Floyd Landis ‘B’ test is positive
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 fired by his Swiss team, Phonak. He also faces a two-year ban from USA Cycling, which is responsible for sanctions against the American rider.
I’m certainly no expert, but I find it hard to believe that these positive tests prove Landis is guilty of doping for the following reasons:
- The tests have been alleged to show a high ratio between two naturally-occuring substances (testosterone and epitestosterone), but not the presence of foreign substances.
- Several other tests were performed on Landis’ samples during the Tour (he says eight times) and presumably none of them were positive.
- In eight years of professional riding, Landis has never failed a drug test.
- Why would one dope and then perform at such a blistering pace as he did on Stage 17, knowing the attention that would draw?
Perhaps I’m just naive; what do you think?
Update: Floyd has detailed comments asserting facts about the tests that don’t appear to have made the mainstream press (yet). He alleges that his epitestosterone levels were low, and that caused the imbalance. That’s a lot different than the assertions that he took synthetic testosterone to boost his levels.
Update 2: Boy, the media seem eager to villify Landis without even attempting to obtain more substantive information about the tests. It’s so depressing I don’t even want to link to the stories I’m seeing.
8 comments
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August 5, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Xerxes Rens
If there’s one thing the Bush administration has taught us, it’s that the best action is always to lie, lie, lie, and hope the media is looking elsewhere when the truth inevitably comes out.
It’s a surprisingly effective formula.
I can’t comment on doping; there’s such a gray area here. What about those Olympic athletes who were drawing their own blood for months before the competition, extracting red blood cells, and then reinjecting them? No foreign substances at all, and undetectable, unless some comission is doing red blood cell counts on a very regular basis before the competition.
If the substance isn’t “foreign”, does that make it alright? Too much testosterone certainly has negative effects on the human body.
August 5, 2006 at 2:28 pm
aharden
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m naive on “natural” doping methods. Obviously if you’re harvesting your own matter and re-injecting it into your body for a boost, that’s doping too. But like you said, determining what constitutes evidence of this is a gray area.
I just linked to Floyd’s comments on the “A” test; if they’re true, the imbalance wasn’t caused by injection of his own or anyone else’s testosterone.
August 6, 2006 at 10:08 am
Scott
Here is an eye opener. For years I have subscribed to a mailing list on Yahoo called SuperTraining. The list is loaded with trainers from various World class sports. I have seen it basically spelled out on the list time and again that these guys dope, whenever a guy gets caught they all chime in on the list that he is not doing anything the others are not doing. They do not view it as cheating because they are making a lot money and to continue to get the World class athletes they need to provide the same services as the next guy.
Well, I got news for those folks, if everyone jumps off a cliff would you do it? Of course not. Floyd cheated, I am sorry to say it, but his defense is wearing thin. He had his folks on site for the B test and it showed positive. That is the proof they have and it points to cheating. Secondly, he put forth a performance in the 17th stage that I have never seen anything like. I have been watching the Tour since the 1980’s and the feat he pulled off in the 17th stage was inhuman.
I wanted to believe Floyd won, I really did, but as soon as I heard the news I knew it was not good. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, but do we not have the proof? These tests are good folks, really good. They have to be because for years using the methods you refer to here have been used to trick the old tests.
Right now, short of an expert coming forward and stating they made a mistake in the test points toward Floyd getting desperate after his collapse in stage 16, and looking for some help.
As I said, we have reached a time where we need to sit on our hands before clapping for a performance. Like sport? Then be a fan of the game, not the athlete, this doping stuff is rampant and going on, on a very large scale. Olympic Weightlifting gets a bad rap in the Olympics but it goes on in a lot if not all track and field and swimming. If you think Ben Johnson was the only guy cheating back in the 1980’s, you really need to wake up. In the track and field world, his coach who took part in the doping is held in high regards. Hearing that a few years ago began to open my eyes to what goes on at that level.
You can never compare athletes between different eras. It is not so much the training or the equipment, but the drugs that created the biggest jumps in performance.
August 6, 2006 at 10:41 am
Xerxes Rens
Enlightening comments; apparently things are in a worse state than I thought.
I’m starting to think soccer is one of the few sports where one really doesn’t get a great boost from performance-enhancing drugs… agree? Sure, you can boost endurance, but most of it is timing, skill, and strategy.
August 6, 2006 at 1:02 pm
aharden
I’m still waiting to hear more facts other than the 11:1 ratio that’s been the heavily (and only) cited reason for the positive tests. I’d like to see known medical experts state to a certainty that the body will never produce higher than a 4:1 testosterone/epitestosterone ratio in any circumstances. That seems to be the measure of Landis’ guilt or innocence, regardless of the concentrations of each substance present in the sample. Perhaps I’m too critical a thinker? I’m obviously too faithful in pro athletes.
I agree with Phil’s argument about soccer, and I’d say one could make the same point about various positions in football, and some aspects of baseball.
August 6, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Scott
I posted a comment about Soccer that never showed up. I linked to the current mess in track and field where Justin Gatlin sounded like Landis last week. The answer he gave was almost the same. The article also points how his coach is facing suspension.
I heard an expert on ESPN state that there was synthetic testosterone in the samples. There is no explanation for that unless you are taking something. I have not heard Floyd’s answer (excuse) on that one.
August 9, 2006 at 8:58 pm
Uncle Frank
Hey Alex,
Unfortunately, there was synthetic testosterone found in Floyd Landis’ A sample and the B sample confirmed it. That news has been in our paper, in Sports Illustrated, and on ESPN. Landis is entitled to a hearing and an appeal, but from all reports he is guilty.
As far as the stage 17 performance, I remember thinking that such a miraculous performance with an arthitic hip after such a collapse the previous day could only come from either a once in a lifetime rally or with performance enhancing drugs. I had hoped it was the former, but it now appears certain that it was the latter.
August 10, 2006 at 9:33 am
aharden
Hi Frank!
I don’t think enough solidly confirmed information is out there right now for anyone to make a conclusion as to what the tests prove other than the T/E ratio. From what I can tell, the information about the synthetic testosterone is based on a single statement by a single individual, Mr. Pierre Bordry, who heads the French anti-doping council. The media is pouncing on any info it can get about this story from any source, so it’s hard for me to tell what’s credible.
I’m going to continue to watch before I try to analyze this situation any further. I don’t think I can learn anything further until harder facts or deeper analysis concerning the tests are made available.