Hemoglobin (g/dL): Hemoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen. It is primarily found in the red blood cells. The concentration of hemoglobin in the body in a non-trained background population is set at 14.2 g/dL. The normal range of such a population is large and includes values above 17 g/dl. In comparison, professional cyclists have an average hemoglobin concentration of 14.8 g/dL (range 12-17.3). A variation in hemoglobin concentration of 7% (range 6-21%) is observed in cyclists. An upper limit is set at 17%g/dl.

Hematocrit (%): Hematocrit is the ratio between the red blood cells and the total blood volume. In males, hematocrit ranges from 40-45% with values above 52% in healthy subjects.

Reticulocytes (%): Reticulocytes are immature red blood cells and the number in % depicts the ratio between the immature and mature red blood cells. The normal range is 0.2-2%. Values below or beyond are considered suspicious. Reticulocytes are highly sensitive for blood manipulations and increase if a blood loss or EPO use is present and decrease with blood transfusions and previous EPO use.

OFF-score: The OFF-score is an equation containing hemoglobin and reticulocytes. By combining the two variables it is possible to determine whether an athlete has used EPO or even performed (autologous) blood transfusions procedures prior to the test. The upper limit set by the UCI is 133.

OFF and Hb z-score: Longitudinal monitoring of athletes' blood profiles help detect blood doping and warrant the exclusion from competition of athletes with aberrant variations in some hematological values. OFF and Hb z-scores are equations that describe the variation in OFF score and hemoglobin in each athlete by including all the measurements conducted on the athlete. If the z-scores are higher than 3.09 or less than -3.09 it indicates blood manipulations.

Note About Drug Testing Results

All results from Lance's drug tests since he announced his comeback to professional cycling last fall are published here on livestrong.com. Please note that we are unable to post any results until they have been released by the respective agencies. As soon as Lance's testing data is released from UCI, USADA, WADA and all of the agencies that collect samples, we will post here, however it is up the discretion of the individual agencies to release that data.

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