Landis says his high testosterone is natural - Landis maintains doping innocence

AP on Yahoo ^ | 7/28/06 | Mar Roman - ap

[wolfcreek]

Landis to critics "would you like to see my balls?"

[Toidylop]

From: Bloomberg.com

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Testosterone Used During Race Wouldn't Have Helped, Experts Say

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Testosterone, the human hormone now linked with American Floyd Landis's Tour de France win, wouldn't have helped his performance if taken during this year's prestigious bicycle race, experts said today.

The hormone helps athletes train for races by enlarging muscle fibers over weeks of training, according to two American doctors and a consultant with the Montreal-based based World Anti-Doping Association, which has coordinated control of performance-enhancing drugs in Olympic-level sports since 1999.

``This effect takes several weeks to come into play,'' said Charles Yesalis, a Penn State University professor of health and human development, in a telephone interview today. ``I don't want to sound like Oliver Stone, but it raises some questions in my mind as to what's going on here.''

Landis, 30, whose hormone levels were found to be elevated after the 17th stage of the race, passed tests on six other occasions during the three-week event. Landis, who denied dosing himself with the hormone in a news conference today, would become the first winner of cycling's premier event to be stripped of the title for drug use if a second test of his urine, taken at the same time, confirms a violation.

Those results may not be available for at least two weeks, according to the sport's ruling body.

Testosterone ``increases the cross-sectional areas of the muscle and the size of the muscle fibers,'' said Timothy Foster, a Boston University School of Medicine professor of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine, in a phone interview today. ``It's not something that happens overnight.''

`Short-Term'

``Testosterone doesn't help in the short term,'' agreed Steven Ungerleider, the Anti-Doping Association consultant, in a telephone interview today from Eugene, Oregon. ``None of the synthetic derivatives of testosterone would help in the short term, you have to go on long-term cycles involving a strict regimen.''

Ungerleider's group was formed in 1999 with support from the International Olympics Committee to help coordinate the fight against performance-enhancing drugs in sport.

Illegal in the U.S. save for sanctioned medical uses, athletes can definitely gain an edge using the hormone over several weeks, the experts said.

Hormones are naturally produced substances in the body that turn on genes in the body involving the size and shape of organs such as the breast, brain, skin and heart. Testosterone can lead to bigger muscles, and better muscle definition.

Levels Higher in Men

Men's testosterone levels are usually about 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter of blood, about 10 times greater than those normally found in women, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Various conditions, including infections involving the testicles, where the hormone is produced, sometimes require replacement injections, said Michael O'Leary, a urologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Testosterone can only be used as a drug in the U.S. with a prescription, and its use is banned by the Olympics and some other sports events, Ungerleider said. Yet it remains easy to access in the U.S. and other countries through Internet sales and other channels, he said.

``You just push a button, do a Google search and you can get 300,000 hits for people selling these drugs,'' Ungerleider said. ``It's very disturbing.''

To contact the reporters on this story:
John Lauerman in Boston at  jlauerman@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: July 28, 2006 15:20 EDT

[Uncle Hal]

I heard him on Larry King last night.I think the second test will be positive. Why would one be positive and the other negative? If the French are out to get him then the second one will be positive for sure. Obviously this is just a guess but I have a feeling I am right.

[capers_for_freedom]

It's amusing that every time an American beats the French in their precious Tour de France, they check the testosterone levels and start screaming "not natural". Maybe elevated levels for the French, but not for Americans apparently.

[NittanyLion]

I heard him on Larry King last night.I think the second test will be positive. Why would one be positive and the other negative?

In every single previous situation, the second test has turned out to be negative.

[nutmeg]

Tour de France ping!

Interesting article posted in #22...

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2006 list.

[upier]

Actually what he is claiming is that on the ratio of Testosteron/Epitestosteron he is low on Epitestosteron making the ratio higher than "normal."

