Possible chumps, not champs

It's too early to say if this is champ or chump. Haematocrit is a funny thing - it varies, like everything in life. It varies between individuals and it varies day to day. My own levels have generally varied from 46 to 48%. Some people just have higher values, even approaching 50%. It's just the way biological things work. But high reading s can also point to doping. So when a rider returns an HC above an unusually high - statistically - 50% it's "for your own safety" that you are taken away from cycling for a while and "assessed".

From CN: Early in the day it was announced that Hayles and Dutchman Pim Ligthart had both returned blood values above the permitted 50% level, with Hayles reportedly clocking in at 50.3%. As per UCI rules, both were immediately suspended for two weeks and will undergo further testing to determine the reason for their readings.

Ullrich offered a deal?

From PezCyclingNews:Ullrich Offered Deal VeloNews and the rest of the cycling world are reporting that Jan Ullrich has been offered a deal by German prosecutors in his ongoing criminal investigation. If the former Tour de France champ and multi-multi-time podium finisher cooperates he can walk away free of financial burden and bad conscience.

Of course if he confesses he would still be fined and banned from racing, wouldn't he?

Di Luca was out for 3 but some want more

Well CONI want him out for 2 years, apparently.

Di Luca finished fourth in the 17th stage last year, a climb up the Monte Zoncolan, and was tested directly after the stage. A surprise doping test later that evening showed hormone levels below normal, or equivalent to those of a child, but did not show any banned substances. CONI speculated that he received injections between the end of the stage and the tests, which altered his hormone level. Di Luca, who signed a one-year contract with Team LPR for this season, served a three-month suspension over the winter for his involvement in the "Oil for Drugs" scandal. He has indicated that he will appeal any conviction to the Court of Appeal for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne.

What CONI is saying is that Di Luca's hormone levels were way too low to be believed. They are speculating that he took "something" to mask what were really elevated levels. Presumably these were elevated levels of testosterone, cortisol and Human Growth hormone, or perhaps anything performance-enhancing really. (If I find the list I'll let you know.) Hormones basically control (directly or not) everything from recovery rate to red blood cell production, so to manipulate these values is a big performance advantage. There's no such advantage in having "child-like" values, indeed it would lessen your riding ability, not increase it. So either Di Luca was "sick" or "tired" which suppressed his hormones excessively to these low numbers or he was playing a dangerous game with masking agents.

Of course the testing may be in error. It's a good fall-back but it may be true. However there is one other alternative - if you spend enough time on artificial levels of these hormones your body will shut down most of its own production and become reliant on the supplementary levels. If you reduce this artificial level of input suddenly you fall back to what the body is producing naturally - which would be a suppressed, "child-like" level. After a few days you recover to normal levels as your body senses the lack of hormone. This is also a dangerous game as low levels of various hormones will have undesirable side-effects like passing out, getting the shakes and so on; it can certainly kill you in extremis. It certainly wouldn't enhance your riding.

I personally don't know how Di Luca could ride at his level with "child-like" levels of key hormones. Even just one day of that would knock you back severely. The truth remains "out there" somewhere.