In reply to Yanis Nayu:
I was on prednisolone for a week in the summer, after a bad asthma attack that came 4 days after doing the Fred Whitton. Have to say I was disappointed, nothing like the effect that my wife had led me to expect and which you experienced. Got me over the asthma and back on my bike, but it was at least a month before I was back to my previous level of fitness on the bike, whilst my running is still some way off.
That did get me thinking about the temptations of PEDs and the grey area of TUEs. With TUEs the principle seems to be that it's ok to medicate to bring you up to the norm, for example to allow an asthmatic to breathe normally. So I could see how someone could cross the line by convincing themselves that all they are doing is getting back to how they felt on a good day. I went from dropping my mates on Hardknott to being sat in a hospital feeling like an old man a week later, pretty depressing stuff.
As to TUEs in the peleton, I believe the rules are being tightened, less are being authorised and as Simon Yates found out, "administrative errors" are no longer overlooked. The issue over whether you should be able to ride with a TUE isn't simple - suppose you are are on a drug for life ? And what about surgical modifications - such as laser eye treatment ?