Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Doug Pensinger, Getty Images

Levi is rumored to be switching to Astana along with Johan Bruyneel and defending Tour champion Alberto Contador. Meanwhile he is living it up by eating “blue cheese crusted tenderloin of beef and chocolate mousse cake” in Utah.

Levi is asked about doping particularly the Landis case:

“Yep, that’s pretty much all we talk about,” he said, only half sarcastically over dinner. “I hope now that Floyd’s deal is kind of over, that we can move on. Everyone acts like we’re the dirtiest athletes in the world, when I think the reality is we are the cleanest. We get tested all the time. They show up at your door unannounced and test you. We’re tested before races and after races. We’re tested all the time.

“When someone gets caught it gets all the attention,” Leipheimer said. “But do you really think we’re dirtier than football players who hardly even get tested?”

Amen to that, it is a tough break that when doping in cycling is in the spotlight while many other sports either don’t testing or have very lax testing rules. Just because there is no testing does not mean that the sport is clean. Meanwhile NFL players get cortisone injections (which are banned in cycling and other Olympics sports) like they drink water.

Deseret Morning News via TDFblog

Not a big surprise, but the ruling finally came down from USADA as Floyd Landis is guilty of doping. The court case wrapped up four months ago and is best remembered for the bizarre soap opera like revelations. Landis has one month to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The ruling came down to a 2 to 1 decision.

According to documents obtained by AP, the vote was 2-1 to uphold the results, with lead arbitrator Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren in the majority and Christopher Campbell dissenting.

Not surprisingly Travis Tygart feels vindicated by the ruling:

“Today’s ruling is a victory for all clean athletes and everyone who values fair and honest competition,” U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said.

The ruling is interesting in that the lab was found to violate WADA rules when conducting the tests, but this finding did not help Landis overturn the overall conviction of being positive in his first test.

In its 84-page decision, the majority found the initial screening test to measure Landis’ testosterone levels — the testosterone-to-epitestosterone test — was not done according to World Anti-Doping Agency rules. But the more precise and expensive carbon-isotope ration analysis (IRMS), performed after a positive T-E test is recorded, was accurate, the arbitrators said, meaning “an anti-doping rule violation is established.”

“As has been held in several cases, even where the T-E ratio has been held to be unreliable … the IRMS analysis may still be applied,” the majority wrote. “It has also been held that the IRMS analysis may stand alone as the basis” of a positive test for steroids.

The decision comes more than a year after Landis’ stunning comeback in Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, one that many people said couldn’t be done without some kind of outside help. Flying to the lead near the start of a grueling Alpine stage, Landis regained nearly eight minutes against the leader, and went on to win the three-week race.

“Well, all I can say is that justice has been done, and that this is what the UCI felt was correct all along,” Pat McQuaid, leader of cycling’s world governing body, told The Associated Press by telephone. “We now await and see if he does appeal to CAS.

“It’s not a great surprise considering how events have evolved. He got a highly qualified legal team who tried to baffle everybody with science and public relations. And in the end the facts stood up.”

So, the testing procedures were violated, but the ruling of doping still stands? Chris Campbell had many concerns about the procedures and his vote was to dissent as he did in the Tyler Hamilton case.

“In many instances, Mr. Landis sustained his burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Campbell wrote. “The documents supplied by LNDD are so filled with errors that they do not support an Adverse Analytical Finding. Mr. Landis should be found innocent.”

… In his dissent, Campbell latched onto the T-E ratio test, among other things, as proof that the French lab couldn’t be trusted.

“Also, the T-E ratio test is acknowledged as a simple test to run. The IRMS test is universally acknowledged as a very complicated test to run, requiring much skill. If the LNDD couldn’t get the T-E ratio test right, how can a person have any confidence that LNDD got the much more complicated IRMS test correct?”

It was confusion like this that led to the system receiving the harsh review Landis was hoping for during a nine-day hearing in Malibu, Calif., in May. But Landis also took his share of abuse, and ultimately, USADA still improved to 35-0 in cases it has brought before arbitration panels since it was founded in 2000.

