Landis tests positive, may be stripped of Tour title

[K Frame]

PARIS (Reuters) - Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone, the U.S. rider's Phonak team said on Thursday, dealing a savage blow to cycling's most prestigious race.
 
"The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by (world cycling body) the UCI of an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France," Phonak said in a team statement.

If Landis's B sample confirms the result, the 30-year-old American is certain to be stripped of his victory, becoming the first Tour winner to be disqualified for doping.

Spaniard Pedro Delgado tested positive for a masking agent on his way to Tour victory in 1988 but was allowed to continue in the event because the substance was not on UCI's list of banned products then.

If Landis were disqualified, Spain's Oscar Pereiro, who finished second in the overall standings, would be declared the winner.

"Until the UCI confirm it, it isn't possible to say anything, despite what Phonak have said," Pereiro told the Web site of sports daily AS.

"In any case, at the moment I have a bittersweet feeling because it is bad news for cycling, and I would prefer to remain second and that they don't confirm the positive."

INCREDIBLE COMEBACK

In the 17th stage, a grueling ride to Morzine in the French Alps, Landis produced an incredible comeback a day after a disastrous showing had appeared to ruin his chances of victory.

The rider from Pennsylvania crossed the line over five minutes ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sastre and went on to win the race in Paris on Sunday, succeeding compatriot Lance Armstrong who retired last year after winning the Tour a record seven times.

Phonak said Landis would not ride until the matter had been clarified and if the B sample confirmed the positive result, the rider would be dismissed.

"The team management and the rider were both totally surprised by this physiological result," Phonak added.

"The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result has come from a natural process or that this is the result of a mistake," the statement read.

Landis pulled out of races in the last two days without giving any explanation and organizers of those events were unable to contact him.

Dutch news agency ANP quoted his team mate Koos Moerenhout as saying that Landis had pain from a hip problem and had gone to see his doctor in Germany.

The UCI announced on Wednesday a rider had tested positive during this year's race. The ruling body did not name the rider or give further details.

DOPING SCANDAL

This year's Tour was hit by a doping scandal on the eve of the opening prologue.

Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso of Italy and Germany's 1997 Tour champion Jan Ullrich were forced to pull out and were suspended after being implicated in a doping investigation in Spain. The pair denied any wrong-doing.

Ullrich was later sacked by his T-Mobile sponsor while team mate Oscar Sevilla and manager Rudy Pevenage were suspended.

The Astana-Wuerth team had to withdraw as five of their riders were on a list of nine Tour competitors provided by Spanish police in the biggest doping scandal since the Festina affair which rocked the 1998 race.

The investigation came to light in May when the Spanish Civil Guard raided addresses in Madrid and Zaragoza and found large quantities of anabolic steroids, equipment used for blood transfusions and more than 100 bags of frozen blood.

A notoriously tough sport, cycling has been plagued by doping for years.

Landis's win had been welcomed by observers, who said it lifted some of the gloom hanging over the event after its traumatic start.

Asked if he had a message to deliver about doping after his victory, Landis had said: "In this sport, we proved that more than any sport we try to prevent doping and try to solve the problem.

However, he added: "Cycling has a reputation that doesn't seem to want to go away."

[stevelyn]

I'll bet he does have an unusual level compared to the Euro nutless wonders.

[K Frame]

"I'll bet he does have an unusual level compared to the Euro nutless wonders."

OK, in a day that's been pretty crappy overall, that made me smile.

[Jamisjockey]

I'll bet he does have an unusual level compared to the Euro nutless wonders.

That's funny!
Its an unfortunate day and age we live in that pro atheletes feel they have to resort to cheating to get to that next level.  Can't they just be satisfied being paid for thier sport/game? (rhetorical question)

[m1911owner]

Dumb question: Just what is the short-term effect of testosterone?  The impression I have is that it helps bulk up muscles.  That doesn't seem like it would be terribly useful in the middle of the Tour.  Are there short-term effects that would produce an immediate increase in strength and/or stamina?

[Jamisjockey]

Dumb question: Just what is the short-term effect of testosterone?  The impression I have is that it helps bulk up muscles.  That doesn't seem like it would be terribly useful in the middle of the Tour.  Are there short-term effects that would produce an immediate increase in strength and/or stamina?

I would think the boost in muscle strength would be useful, but I'm leaning towards the increased testosterone ratio being a side effect of some other performance enhancment, and not just good old fashioned steroids.

[Robert Sears]

On another board I visit it was speculated that he may be taking large doses of cortizone because of his hip. They speculate that the cortizone might  show as testosterone inthe drug test. Anyone know if that might be true?

