seven straight Tour wins from 1999-2005.
The 45-year-old American was banned for life from all Olympic-sanctioned events in 2012, with all his results from 1998 being scrubbed from the record books.