Cyclingnews.com

Yahoo News

In secret meetings held during the last week in Lausanne, Switzerland WADA, USADA, ASO and the UCI have decided to drop all charges against Floyd Landis clearing the way for him to join French team Francaise De Jeux. Dick Pound the head of WADA was quoted as saying

“Well, I was in my kitchen working to unplug a stubborn clog in my sink. When I got underneath the sink I hit my head and passed out. When I came to it was like everything was so clear. It was as if my head was stuck between my buttocks for several years and now it is free and things just seem different. I remember all of these crazy things I said about cycling and doping and I am so embarrassed. I mean, I am a leader of a neutral organization and I said all of those crazy things, geez, sorry for being such a dick. I mean couldn’t someone just tell me that I had my head up my ass? Oh, I guess a bunch of people did…sorry.

Anyway, so I called up all the head guys at all of these letter organizations and said WTF are we doing bickering about all this shit. Lets get together and just drop this case so we can move on. Plus it helped that I flew them all in on the WADA plane which luckily for us, we don’t get tested for anything since a few of the guys, and I am not saying who like to drink the sauce a bit too much… hey, ha ha”

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(pic from floydlandis.com)

Floyd Landis is not very optimistic about riding professionally again in 2007. The long process of trying to clear his name from the positive drug test in the Tour de France is making the possibility of getting on a Pro team this year look very bleak. Even if he is cleared of the drug charges from the Tour then he would face the process of getting on another team. The only prospect so far has been the Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle (cyclingnews story) who sport some funky argyle color patterns.

Team Slipstream is a US Based Continental team. They have plans to ride in Europe, but they are not a Top 20 Pro Tour team meaning that a ride with the Chipotle powered squad means no invite to the Tour.

In this latest interview at ESPN Landis discusses the case that seems to be dragging so long that even Christian Prudomme (Tour de France Director) has been saying it is time to get on with it.

“Right now,” he said, “I want to believe that the right thing will happen and we’ll get a fair hearing, as long as it takes.” — Floyd Landis

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Latest reports now indicate that Lance Armstrong is hacking into people’s computers too. First Floyd and now Lance have been accused of hacking into people’s computers. Cyclist sure are a geeky crew, but the uber tough guy pros don’t seem to have much spare time to hack away. Maybe L’Equipe still remembers War Games and thinks that every American Male easily hacks into the local school to change his grades, so that it would be a natural transition to hacking into French Lab to change his drug test.

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The Floyd Landis case will not end cleanly. This week brings news of hackers breaking into the French labs’ computers and the lab itself admitting that there were errors in the numbering of the samples. The French lab clarifies that this error in no way affected the positive result, which is part of the Landis defense. To say that the lab work and security are shoddy is an understatement.

The revelation of the computer hacking that includes a letter written in poor French that misspelled the name of the lab in the fake logo is bordering on hilarious. This is almost as bizarre as the Tyler Hamilton “Fake Mustache Man” story that was floated about, but never really followed up on.

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Floyd Landis is getting ready to post about 370 pages of documents and other info that will shed light on his defense in the positive testosterone case. Landis is taking an unprecendented move by showing how his lawyers intend to attack the case. The lawyers found that the testing process is full of errors with mismatched labels and sloppy precedures.

Landis spokesman Michael Henson says, at this point, the rider is not contending that the positive sample is not his, only that the lab work was extremely sloppy. — USA Today

The documents will be available this thursday, but in the meantime you can converse with Floyd Landis yourself through the Daily Peloton Forums. Floyd is answering many questions including:

Question: During epic stage 17, was there a thought that played through your head besides, what I would expect to be, obvious ones (put time into rivals, maintain hydration, etc..)?

How about a song or lyric?

Landis: The song was Badlands by “The Boss”.

