Floyd Landis tests positive for drugs

[Poiuyt]

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race, his Phonak team said Thursday on its Web site.

The statement came a day after the UCI, cycling's world governing body, said an unidentified rider had failed a drug test during the Tour.

And the statement came just four days after Landis stood on the victory podium on the Champs-Elysees, succeeding seven-time winner Lance Armstrong as an American winner in Paris.

The Swiss-based Phonak team said it was notified by the UCI on Wednesday that Landis' sample showed "an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone" when he was tested after stage 17 of the race last Thursday.

more -

http://sports.excite.com/news/07272006/v5361.html


Well, that would explain his remarkable comeback the day after his collapse in the Alps.

[erpowers]

1. Tylenol or Other Drugs

Is it at all possible that he took some drug like Tylenol (may be spelled wrong)? Remember in the 2000 Olympics when the gymnast tested positive for steroids and it later came out that she had just take some Tylenol cough medicine. She did still lose her medal, but at least it was just a mistake on her part.

Although I am not one of those people who only likes the idea that Landis won the Tour De France because he beat the French I think the French will love this if Landis did acutally use steroids. Not only will the American streak of winners have ended it will have ended in shame.

[Awsi Dooger]

2. He's not exactly emphatic in his denials

Oh, he's saying mostly the right things but hardly with the energy or decibel level I expected.

[Redbear]

3. Interesting item I read in the local paper

The article quoted a doping expert who said something doesn't jive. You don't suddenly test positive for excess testosterone. You have to take it over a period of time to do any good and if he did, he should have been showing up as positive in previous samples.

[yowzayowzayowza]

4. Sounds innocent so far...

This testosterone ratio seems pretty shakey. They should not strip him of the title until he has an opportunity to appeal, imho.

Coupla extended Landis press phone conferences follow this story:

http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/10597.0.html

[Hav]

6. .

Well, the normal ratio is 1:1, if it's higher than 4:1, you fail the test. I heard that Landis' ratio was 11:1.
Most got away with appealing the test, doesn't mean that they did nothing, yet the test is indeed a bit shaky.
Landis will go to the same Spanish medicine who cleared many, many drivers before. So I'm pretty sure Landis will be another one who will get cleared by this guy.
It is interesting though, and I got it from your link, that Phonak had several cases like this.

[Lefty48197]

5. All athletes cheat these days.

It's all Ronald Reagan's fault for teaching people that "It's now how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose". Asshole.

[Hav]

7. .

That's the reason why many drivers didn't really attack Armstrong after the story of his possible positive test. They only said they would be disappointed and so on. In reality, even if there had been no doubt about it, they couldn't condemn him in front of the camera as they were cheaters themselves.