Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 8-5-2006

[Cagey]

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' backup urine sample confirmed high levels of testosterone, cycling's governing body said Saturday, raising the prospect that he could lose his title.

Following the results of the "B" sample, Landis was expected to be fired by his Swiss team, Phonak, which had suspended him pending the results. He also faces a two-year ban from USA Cycling, which is responsible for sanctions against the American rider.

"The analysis of the sample B of Floyd Landis's urine has confirmed the result of an adverse analytical finding notified by the Anti-doping laboratory of Paris on 26th July, following the analysis of the sample A," the International Cycling Union said, referring to the Chatenay-Malabry lab outside Paris.

The confirmed test sets off what could now be months of appeals and arguments by Landis, who repeatedly has claimed his innocence and vowed to fight the allegations.

If held up, Landis would become the first winner of cycling's premier race to lose his Tour title over doping allegations.

[finnigan2]

"Yeah, but testosterone is a steroid hormone, and it can mask steroid use"

- The only "reasonable" explanation that I can provide is that someone on Landis's training staff was there to administer, monitor and advise Landis on his anabolic steroid use and give expert assistance on how best to hide it from testing.
Hiding it's use may have involved administering testosterone in small doses that would not show an inexplicably high level but still be just enough to disguise the anabolic steroid use. This would be a very delicate balancing act and perhaps Landis's trainer just misjudged the dosage level needed and got caught out.

[finnigan2]

""I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone," said Landis."

- Yes, but has anyone else noticed that Landis's bicycle seat is shaped like a giant suppository and that he was the only rider in the Tour de France who consistently licked his bicycle handles on long hill climbs?

[Reform4Bush]

Yeah, I can believe that kind of explanation.

Landis is one hell of a climber though, and he was definitely the best hope for America in this tour. I can't help but think a boost of testosterone (whatever the reason) might have helped his endurance and aided his epic ride in stage 17.

I'm sure like you, I hope this is all explainable, but I'm a bit skeptical.

I also think with the unprecedented string of suspensions due to doping in this tour, most of the abusers were identified and prohibited from competing. Maybe the cleverest riders avoided suspension.

I really hope that he is somehow cleared and his feat is one for the books, but the circumstances preceding it just lay the groundwork for speculation of an act of desperation.

In today's sports environment it is just too difficult to seperate the truly gifted from the truly devious to draw a clear line of seperation between accomplishments.

[Spaulding]

I don't think Floyd cheated. Bonking in the mountains in 90 degree heat is not a great surprise. That he came back isn't either. The teams who could have caught him earlier didn't think he'd last. The power output for the climbs is well within has measured capabilities.
There were advantages to riding in the front. Floyd is not great at accelerating (some great distance runners like Emile Zatopek used bursts to bury opponents) as Popovich clearly is, but he is great at steady pace. Once in front he had two big advantages: 1) He could control his power output and not have to deal with attacks - keep his pace steady. 2) His team car was right behind him. He used 72 water bottles to keep his body temperature down, a critical factor in 96 degree heat and 5 climbs. Everyone in the peloton had to be paced by the peloton, wait fot team members to bring food and water, and derived no aerodynamic advantage because the stage was mostly hills (and Floyd is a great descender).
His bonk may have been heat, but may also have been a failure to eat enough; he still finished ahead of 130 riders.
If you are interested, listen to the interview with his doctor at http://www.simplystu.org/ . People who have known Floyd say no way. And Dr. Lim would lose his license and livelihood if he were a party to it. Lim says that the first thing he did was ask Floyd if there was anything to it. Floyd said absolutely not, and is famous for his brutal honesty.
I believe there is a move to go to court to try to get to the bottom of who might have set him up.

[US admirer]

I'm fed up with all of this. I agree with Diana Nyad: doping should be legal in sport. Period.

[MizSterious]

At first, I thought it might have been some of those French sour grapes they use for their bad wine--but it now seems he might be what they say he is--a common cheater.

[Aeronaut]

I'm still not ready to believe he's a cheat. I can't imagine throwing all those years - the work of a lifetime. Hoping against hope I guess.

I'm with you on that.

[Ronaldus Magnus Reagan]

I'm still not ready to believe he's a cheat. I can't imagine throwing all those years - the work of a lifetime. Hoping against hope I guess

And he was raised in an Amish family, who are very ethical people. Give you the shirt off their back in the middle of winter.

[leilani]

If he'd come in 2nd in Stage 17 we wouldn't be having this conversation - he wouldn't have won the Tour.

You're absolutely right about that. Like a lot of folks here, I'd been thinking he must have been suffering from testosterone poisoning to use the patch & then win the damn stage knowing full well he'd then have to give up a sample, but he had to come in that far ahead of the next guy in order to make up all the minutes he'd lost during the bonk if he was going to have a shot at all at winning the tour..sigh...Though we all want to continue to believe the best here, desperation has been known to make people do unfathomably stupid things...

Link to Floyd Landis' statement this am on his blog here.

[Vision]

The worst may be that this thing never ends.

“I would not expect a decision to be made in Landis’s case until December of this year or January of next year,” Buxeda said.

[Ready4Freddy]

Hey Leilani. Thx for the link to Landis' blog, haven't been able to get thru to it yet, tho, guess it's pretty busy w/ visitors today.

LOL, love the tagline!! ;>)

[RichardW]

I've been saying for sometime now that there was no way to finesse synthetic testosterone. It was a slam dunk. Guilty as charged. The real loser here is not Landis but the Tour, the greatest sporting event in the world. And that's a damned shame.

[bwteim]

"Though we all want to continue to believe the best here, desperation has been known to make people do unfathomably stupid things..."

I agree with both statements, leilani. Still tend to be skeptical, tho, despite all this evidence piling up.

[RichardW]

Yes, I too am sorry for the Tour which I regard as the single most sporting event in the world. Damned shame.

[leilani]

I posted his blog entry in its entirety on commish's link thread (for posterity) since I figured it would be hard 2 get thru today HERE Please note carefully where the link takes you on the thread, R4F :-D

[vox_freedom]

>>The only "reasonable" explanation that I can provide is that someone on Landis's training staff was there to administer, monitor and advise Landis on his anabolic steroid use and give expert assistance on how best to hide it from testing. Hiding it's use may have involved administering testosterone in small doses that would not show an inexplicably high level but still be just enough to disguise the anabolic steroid use. This would be a very delicate balancing act and perhaps Landis's trainer just misjudged the dosage level needed and got caught out.

I think you have hit on it. It could have been administered in several ways including, as someone earlier pointed out, with a blood transfusion -- including his own blood from a time when he took steroids during training.
This is sad. My family and I watched as did so many and cheered for him. He owes the world an explanation on what/how this happened and he should do so sooner rather than later. The truth needs to be told.

[Ready4Freddy]

Thx, leilani. LOL!!, you go, girl! Good linking! ;>)

[vox_freedom]

>>I've been saying for sometime now that there was no way to finesse synthetic testosterone. It was a slam dunk. Guilty as charged. The real loser here is not Landis but the Tour, the greatest sporting event in the world. And that's a damned shame.

As much as I didn't want to believe you on the earlier thread, you were correct and it is "a damned shame." He owes his family, his team mates, his friends, his competitors, and his fans the whole unvarnished truth. How did he get this in his system and let's hear from his trainer and physician too. Sooner rather than later.

[sumocide]

The french suspect? What's the motive? Destroy the Tour's TV ratings? Put a spaniard in 1st place?

[jimboster]

The women won't