Tour De France Winner Floyd Landis Tests Positive for Male Hormone

[Philosoraptor]

The French say the American rider had just too much testosterone in his system.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060727/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_floyd_landis;_ylt=AsS7OPVRJENo2yyItJ50l.Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cm82NXAwBHNlYwM3NTU-

LONDON - Tour de France champion Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race, his Phonak team said Thursday.

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

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

[Crankie Avalon]

1. He's a maaaaaaaan, baby...

...sorry, just couldn't resist, even if I know it's a dumb comment. :silly:

[MadHound]

2. I think I'll wait on this one

They're going to test a backup sample, and we'll see what that has to say. For some reason I find this a bit suspicious, especially since the French are highly pissed that they've gotten show up in their Tour by an American for eight years now.

[RB TexLa]

3. You think he didn't cheat?

[MadHound]

9. No, I'm saying I don't know one way or the other

And thus I will reserve judgement until more solid proof is in. The French are still going after Armstrong in a futile attempt to prove that he cheated, so it is obvious that they are more than a bit miffed at consistently getting shown up at their own Tour, especially by Americans, much less Americans riding without a testicle or riding with a bum hip. I actually expected Lloyd to be put under some serious scrutiny, and here it is.

Again, I'm not saying that Lloyd did or did not cheat, I'm simply reserving judgement until all the facts are in.

[Philosoraptor]

6. Both Lance & Floyd rode while being treated for ailments.

wonder if that's how they felt they were doped.

[malaise]

13. If you study a lot of international

athletes you'll discover than many use injuries and ailments/diseases as a cover for their drugs. Once I discovered that Landis virtually has one hip, my antenna went up. The more developed countries are usually ahead of WADA in terms of manufacturing illegal drugs and they often escape punishment.

When it comes to global sports, I start by assuming that most of them are on some drug and wait out the drug test results. I was correct re FLo Jo and Ben Johnson back in 88. Flo Jo escaped but started having serious liver-related illnesses and eventually died.

[hippiechick]

4. Ok this is probably a really dumb question but ...

... wouldn't the 'thrill of competition' and all that he-man hunting/gathering jazz cause excessive normal hormonal output, like Adrenaline & Endorphins and such ? Why not Testosterone too?

:shrug:

[Lochloosa]

11. There is a limit on how much the body can produce.

IMO this does not look good.

[reichstag911]

5. And, in other news,...

...so does Ann Coulter! :crazy:

[babylonsister]

7. They tried to smear Armstrong similarly; would he be that stupid

to take illegal substances?

[truebrit71]

8. It would amaze me if he tried to cheat with as much testing as they do...

...I am going to be really pissed off if this is another smear job, and i will be equally pissed off if it turns out he did cheat, because that was a stellar come-back in the mountains...

[babylonsister]

10. I'm with you; either result is unconscionable. nt

[Hav]

12. .

Um yeah..why am I not surprised...

[lindisfarne]

14. The headline of the OP is misleading; it was an abnormal ratio.

"an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone"

Which means either the level of the thing in the numerator or the level of the thing in the denominator is abnormal, given the level of the other.

[alfredo]

15. Some things to consider about Testosterone. First he could

be guilty. But I did some reading on testosterone in elite athletes and men in general. In my quick look around I found that Testosterone fluctuates according to success or failure. Also elite athletes that do weight training have a higher testosterone level. Landis is a very aggressive athlete. He wouldn't have been riding at an elite level for all these years if he was not a dominant male.


Also Landis was taking two approved medications for his physical problems. He was taking cortisone for his hip, and medication for his hypothyroidism. My wife takes cortisone and medication for hypothyroidism. She says both can elevate Testosterone.