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The definitive scientific answer 
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I'll apply this to running, because that's what I've read, but I imagine it applies equally to cycling and football.
There is no advantage to altitude-training. There is a physiologic advantage to altitude-living (higher hemoglobin and VO2) but the advantage is negated by training at altitude, in that athletes are capable of less intense neuromuscular training because of the altitude. The ideal would be to live at altitude and do your training at sea-level, but that's a pretty tough ideal to accomplish, even for pros. I recall reading a study a long time ago on this where they divided athletes into three groups: one that lived and trained at altitude, one that lived and trained at sea level, and one that lived at altitude with daily training sessions at sea level. There was no difference between the first two groups, while the third group showed greater improvements than both. Additionally, olympic marathon qualifiers and elite triathletes are actually disproportionately represented by non-altitude regions.
EDIT: And yes, despite what any of you have experienced, you can perform better at sea level than at altitude. That's been shown by a lot of studies.
:I'll apply this to running, because that's what I've read, but I imagine it applies equally to cycling and football.
There is no advantage to altitude-training. There is a physiologic advantage to altitude-living (higher hemoglobin and VO2) but the advantage is negated by training at altitude, in that athletes are capable of less intense neuromuscular training because of the altitude. The ideal would be to live at altitude and do your training at sea-level, but that's a pretty tough ideal to accomplish, even for pros. I recall reading a study a long time ago on this where they divided athletes into three groups: one that lived and trained at altitude, one that lived and trained at sea level, and one that lived at altitude with daily training sessions at sea level. There was no difference between the first two groups, while the third group showed greater improvements than both. Additionally, olympic marathon qualifiers and elite triathletes are actually disproportionately represented by non-altitude regions.
EDIT: And yes, despite what any of you have experienced, you can perform better at sea level than at altitude. That's been shown by a lot of studies.
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