(for those who still care about the integrity of this process)
The AP's article by Jamie Keaton today, a good summary of what's on the plate, has Floyd's spokesman confirming that the T/E ratio was 11:1. It also has a dramatic about face by UCI's prez Pat MCQuaig who has now decided that his previous overeager condemnations of Mr.Landis w/o benefit, by his own admission, of the actual lab test results might have been bad PR for the UCI. He has seen the light & now wants to genuflect at the altar of due process.
(snip)"FL UCI president Pat McQuaid said he had not seen the test results, but emphasized Landis was presumed innocent until found guilty and guaranteed the cyclist would be given the chance to defend himself in front of an arbitration panel before any penalties would be imposed.
"It could take weeks," McQuaid told The Associated Press by telephone.
McQuaid added that even if the "B" sample confirms the "A" results, no penalties would be decided "until the disciplinary process is completed." That process could also drag out if Landis decides to appeal a UCI ruling before the Court of Arbitration for Sport."
This article also offers my entry for the best quote of the day, from Dick Pound:
"Asked about the Landis case, Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said, "I sure would hate to be the brand manager for cycling right now."
By my lights, one of the clearest, most dispassionately composed & best articulated pieces I have read to date in one place with respect to the current situation is from wallstreetjournal.com's "The Numbers Guy", Carl Bialik. He discusses the studies about alcohol's impact on T/E readings, the reliability of those pesky isotope tests, and "chemical McCarthyism".
click for wsjonline assessment of the alcohol defence & sundry issues
For a really good, short explanation of how the IRMS test distinguishes natural from synthetic testosterone, a blogging organic chemistry geek explains it concisely in a way that even I understood: read organic chem phd blogger's entry about FL here
And if that doesn't do the trick for ya, there's always the wikipedia translation from the original bwteimish to english explanation of the mass spectometry used to read the testosterone fingerprint in question here.
Finally, here's a quickie projected timeline for Floyd, the lab & the UCI's expected title-stripping scenario at the WaPo: news service time table summary
"it could take weeks".
And Floyd still gets the short end in the meantime.
Thanks for that great summary and the links, leilani.
"bwteimish"? Yöö møsst be bullwinkleshitzen me;)
PS Finally located photos of the overturned bus, whew! Had to go all the way to Norway. Will post later on ðe french fat møøse.
If all that is necessary to disqualify your competition is to arrange for him or her to injest a powdered testosterone tablet, then competitive athletes should not injest food and drink purchased or prepared by strangers.
I have no idea if that is what happened to Landis, but it seems a realistic possibility.