[Wyatt's Torch]

Just about everything I have read on this case leads me to believe something was tampered with and this is a conspiracy against Landis. If what these endocrinologists are saying is accurate about the effects of testosterone being evident only after prolonged use and the fact that Floyd passed 6 other tests in the race, then it's just not possible. Not to mention that it would possibly be the dumbest thing any cyclist could ever do in that race KNOWING that they were going to be tested if they won a stage. Call me naive but I simply do not believe it.

[Toidylop]

I smelled a rat from the gitgo!!!

[commish]

HE not only passed tests beforehand -- He passed TWO MORE TESTS AFTER!!! He was tested after Stage 19 and Stage 20 and those tests were fine.

[bwteim]

Thanks, nutmeg. It'd be nice when the total story comes out.

[Wyatt's Torch]

True. I am by no means an expert on doping but from everything I have read, testoterone levels like this do not just "appear" and then they would not "disappear". This whole thing just stinks....

[grey_whiskers]

Taranto had this to say in today's "Best of the Web": Only the French would consider the presence of testosterone in a man's system suspicious.

Maybe they just got used to American winners with low readings (think about Lance for a second, no disrespect, just a comparison...)

Cheers!

[yobid]

Bob Roll's take on the issue, which I completely agree with>

The newest American Tour de France champion has run afoul of the anti-doping
establishment in Europe, just as Lance Armstrong had done -- both through no
fault of their own. Their most egregious discretion being much better at
racing a bicycle than their European contemporaries.

One thing that has been underreported in the popular media is that no
illegal substance has been found in Landis’ system.

If we look just beyond a narrow ratio of epitestosterone vs. testosterone
and the French conceit regarding American Tour de France winners, it is easy
to see an anti-doping system that is random, seriously flawed and that most
importantly provides zero recourse for an athlete who is falsely accused of
a doping offensive.

Anti-doping authorities remain free to hurl any conjecture, opinion, or
theory against any athlete without recriminations, even if those accusations
prove to be false or have no merit.

If an athlete is accused of doping, his career is ruined. If an athlete is
accused and subsequently found to be innocent, his or her career is still
ruined -- but the persons responsible for those accusations have no
penalties that they have to face.

One example is the pall cast on Lance Armstrong’s Tour wins by WADA chief
Dick Pound. Although there was no concrete evidence ever provided by any
credible source challenging the veracity of Lance Armstrong’s Tour wins, Mr.
Pound faces no penalties. And, Mr. Pound has not hesitated in casting
aspersions on Lance Armstrong’s record.

Has Dick Pound's credibility ever been as viciously attacked as he has
attacked cycling? He is still in his position of power and prestige, free to
ignore 100’s of doping control samples Lance Armstrong has provided -- all
of which were negative under WADA’s own guidelines.

Will Floyd Landis be subjected to the same program directed at cyclists by
the anti-doping authorities of the world? It seems to already be the case.
He will have to run the same crucible as Lance Armstrong has had to do and
defend his yellow jersey -- not only on the roads of the Tour, but also in
the court’s popular media and in the fans of cycling’s appreciation of the
sport.

The people will remain steadfast in their devotion to this world’s most
beautiful sporting spectacle, in spite of WADA’s best efforts to ruin
cycling’s reputation.

As anti-doping efforts continue to be fraught with inconsistencies,
half-truths, and true lies, it is more and more difficult to ascertain when
an athlete is found to be positive. In Floyd’s case, many questions are
difficult to ignore.

Can one sample be nearly three times different in 24 hours than a previous
sample?

Can the body absorb, metabolize and convert any substance into a
controllable sample that has been recorded to be a ratio of 11 to 1 of
testosterone vs. epitestosterone -- almost three times the allowable ratio
in one single day?

Can any doctor explain the findings in a way regular people can understand?

In the meantime, the B sample is in limbo somewhere next to the 2006 yellow
jersey. No names are to be released if an A sample is positive until the B
sample confirms. Oh well, if you are an anti-doping agent your own edicts do
not apply.

I won’t believe Floyd is guilty of these accusations until Floyd says he did
indeed use the products he is accused of being positive for.