Quote Originally Posted by witeowl View Post
Wasn't it brought up in years before that he had what some saw as an unfair advantage because of his (medically necessary) blood transfusions? This was exactly the issue.

I'm not quite sure why anyone is surprised now at this. But I'm far from knowledgeable, so... yeah.
It wasn't blood transfusions that "gave him an unfair advantage"; it was the (medically necessary) EPO treatments he received while undergoing chemotherapy.

Those specific complaints/allegations were ignored, however, because the effects of EPO don't last more than a few weeks, and it was well more than a year between the last of his (medically necessary) EPO treatments in late 1996/early 1997 and his return to competition in spring 1998.