Bob

[Iain]

A positive testosterone test seemed a little weird to me too. Not if it had been Ronnie Coleman, that would be normal, but a cyclist? Some of the stuff I've read about anabolic use would indicate that cardiovascular condition can suffer, and certainly I don't see testosterone as enhancing it. Of course the test could be wrong.

My issue with drugs in sports is that these athletes tell us they don't do it. I'd be up for watching the 'Bolic Games' as long as there was honesty and as long as drug-free (and honestly so) sport still existed. I guess it's the lying to me, and to lots of little kids who want to be the next Dwain Chambers, that bothers me.

[Stand_watie]

I'll bet he does have an unusual level compared to the Euro nutless wonders.

Lance Armstrong probably takes umbrage to that remark

[280plus]

Can't they just be satisfied being paid for thier sport/game? (rhetorical question)

You forget that better performance = winning which = more money.

[Dannyboy]

On another board I visit it was speculated that he may be taking large doses of cortizone because of his hip. They speculate that the cortizone might  show as testosterone inthe drug test. Anyone know if that might be true?

Bob

He actually has a doctor's note allowing him to take cortisone, although he has only had a few injections this year.  Supposedly he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone on the day he won into Morzine.  Everybody knows that the stage winner gets tested.  So, I find it very hard to believe that he took anything and then, knowing he would get tested, goes out like a madman and wins the most amazing stage in recent history.  Just doesn't seem likely.

[mtnbkr]

On a cycling forum yesterday it was reported that it wasn't actually HIGH testosterone, but OUT OF RATIO testosterone measurements, whatever that means...

Chris

[K Frame]

"but OUT OF RATIO testosterone measurements, whatever that means..."


I think that gives even more creedence to stevelyn's comment.

[Iain]

Hmmm.

Anyway, it's not 'out of ratio' compared to any other person, it's the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone in your urine sample. A ratio greater than 6:1 is taken as an indication of the use of testosterone. Basically your body produces testosterone and epitestosterone together, so there is an indicated ratio between the two, taking testosterone obviously affects your testosterone levels, causing them to rise, but it does not cause your epitestosterone levels to rise. So even if only 10mg of testosterone was in your system having only 1mg of epitestosterone in there too would be considered abnormal.

[One of Many]

The 6:1 ratio that used to be allowed was changed this year to a 4:1 ratio.  The Norm is supposed to be a 1:1 ratio, so why were they allowing a 6:1 or a 4:1 ratio to be accepted?  I suspect that most of the athletes have naturally elevated ratios compared to non athletes, so why did they change the ratio this year?

Landis reported that after the disaster of his poor performance in the previous stage, that he was drinking whiskey with some friends the night before his huge comeback race stage.  Could that have caused an anomaly in the test results?

One of the doctors in the World Anti Doping Authority (WADA) has said that the testosterone treatment is only effective if used daily for weeks at a time, and has absolutely no chance of changing the outcome of the race in a single use situation.  That doctor also said that if anyone is doping with testosterone, it will show up in multiple samples taken on many different days; in short, it is impossible for Landis to have actually doped and only have a sample taken on one day be positive, and it is impossible for testosterone to have improved the performance of Landis in that one stage where he tested positive.

What is more likely to be the case, is that the sample was tampered with, or the testing lab improperly handled the sample, and produced a false positive.  If the second sample from that day returns a positive, from a different lab, it may mean that Landis was the victim of someone spiking his drink without his knowledge.  That seems to be unlikely, since after his poor performance, it would be unexpected for him to win a stage, and no reason to spike his drink.  I am more inclined to believe the sample was tampered with, or the lab deliberately falsified the result.  It was the same French lab that tried to have Lance Armstrong discredited after seven years; that lab was discredited in the Armstrong case, but they are still being used, and trying to descredit Landis.

[Dannyboy]

Interesting about the lab being used.  Hmmm, maybe I was wrong about the French not being pissed off about another American winning "their" race.  I can't believe that that same lab is still being used.  After the LA fiasco, you would think that they would be blackballed.

I've read a couple different pieces that have said that alcohol can raise the testosterone level.  Then again, today was the first time I've heard about the whiskey.  I guess the whole "one beer" story was just that.  Not that anyone could blame him for wanting to get lit that night.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

It sounds more and more likely that the French are pissed off that Americans keep smoking them in their own race.

What little I know about testosterone usage agrees with what One of Many explained.  Basically, a human body can't test positive for testosterone doping on just one day.  And even if Landis had in fact dosed himself with testosterone that day it wouldn't have given him any sort of advantage.

Common sense tells you that anybody capable of winning the Tour de France is inherently freakish.  If Landis and Armstrong hadn't been biophysically different from the competition, then neither would have won.  They test differently because thay are different.  

