Flandis Fumbles… again
More ridiculous news from the cycling world. Floyd Landis came out this weekend with a tv special showing the cyclist, in his modest mansion, showing off his Tour de France shirt and blaming the lab for his doping results. Seriously, I find it unconvincing that his sole recourse is to blame an internationally reknowned lab which produced the same results, excessive testosterone, in BOTH blood samples.
Just to recap, Landis was found to have tested positive for testosterone during his infamous climb in the Morzine. The laboratory in question is the LNDD, le laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage, in Châtenay-Malabry, the same national laboratory which has tested all samples from the last few Tours de France. It is a internationally reknowned laboratory and is approved by both the Olympic and WADA. (World Anti-Doping Association) Landis, the Mormon, eeks Mennonnite, bike champion, was hailed briefly as a hero before being villified in both French and English press.
But, in yet another strange twist, the laboratory reported to the police last Tuesday that it had been victim to a hacking incident. Someone had hacked into their computer system and sent false emails to the major doping agencies in the world, the UCI, the WADA, the CIO, reporting that the laboratory had made a series of systematic errors. Apparently, the email was written in french and was riddled with both grammatical and spelling mistakes. The police have already tracked one of the perpertrators down and it turns out to be none other than someone close to Landis!!! Horror.
Now, there’s only one caveat: L’Equipe has been known to publish doping scandal stories with dubiously procured information.
However, this has to suck for Landis. The weekend he blames the lab is the same weekend that they track a criminal incident, related to his drug case and involving the lab, directly to his party. He’s become the Tonya Harding of cycling. Maybe someday soon he too will don a wrestling outfit and jump in the ring. The guy is certainly too clumsy to be in professional sports.
One small correction: Landis was found to have an “abnormal” T/E ratio of about 11:1. What wasn’t reported in the mainstream media is that his testosterone level (T) was in the normal range, while his epitestosterone (E) was abnormally low, which caused the skewed ratio.
Further, the data from CIR/IRMS tests that can be found in the lab documents Landis has released do not conclusively show that Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone. It is, unfortunately, data that is very much subject to interpretation.
Granted, Landis’ intial efforts in public relations were less than stellar, but I’d take the statement in L’Equipe about the culprit being someone connected to Landis with a HUGE grain of salt. It’s not like they haven’t been known to exaggerate or prevaricate on occasion, when it suits their purpose.
An exceptional collection of info related to the Landis case can be found at Trust But Verify.
- Rant
Rant Your Head Off.com
Rant said
Agreed, regarding L’Equipe… hence my caveat.
However, regardless of whether it is or isn’t connected with Landis, the whole thing really doesn’t improve his case.
As for the “scientific” proof, that will be decided in the courts, not by us. My unscientific opinion is that the affair stinks.
Administrator said
Nardac,
I agree, the whole thing stinks to high heaven. I think that no matter the outcome, the whole sport of cycling is going to be the lesser for this whole mess.
What this really highlights is the need for a better system: One that is tough on those who cheat, but also fair to the athletes with organizations run by people who do their best to be impartial. Dick Pound is not exactly the poster boy for impartiality, given the comments he’s made about the Landis case and others.
Just my two centimes worth.
- Rant
Rant said
Such a dramatic fall from grace. HE was such the boy-wonder, american whitebread, “oh we love Floyd”, middle-america product, turned joke of the sport! I do remember when I heard on the radio that he made that miraculous comeback in the mountains, I thought that it was too good to be true. Moreover, this wasn’t the publicity that american athletes need in Europe right now. We have track athletes doping, baseball players, cycling, we can’t win in the world championships in basketball anymore, the 76′ers lose to FC Barcelona this fall….. What is this!
Kye said