Tour de France winner Landis gives positive drugs test

Yahoo ^ | 07/27/2006 | Reuters

[wildwood]

this is ridiculous. everyone knows what happens if they dope up and that they will be tested, particularly after what happened with lance. i just find this whole thing absurd. something STINKS to high heaven here...

the french don't bathe, do they?

[MizSterious]

I wondered how long it would be before that bunch of bad sports and sore losers would launch accusations.

[PackerBronco]

Was stage 17 where he made the great comeback?

Yup. My brother-in-law and I were talking about the TDF the other day, specifically about Landis' amazing Stage 17 race. I said we should wait a few days for the drug tests to verify that his race was won legitimately.

Unfortunately the sport is a mess. FWIW I think Lance was and is clean. I don't think a cancer survivor would mess with that stuff.

[Red Badger]

Any nature reason to have elevated levels of testosterone?

Naked French cycling groupies along the sides of the road?........

[CollegeRepublican]

Are those things banned by the Tour?

[Red Badger]

...great comeback?

Nice choice of words.........

[mass55th]

"WOW! A male being tested positive for a male hormone. Now that is something new. "

I had to follow the link to make sure it wasn't a joke.

[Marius3188]

Not that I know of. Any GNC sells them.

[NapkinUser]

I wouldn't be wholly surprised if the French are just lying to make themselves feel better about losing to an American....again.

[fireforeffect]

You mean he's a lumberjack and he's OK?

[RoadTest]

"Sounds fishy to me. Another American wins and voila, a positive drug test. hmmmm."

Yep. A Freeper predicted this as soon as Floyd won.

I seldom tell people about one one-half French ancestry. I wish I could remove it somehow.

[xzins]

It doesn't look good since they threw out the leading contenders before the race.

If Landis is hot, then shame on him.

Is there any way this could be a natural fluctuation of male hormone?

I pray that all American athletes are savvy enough to have a number of samples with chain-of-custody certifications taken at the same time to refute underhanded results by any anti-American officials.

[buffyt]

Ha ha ha THAT is just what I was thinking!

[jw777]

Serves LeMonde right for spouting against Armstrong when he always tested negative and then touting Landis, and then this.

[tallhappy]

C'est impossible, incroyable.

Why does anyone care about a bike race (in France for that matter).

As we know from this web site, winners of this French bike race would never ever ever in a million years ever use a performance enhancinmg drug.

[Paradox]

Actually, he failed the test/epitest ratio. Basically its a test that will tell you if someone is SUPPLEMENTING with testosterone. So its a major bust if it pans out that way.

The vast majority of big time riders are taking "something", the difference is in how careful they are and how they time it all, in order not to get caught.

Lance claims he was clean, and since he never failed a test, I'll have to go with that.

This sucks for Landis, and the sport of cycling in general. One thing is to get busted BEFORE the race, like Basso and Ulrich, but to win it all and THEN get busted.. man..

[commish]

So, does this mean Mr. Landis will have his title taken back?

Not yet. They will now test the "B" sample (They take two) and if it comes back positive - the rider can appeal and ask for a full physical examination.

Only after that can it be said that he was doping. If all that comes to pass, then yes, they will strip him of the win and give it to the 2nd place rider.

[RoadTest]

"Is this a joke. Maybe he also tested positive for oxygen in his bloodstream."

That's more serious than you might think. A while back it was popular to drain out a pint of blood a week or two before the race and then put it back in once the levels had built up again. That way the oxygen capacity would be increased. It's called blood-doping.

[daviscupper]

LOL. True. The last Frenchman to test positive for testosterone was Lafayette. Unfortunately for the French that was before the bicycle was invented. So sad.

[Dixie Yooper]

If this is really true, he can still have a career in major league baseball.