On another note….the Tour is getting off to a great start. I love to see the early break away survive.

I can’t remember what the limit was but it was something like the equivalent of one or two cups of coffee.

Given that caffeine can cause heart rate irregularity (is it called arrhythmia or something?) it’s probably for the best.

I’m trying to cut down on my caffeine consumption… I usually have 1 cup in the morning, then one or two later on if I’m feeling drowsy. But a few days ago I was so tired that I took about 8 50mg caffeine pills while I was at work. Got to start going to bed earlier!

This is very vague but I remember reading about a fairly well-known UK athlete who got disqualified because they drank a certain sports drink (possibly Lucozade) all morning and didn’t realise it had so much caffeine in it…

If I am reading the 2008 UCI list correctly, it looks like caffeine was removed. Is this possible? I haven’t competed in over 10 years so I don’t know how the list has evolved.

http://www.uci.ch/Modules/BUILTIN/getObject.asp?MenuId=MTkzNg&ObjTypeCode=FILE&type=FILE&id=34172&

I guess the operative word is “banned” substances. The UCI has a range of substances that can be in the body to a “limit” (as you pointed out). I am just mentioning this because some readers may think that since something like caffeine is on the list it is banned at all levels which is not true.

When I tried to look up the list of substances and limits I ran across a listing for the top 100 substances banned for international chess competition. WOW! Never thought about that.