Why? 
Posted on 02/23/2007 6:46:40 AM PST by commish
The doping case against Floyd Landis from last year's Tour de France may be in trouble, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
The French laboratory that handled the test results may have allowed improper access to Landis' urine samples, the newspaper reported, citing records that had been turned over to the cyclist's defense. A similar lapse in protocol previously has resulted in doping cases against athletes being dismissed.
According to the report, two technicians who conducted the "A" sample on Landis were involved in tests on the second "B" sample, which is used to confirm the first test. International lab standards do not allow the same technicians to work on both tests to prevent them from attempting to validate their original findings.
Doping allegations against Spanish cyclist Inigo Landaluze were dismissed late last year when it was discovered the same lab made a similar error with his tests in 2005.
Landis was accused of doping after the urine tests indicated he had an improper testosterone ratio and suggested the presence of artificial testosterone. He faces a two-year ban and being officially stripped of his Tour de France title if the results are upheld.
The Times reported it was not clear whether the technicians, Esther Cerpolini and Cynthia Mongongu, played enough of a role in the second round of tests to disqualify the findings. Landis' attorneys are seeking to question the two technicians and have filed a request for access to more lab documents and depositions of lab employees.
According to the newspaper, Travis Tygart, general counsel for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, declined to comment on the report, citing agency rules forbidding him from discussing ongoing cases.
Landis, who has denied using any banned substances, has said the samples were mishandled and that the results were based on flawed science.
The USADA is scheduled to hold a hearing on Landis' appeal on May 14. The French anti-doping agency postponed its decision on whether to suspend him after Landis agreed not to race in France this year.
This lab should be shut down immediately. They have bungled almost ever major doping case. Leaked Confindential information on both Landis and Lance Armstrong. They have run a smear campaign against Armstrong for years.
As far as I am concerned I hope the case ends just this way. Let the French and the lab have a big black eye for being incompitent morons.
Of course, with Lance Johnson gone, bike riding is falling back into total obscurity anyway, where it belongs. And yes, I know it is popular in Europe.
Lance Johnson?!?! Sounds like the name of some porno actor. I think you meant Lance Armstrong.
Lance Armstrong.
Right, sorry. Lance Johnson is the surfer kid in Apocalypse now I think.
Or maybe not. Anyway, it is a good porn name. If you ever see a masked guy named Lance Johnson in a heterosexual porno, it's me.
Buck Naked
Landis wounded himself with his feeble and constantly changing excuses when this all unfolded. He can cycle but he certainly can't properly defend himself.
I used to cycle. Then I turned 16 and got my driver's license.
Lance Spear.
Lance Longley.
Phil MaCracken
Lance Thruster.
I suggest you abandon this post then.
I agree 100%, but I just think that if this is proven that it is just desserts for the lab breaking confidentiality and fingering Landis when his A sample came back and for the totally incompetent way they have attempted to smear Armstrong for years.
Why?
True, and don't forget getting you and your high school gf onto your banana seat was difficult! :P
Being in the lead position - and way out, he had unlimited access to water bottles. Where most other people used 15 bottles that day (it was very hot), he used 70. Many of these he poured all over himself. Somewhere I read that where the rest of the field was in the high nineties, he was functionally around seventy degrees.
That actually does make a huge difference. As a triathlon, I intend to use this strategy on my longer races on warmer days.
There are also photographs of him cycling with President Bush.
The reason I suggested you abondon the post was that I was fearful that it was about to slide into one of those endless "bike riding freaks who wear spandex and wear helmets" loops.
Then we'd get the yahoos who take joy in talking about running down cyclists with their front bumpers.
Frankly, the only think I remotely (key word...remotely) respect about Kerry is that he has been known to ride a century (100 miles)on occasion.
That said, I believe Landis in innocent. He is one of the few riders who races with a computerized monitor. It measures watts of energy produced by the bike that they can download for analysis. He said that except for one short 45 second burst of excess energy early in the ride, his wattage was nearly identical to his training rides on the same course.
I agree with you completely one this particular lab. I've thought from the very beginning that they were suspect and maneuvering to protect all things French.
One thing that perplexes me is the fact that both the "A" and "B" samples are taken at the same time (as I understand the procedure and I might be incorrect). If so, then how in the world would it make any difference at all which lab analyzes the "B" sample since both will contain the same urine?
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