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Floyd Landis tests positive for testosterone


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THE B sample of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said today.

 

The result confirms the American's initial positive drugs test given after his victory on the 17th stage of the Tour on July 20.

"The UCI communicates that 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," UCI said in a statement.

 

"In accordance to the anti-doping rules, the Anti-Doping Commission of the UCI will request that the USA Cycling Federation open a disciplinary procedure against the rider."

 

The Phonak rider can expect to be stripped of his Tour de France title, lose his €450,000 ($A760,000) prize money and faces a two-year ban from the sport.

 

Oscar Pereiro Sio, who finished 57 seconds adrift of Landis in the overall standings, would then be declared winner of the race, the first Spaniard to win the Tour since Miguel Indurain's last victory in 1995.

 

According to the good behaviour charter of the teams, Landis would not be allowed into a Pro Tour team for a further two years.

 

It would be the first time in the history of the sport's biggest event that a Tour winner was disqualified for doping.

 

Landis, 30, tested positive for testosterone after an astounding comeback in the last mountain stage of the world's greatest cycling race, just a day after a very poor performance which all but knocked him out of contention.

 

The American has denied any wrongdoing and said his body naturally produced high levels of testosterone.

 

Landis now has 10 days to respond to the documents that are provided, according to USADA rules.

 

Those documents, Landis's response and any documents USADA provides, will go to a review panel some time after the 10 days.

 

The review panel will make a recommendation whether or not there is a case. USADA, based on that recommendation, will then decide whether to charge Landis.

 

Testosterone can speed up recovery after exercise and generally improves stamina and strength. Last weekend Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin admitted he had tested positive for the same hormone.

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QUOTE(Brian @ Aug 5, 2006 -> 02:43 PM)
Im confused. He was caught having a high level of testosterone but no illegal substance in his system?

 

I THINK the fact that he was caught with really high testosterone levels combined with the fact that it was synthetic (which can't be produced naturally in your system) proves he was cheating.

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QUOTE(Brian @ Aug 5, 2006 -> 12:43 PM)
Im confused. He was caught having a high level of testosterone but no illegal substance in his system?

In other words, they just don't know exactly which steroid it was. It's something that jumps up testosterone, but it's one of those that isn't specifically tested for and illegal by name.

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Landis fires back, and makes one interesting point, I don't know if anyone here can answer to it or not...

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/200...is-retort_x.htm

 

"I put in more than 20,000 kilometers of training for the Tour. I won the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia. I was tested eight times at the Tour (de France); four times before that stage and three times after, including three blood tests. Only one came back positive.

 

"Nobody in their right mind would take testosterone just once; it doesn't work that way."

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QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 11:02 AM)
Landis fires back, and makes one interesting point, I don't know if anyone here can answer to it or not...

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/200...is-retort_x.htm

 

It's a fair point, but I hate how it's taken this long for him to say something of such. His story has changed almost daily, and that's made it harder to not accept the tests' results.

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QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 09:41 PM)
It friggin' disgusts me. I've always enjoyed watching the Tour, and now... screw them all... they all are crooked, including the "saint" Sir Lance. He just never got caught.

He was tested many many times and never turned up something even remotely illegal. I would say it would be pretty hard for him to be this huge cheater when he was tested every time he raced.

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QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 08:09 AM)
It's a fair point, but I hate how it's taken this long for him to say something of such. His story has changed almost daily, and that's made it harder to not accept the tests' results.

I'm afraid I don't see how this one is him "changing his story." Seems like he's just trying a new defense tactic, his line thus far has been he did not take anything, and this would fit with that. He hasn't gone from saying he didn't take anything to saying his buddy Miguel Tejada gave him a B-12 shot yet, that's what I call changing your story.

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QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 12:01 PM)
I'm afraid I don't see how this one is him "changing his story." Seems like he's just trying a new defense tactic, his line thus far has been he did not take anything, and this would fit with that. He hasn't gone from saying he didn't take anything to saying his buddy Miguel Tejada gave him a B-12 shot yet, that's what I call changing your story.

 

Well he's got a new excuse or reason for his now testS to be false everyday. It's getting tired.

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I have read that statement from him when the first one came back.

 

Quite frankly, he has a point. I do not know if I believe he doped or not at this point as one test (with its "back up" test) has turned up positive. What about the other legs of the race as well as before and after? From what I understand, those were clean. Are they sure it isn't his hip medication showing up in these tests (he is the one getting a hip transplant, right)?

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Using once won't build strength or endurance. Are we sure it won't help someone recover faster? What I can find seems to suggest that this effect works by blocking a stress hormone. Why wouldn't that work immediately?

 

At the end of the day, however edifying an explanation would be, he had synthetic testosterone in two consistent blood samples. It doesn't really matter why.

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QUOTE(chimpy2121 @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 03:22 PM)
I just hate how all of his samples are in French labs where they can easily tamper with them. The French were hoping this year would be the year that a European cyclist could win, but Landis won and now they're pissed again.

 

From everything I've seen, they loved Landis.

 

If they really had all this power to screw someone over, it would've been Armstrong.

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QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 01:22 PM)
From everything I've seen, they loved Landis.

 

If they really had all this power to screw someone over, it would've been Armstrong.

 

I'm sure that a lot of them dislike Landis. Perhaps not as much as Lance, but I don't think that the French like when "their" sport is dominated by Americans for eight straight years. And I wouldn't put misconduct past the French officials and/or French lab who tested Landis.

 

That said, I'd guess that Landis took an illegal cortisone shot or something after the hip problem to keep the pain down. That type of a sudden spike in testosterone isn't going to happen naturally... and I'll give the testers the benefit of the doubt for now.

Edited by WCSox
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QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 07:56 AM)
This is what I'm talking about, a new excuse every day:

 

""Now there's also the possibility -- and it's an argument that has been used by other people -- at this point, I don't know if it's somehow or someway I ingested something that caused the tests to be that way.""

You see, at least he's going in the right direction with these explanations. The only thing that, IMO, is going to actually clear him, is to have every single thing he was taking, and I mean everything, tested by some outside agency, and come back and say "This is the thing I took. It was not supposed to contain X. Tests show it does. I'm filing a lawsuit accordingly."

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In this sport, I wish people would just get over themselves and accept steroids as part of the game of pro cycling. It has been for decades, and it won't change because of a test here or there. There are so many other things that cyclists are allowed to do medically that do similar things, that I don't see why the line should be drawn at artificial testosterone or whatever.

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