Daily Peloton Forums

Floyd Landis Official Site

Velonews.com

USA Today

(pic from floydlandis.com)

Floyd Landis underwent hip surgery this week to finally rid himself of the excruciating pain he had to endure the past few years. The doctors said that they used a new procedure that will give Landis the maxim ability to comeback to become a top class cyclist. Landis’ recovery program will allow him to ride a bike with a week or two and then a full six weeks for total recovery. This is a very ambition schedule, especally for a cyclist whose future is very much up in the air at this point due to his positive drug test for Testosterone in the Tour de France. The Yellow Jersey winner is fully intent on returning to the peloton despite having no team for next year.

The past few weeks Floyd Landis has re-emerged to the spotlight. He made appearances in races in Lancaster, PA his original home town after making himself available to the press in San Diego and other places. Floyd then travelled to Spain to say farewell to the Phonak staff during the Tour of Spain. That was the last chance to see a large contingent of Phonak staff in one place since the fall season is very loose in terms of organization. Floyd looks to be a confident man since his lawyers have seemed to find a good angle in which to attack the positive drug test case. The French lab it seems is frought with very lax procedures. The fact that news leaked of a positive A sample before the B sample could be confirmed back in late July made speculation run rampant that the positive result was Landis’. Phonak had no choice but to announce that the positive result was Landis’ and the rest of the time Landis was out in public trying to figure out just why he tested positive long before the B sample could be tested.

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The news has been everywhere and the writing was on the wall, but earlier this week Andy Rihs made it official, the Phonak Team is no more. The beleagured cycling team will close up shop at the end of the season after their marketing cache evaporated following several doping scandals. iShares did not want to take the reigns from Phonak and still suffer the constant doping headlines.

The news is bittersweet since it is always sad to see a sponsor leave the sport. But it is a sign that doping does have serious consequences. This is good news to some degree since it could help to shake up the practice of doping on the Pro peloton.

The downside of doping is now much higher than simply losing a race. Riders can lose their jobs and the jobs of those around them, which should make them be more careful whe deciding on performance enhancing options. Better to ride the few extra miles or motor pace a little more than go for the testosterone patch/cream or other “mother’s little helpers” that are available.

Phonak’s move to drop their sponsorship at this point is probably not the best move to make at this point. Their name will be associated with Landis’ positive dope test and running what is perceived to be a dirty team. Festina watches have their name associated with the 1998, but they continued to sponsor a team for years later. Today they are the timing sponsor of the Tour as they have their name plastered on cars and the time-trial start house. This presence helps to soften the blow of being associated with one of the biggest scandal in cycling up until this year.

Andy Rihs should probably stick around cycling for at least another year in some form so that Phonak is not known for the scandal in cycling circles.

The fact that Phonak has had so many positive dopers on the team brings up an interesting question. Is Phonak really the cleanest team in the peloton? This sounds counter intuitive but if you think about the process of doping it would make more sense. Doping, especially if it is done properly should never result in a positive test. Dopers are well aware of masking techniques and processes used to steer clear of positive test results. Those who do get caught are either sloppy, lazy or did not have all of the facts. The Tyler Hamilton/ Santi Perez positives for blood doping point to the athletes mixing up their blood bag and accidentally injected the wrong blood.

If you use the proper masking agents and monitor your levels there would be no reason to fail a test. If a guy like Floyd Landis was doping systematically then he would know the proper time to take testosterone so as not to get caught. If he is slapping on a patch on his scrotum out of sheer desparation without team support, then he would get caught because he would not be aware of the proper way of using the product.

Overall, I think Landis will walk from the positive test and he will be racing in 2007. If/When he does get cleared he will now have to look for a new team.

Maxim magazine usually features a lovely model or celebrity as “Today’s Girl” The key is that the person is a female. For August 1th. the feature is Floyd Landis, or a urine sample riding a bike.

Here are the reasons he is featured:

The alleged crime: After Tour officials found Jose Canseco-esque amounts of testosterone in his urine samples, Floyd is no longer recognized as the 2006 Tour de France champion.

His excuses: I always have high testosterone, I got wasted the night before on a 12 pack of Testoster-Ale, Mennonites have huge balls (full of testosterone), Hulk smash urine sample judge…

Our verdict: You can’t get away with using steroids. Unless you play baseball.

via TMZ | Maxim Today’s Girl