Odds are that the anomylous test result is simply an indication of the rider's freakishly superior and near super-human physique.  

Besides, why would he cheat like this knowing he'd be caught and disgraced, and knowing further that it wouldn't give him an advantage?  It just doesn't make sense.

[Iain]

Don't retreat into the usual 'They all hate us Americans' rhetoric.

That said if Landis has given one positive test for abnormal testosterone levels out of I assume multiple tests during this tour it is unlikely that he has been using testosterone for the reasons given. However, if the period between tests was as short as two to four weeks it would be possible that testosterone usage would have had some effect, but I doubt that the test periods were this long for someone achieving as highly as Landis.

However it isn't entirely impossible to cheat these tests. When checking my facts on testosterone/epitestosterone ratios and their usage in drugs tests I discovered that some athletes take epitestosterone despite its lack of effect merely to cover their testosterone use.

I believe that one or two drinks will raise testosterone levels, but more than that causes them to plummet. Interestingly if I recall correctly, the exact opposite effect is noted in women - more drink, more production of what is still relatively small amounts of testosterone.

[Iain]

Justin Gatlin has tested positive (under a different test) for exogenous testosterone. The test is from April.

[Perd Hapley]

My issue with drugs in sports is that these athletes tell us they don't do it. I'd be up for watching the 'Bolic Games' as long as there was honesty and as long as drug-free (and honestly so) sport still existed. I guess it's the lying to me, and to lots of little kids who want to be the next Dwain Chambers, that bothers me.

Also, it forces other athletes to take dangerous drugs in order to stay competitive, does it not?

[Dannyboy]

That said if Landis has given one positive test for abnormal testosterone levels out of I assume multiple tests during this tour it is unlikely that he has been using testosterone for the reasons given. However, if the period between tests was as short as two to four weeks it would be possible that testosterone usage would have had some effect, but I doubt that the test periods were this long for someone achieving as highly as Landis.

The race leader is tested daily.  Landis was the race leader the day before his stage win.

[brimic]

So what or who's level do the europeans use as their baseline level of testosterone, a Frenchman or a East German female powerlifter from the 1980s?   That should cover the entire spectrum.

[Iain]

We've covered that brimic. One is a tests being discussed here tests the ratio between two substances in your body, and the other (Gatlin) tests for isotopes of testosterone that are not naturally produced.

fistful - I agree that it is more than likely that with performance enhancing drug use being an underground thing then greater risks are likely to be taken. New drugs, drastic cover-up measures, even doping kids who aren't aware of what is being done to them. At a high level though there is likely to exist more than just the one Balco - highly professional labs monitoring and dosing high level athletes.

Were it possible to buy your test from the chemist and see a sports doctor and get your blood levels checked weekly and so on, a good many of those dangers would be reduced. Of course it then becomes the same argument as marijuana but with honesty in sport attached. I know people who have 'used' even years before who would never dream of competing in 'tested' federations (powerlifting). Others aren't so scrupulous.

The thing about the lying that bothers me ties into your point though. There are dozens of kids who idolise athletes like Chambers, Johnson, Bonds (to name three who definitely did the deed) and at some point they have to realise that to achieve those standards they more than likely going to have to cheat. It seems that realisation is coming earlier and earlier. I'm not throwing accusations at individual countries here, but the old stereotypes of East German women and the like don't match my experience of the modern sports/weightlifting forums. European kids either don't talk about it as much, or don't do it as much.

[280plus]

The thing about the lying that bothers me ties into your point though. There are dozens of kids who idolise athletes like Chambers, Johnson, Bonds (to name three who definitely did the deed) and at some point they have to realise that to achieve those standards they more than likely going to have to cheat

Kind of a sad comment, "If you can't win fair and square then CHEAT!" That's not any kind of value I think kids should be taught.

Reminds me of an old poly sci course I took. One day the professor was talking about competitiveness. She said that competitiveness causes lying, cheating, stealing etc etc and THEN says, "It is a positive attribute". (or something like that, she basically said "Being competitive is good".) I asked her, "If being competitive causes all these obviously negative things how can you call it positive"? She changed her statement to "It is PERCEIVED as a positive attribute." So, my take is that even if competition IS actually a bad thing, we still see it as being good.

I wonder where we might be if Westinghouse/Tesla and Edison had worked together rather than against each other.

[Antibubba]

If an athlete tests positive in an initial test, and further testing is planned, why are the first set of test results announced?  I mean, they HAVE to know what that will do to the reputation of the testee in question.  It's hard to believe, especially with the testing scandals of the near past, that no malice is involved.