Quote:
Originally posted by Stewart Loy
This just in:
Landis Fails Drug Test After Triumph in Tour de France
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: July 27, 2006
Floyd Landis, who on Sunday became the third American cyclist to win the Tour de France, tested positive for a banned substance after winning Stage 17 of the race, his team announced today.
The Phonak team confirmed that Landis returned a positive “A” sample after Stage 17, in which he pulled off one of the most remarkable performances in cycling history. Landis struggled in Stage 16 the previous day, losing several minutes to his rivals. But in Stage 17, on July 20, he attacked over three grueling Alpine passes and won the final mountain stage of this year’s Tour by nearly six minutes, regaining much of the time he lost the previous day.
“The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by the UCI about an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France,” the team said in a statement, referring to the international cycling union.
“The team management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result.”
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We're hearing the same news here in Texas, with this added info. They're going to test his "B" sample from that day as no metabolytes from such an elevated level of testosterone have been found in subsequent samples suggesting that either his sample was adulterated or the tesing method was flawed. The question has been raised if a testosterone injection would dramatically and immediately improve one's cardio-vascular fitness. The French have tried the "jetez assez de merde et par la suite une partie d'elle colle" technique before in an attempt to discredit Lance Armstrong's 7 wins.
Our take on the whole affair?...sour grapes from a bunch of whiners!
P.S. see my first post in this thread.