Toxicologist says testosterone can have great short-term effect
By Michelle Kaufman McClatchy Newspapers
MIAMI - A forensic toxicologist in Nashville and author of the book ``Drug Testing in Sports'' questioned the assertion by some experts that it would not make sense for suspended Tour de France winner Floyd Landis to have taken testosterone for a quick boost of energy and strength before his Stage 17 breakaway......(snip) [Dr. David Black] said an injection of testosterone would have a "profound" short-term effect on an athlete.
"I have injected myself with testosterone in doing research, and I can tell you from personal experience that within hours, you feel a profound psychological change, a sense of well-being, aggression and energy," Black said.
"You feel strong and powerful. And your endurance is definitely improved. So, it's not peculiar to me that a cyclist would take testosterone after a bad day. What does seem peculiar is that an athlete of that caliber would put himself at such great risk, knowing that they test for testosterone."
Also, there's some confusion about the fact that L'Equipe has been reported by at least 2 american papers (SJ Mercury News & LA Times) that I know of to have claimed in yesterday's edition that they have knowledge that the mass spectometry of the carbon isotopes of FL's urine sample has already been done and it indicates the presence of synthetic testosterone. On the website, I could find no mention of that in their news articles available for free, but the Friday edition (the one with FL on the cover saying "Landis's Foul" these 2 american papers cite is only available for purchase. (Seems odd that l'Equipe wouldn't have something trumpeting their coup about it on their homepage though). The only other reference I could find in the limited time I have to look this aft. was at radio france's sports section which says that L'equipe's anti-doping specialist (unnamed by RadioFrance) has said that the the testosterone is of exogenous origin, but that could just be an unsubstantiated opinion? It must be said that, even if the california papers are correctly characterising the french paper's claim, L'Equipe doesn't have the best reputation for accuracy however. I read somewhere else (Bloomberg maybe?) that a german TV station is claiming that the ratio is super high, like 1:11 or 1:12. Anyway, I think we need to keep track of the bad news as well as the good.
July 29, 2006
PARIS (AP) -- Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond says the doping charges against fellow American Floyd Landis could be "what cycling has needed for many years" in order to discourage cheating.
"If he is confirmed positive, I hope he has the courage to tell the truth," LeMond said in an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche released on Saturday. "He alone can change the face of the sport today. His example could be a symbol of change."
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