I have no idea of what kind of dose of tramadol he (or any cyclist in fact) would take, but I can't get my head round it. I've had to take tramadol a couple of times for crippling sciatica and it was vile, felt nauseous and just generally super shit.
Used to be quite common to have in "finishing bottles". Consensus in the peloton was that it was causing crashes because of the tramadol; think that may have been why it was banned.
Ooosh Nairoman DQ'd from the Tour for Tramadol use!