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I think this explains this rather well. Learning something new here myself.

Testosterone is the male sex hormone and is also present in women. Epitestosterone is a related chemical with no known function in the body. The relationship between the two is unimportant for legitimate medical purposes, scientists said. But it is important to anti-doping experts.

To detect the use of synthetic testosterone as a muscle-building anabolic steroid, anti-doping officials have declared that a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone above 6 to 1 is evidence of drug use. The test for what is known as the T/E ratio was first devised in 1982 by a German scientist, Manfred Donike, for the purpose of catching drug cheats.

In the Balco steroids case, some track and field athletes have been accused of using a sophisticated substance known as ''the cream,'' which contains testosterone and epitestosterone. Epitestosterone is said to serve as a masking agent for elevated levels of testosterone...

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(Snip)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9A0CE2D71638F935A15755C0A9629C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fU%2fUnited%20States%20Anti%2dDoping%20Agency

Because he thought he might get away with it. That's why unethical people always do. They think they can get away with it.

So you are already judging him based on this preliminary test and calling him "unethical"? I'm going to wait, just like Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong, for the B test results to come back and any further response from Landis before coming to this conclusion.

"Because he thought he might get away with it."

After every stage of the TDF, the winner MUST gice a urine sample. Also, the overall leader of the race MUST give a sample. Plus two or more riders are selected arbitrarily. This is known in advance by all the riders. You would have to be insane to cheat under those circumstances, especially with all the other riders disqualified before the race even started.