Posted on 07/28/2006 4:49:10 AM PDT by commish
Making a central thread for people to link articles, post comments, discuss, etc -- the Floyd Landis, Tour de France Doping scandal.
Please pass on anything interesting. I am stuck in my cube at work today. Not even a TV I can Prarie Dog to see.
I'll try, but I stink at that stuff as you are well aware.Where's R4F when we need him? Nutmeg I meant to ring your ping beacon too. Hasn't started yet, but waiting for presser to go live, temporarily OT about ME at MSNBC.
LANDIS PRESS CONFERENCE IS ABOUT TO START ON MSNBC!
Unfortunately I cannot post info regarding this press conference right now... I have to run to an appointment. I will have to rely on other FReepers to do so.
Thanks, commish and leilani for the heads up!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2006 list.
Ready4Freddy... are you out there? ;-)
A Norwegian doping expert came out with a similar conclusion today. There might be some hope.
Cheers.
YAY! Tell us if eurosport carries FL's live press conference. Babastooey & GI, forgot to ring your pinger. MSNBC now for press conf.
Thanks, tuning in...
Fox News appears to be running it, too.
heads up.
Live press conference now with Landis on CNN.
CNN International :-)
Have you heard this?
What do you think?
Now, I'm not saying that cyclists DON'T take testosterone (although they certainly dont LOOK it..), it has some benefits for just about any athlete. But I'll say this, Testosterone was not responsible for that great resurgence, an amphetimine maybe, direct doping of his blood (With extra hemoglobin from an outside source), but Test doesn't give you an immediate surge like that, takes weeks.. I know..
He seemed a lot less bewildered, confused & overwhelmed than he did to me in yesterday's teleconference.(must have been reading what we have) Calmly, securely but very emphatically denies "doping",says this issue should not be addressed by media as a "doping" case.Respectfully demands that he not be judged until the tests he says he will prove natural high T/E ratio occurence,levels like a lot of atheletes he's had throughout his career.(if I understood that correctly) Says he absolutely will continue competing.Will request B sample immediately next few hours, doesn't know exact day test will be done w/his rep but not him present. Results will be public immediately after B sample test he promises, no reason to wait with that. (I may have missed some stuff trying to find channels that are sticking with it live) Says he was equally as surprised as everyone else was. Tested six other times during the tour, 14 other times this season. Tested abnormally only this one time. "I deserved to win. I was determined to win. My goal was to win the stage and I'm proud of it." Explaining to reporter the miraculous turnaround on Stage 17, says he didn't ride nearly as hard as other guys the day before (i.e., he husbanded his athletic resources Stage 16 ) & gave it his all.Was surprised, disappointed about the results, but confident as ever that he deserved to win the tour & that's his position.
[blurb on CNNInt'l (thanx eurotwit!) says LANDIS WILL APPEAR ON LARRY KING LIVE at 0100 GMT]
EEK! I can't find a live feed anywhere now.
leilani, Thanks for the update. Can you please add me to your TDF list? Thanks!
The more I hear, the more I think that Landis will be cleared in the end.
Hi! Nutmeg is the keeper of our flame. I'll pass along the word. Nutmeg, another one for The Tribe!
If he isn't cleared, he would be the first cyclist who failed this notoriously unreliable test who wasn't.
Yes. I'm not going to stake my life on anything (put my faith in the wrong guy one too many times I guess) but it does look way better for Floyd than it did yesterday afternoon. Nobody who's been to medical school can figure out why the heck the UCI says they have been able to determine he did anything at all on the basis of one T/I ratio reading.It seems like if they had found synthetic test they would have leaked that too already (of course presence of Synth testosterone wouldn't explain how Floyd would have been so ignorant to have patched or injected it between his previous urine sample & the day of Stage 17,because it wouldn't have done him a lick of good, but at least it would be there for them to have just cause to disqualify him & not look like total idiots)
And a lot of what the media are reporting really stinks.
First, the fact that the results of his initial test have already been publicized is way out of line. It’s almost slanderous to release the results of the initial blood/urine test without first verifying those results by examining the ‘B’ test. And any endocrine test results that might follow (per Floyd’s request) would most likely put an end to all of the (generally negative) speculation that is circulating.
It’s suspicious that the media has run with these (inconclusive of anything, in my book) first test results – although it coincides with the normal attitude toward American cyclists. Lance Armstrong certainly endured more than his share of media hints that he was doping – none of which proved true. This may be Floyd’s ‘initiation’ into the Club of American Riders’ False Positives.
The Tour directors had granted Floyd the ability to use cortisone (a steroid) to help him deal with the pain resulting from his deteriorating hip condition (osteonecrosis/avascular necrosis, a bone disease that resulted from a crash three years ago). But, as far as I know, cortisone would not affect a testosterone:epitestosterone reading.
At the same time, testosterone injections do not have an immediate effect on athletic performance. They would have to have been administered for several weeks prior to his Stage 17 performance in order for him to have benefited from them – in which case, their presence would have shown up in previous blood/urine samples. The fact that testosterone:epitestosterone ratios in his previous samples were not elevated, and that the ratio was only elevated in this one sample, says to me that the abnormally high testosterone level was simply the result of the incredibly grueling race he had just completed. (If it were, instead, the result of one or two pre-race injections since the last urine sample was taken, then Floyd Landis is nothing short of an idiot. Since the positive athletic effects of testosterone only occur after many weeks of infusion, a large immediate spike in testosterone levels would have done absolutely nothing for his performance in Stage 17. I believe Floyd both is better, and knows better, than that.)
The fact that his body had completely shut down during Stage 16 (see my previous post on that) would also possibly account for the large concentration of testosterone in his system during the next Stage. During Stage 17 his body was making an amazing recovery from literal physical shut down. Under such unusually harsh, brutal physical exertion, testosterone would be released in much larger-than-normal amounts.
The fact that Landis drank a beer immediately after Stage 17 (and presumably before the test was done) could also add, if only slightly, to the reading.
With all of that said, a pall has fallen over this area. For the past week, one could not drive a mile around the local roads without seeing a ‘We’re Proud of you, Floyd!’ or ‘Way to go, Floyd!’ sign, either in front of businesses or outside of private homes.
A hero’s parade had been scheduled in Ephrata (where Floyd’s cycling career began) for next week, and 20,000 people were expected to line the parade route (quite a turnout for a small rural town).
Now all of that has been placed on temporary hold.
Once the final truth is known, either Floyd will have turned out to be a monumental disgrace to the people in this small rural farm community, or the international news media will have a great deal of explaining to do for having once again jumped the gun in order to smear a reigning world-class American athlete.
I’m betting on the latter.
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
What ever happened to "innocent until proven...."
Are the media in such desperation for news they will savage anyone's reputation - and why are the U.S. cyclists never allowed a good clean victory?
I think the U.S. should pull out of the Tour and organize their own international tour right here - we have lots of great space for the 2000 mile event and so many people would enjoy getting to know the sport up close and personal on many levels.
Without the Euro sabotage which continues every year. The contribution to this event by the Americans is substantial - and I think not worth the trouble.
Here's another link: www.tdfblog.com
Some interesting comments on it as well...
As one man said this morning - someone would have to be really stupid to dope knowing a test was going to be run.
Really stupid.
Does Landis look stupid? Not on your life.
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