Busted!!!!!

We shall see. Anyone wanna make odds it comes back as a mistake? What exactly is "elevated levels"? Let see some numbers. I also know he was getting cortizone for his hip, which can also raise test levels. Just have to see how it shakes out.

Tell ya what though, if you are an American and win the Tour, it's safest to be female, hopefully your test levels will be low enough to avoid question.

Okie said:

...Tell ya what though, if you are an American and win the Tour, it's safest to be female, hopefully your test levels will be low enough to avoid question.

Click to expand...

Unless you look like a women weightlifter! :ohmy:

Okie said:

We shall see. Anyone wanna make odds it comes back as a mistake? What exactly is "elevated levels"? Let see some numbers.

Click to expand...

The test looks at a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E), not a straight up reading of free testosterone. Years ago when this test was first instituted at the Olympic level it was believed that T/E ratio is around 1:1 in normal "non-athletic" people. The IOC uses a 6:1 ratio as a maximum value for drug testing, the Tour uses UCI rules which allow riders up to a 4:1 T/E ratio. If your ratio is above 4:1 then it's considered a positive for testosterone.

This ratio test has been seriously criticized since it's inception. Some organizations use 9:1 as the ratio because of anomalies among athletes. When I was working with the ADFPA at powerlifting meets we saw a few guys who were over 4:1 that I know for a 100% fact were NOT using anything. The fact that international organizations still can't agree on a workable ratio speaks volumes about this specific test in my mind.

When you see a TRUE positive for testosterone (and I've seen the results from a bunch) the ratio tends to be really high and there are other indicators like DHEA levels, and suppression of some pituitary functions. The problem is, quantifying these "other" factors is really difficult given human variability, so the sporting world is pretty much stuck with the T/E ratio test, flaws and all.

I have faith that Landis will be vindicated.

Some additional info on the subject

Testosterone 101
By The Associated Press
This report filed July 28, 2006

Questions of possible use of a banned steroid by Tour de France champion Floyd Landis were raised because of a urine test that spots elevated levels of performance-enhancing testosterone.

The test detects both testosterone and a related steroid called epitestosterone, which is not performance-enhancing. Both are produced by the body and are also made in synthetic form.

Landis's Phonak team said his urine sample showed "an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone" when he was tested after his amazing come-from-behind performance in the 17th stage of the race on July 20. The usual ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone is about 1 to 1 or 2 to 1, said Gary Wadler, a physician and member of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Suspicions of improper steroid use arise when the ratio climbs above four parts testosterone over one part epitestosterone, Wadler said. Officials have not said what ratio Landis's test showed.

Andrew Pipe, a physician and medical and scientific adviser to the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports in Ottawa, says that synthetic testosterone is normally injected, but taking it in the middle of an athletic competition would have little effect in boosting performance.

"Anabolic steroids, of which testosterone is the granddaddy, can have a central nervous system effect," he said. "But anabolic steroids largely work by increasing the capacity for training and increasing the bulk and tolerance of muscles. That isn't going to happen in a few hours.

"The effect of the testosterone is not going to be experienced unless there's a very significant training endeavor associated with it as well."

Pipe cautioned that the initial uproar over the high levels of testosterone detected in Landis's system may prove to be premature, depending on the outcome of additional testing that will have to be carried out before a definitive judgment is made. Taken by itself, he said, an elevated testosterone finding in the rider's A urine sample is enough to raise suspicions, but it does not automatically implicate the athlete as a doping cheat.

"I think it's very important that people take a deep breath and understand the implications and significance of what's being reported," Pipe said last night. He said that some men have naturally high levels of testosterone. For this reason, Pipe said it is imperative that the levels found in Landis during the Tour de France be compared with testosterone levels that have been detected in drug tests that have likely been carried out in the past on all the riders, not just Landis.

If no such comparable data is available, Pipe said, the rider will have to be tested again in the future. For this reason, Pipe said he was surprised that the findings from Landis's A sample have been made public. "The last thing I would want is for the suspected athlete to know that we're on to the fact that he or she may have an unusually high TE ratio and that we may have to administer further tests."

Some additional info

The Landis Case: Expect no quick resolution
By Andrew Hood
VeloNews European correspondent
This report filed July 31, 2006

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/10622.0.html


Don't expect any quick resolutions in the Floyd Landis doping case if his counter-analysis comes back as positive.

The counter-analysis for the follow-up "B" sample is expected as early as this week, but the entire disciplinary and appeal process could last until late this year, meaning Landis will likely officially retain his Tour de France crown until that process is completed.

According to the UCI, the process is well-defined if the 30-year-old returns a positive counter-analysis from samples taken after Stage 17 into Morzine of the Tour de France.

Because Landis races with an American license, any disciplinary action will be handled by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency located in Colorado Springs. According to rules, the agency has up to one month to make a decision after being notified of a positive doping case.

USADA follows strict no-comment policy on active cases, a stance reaffirmed by a message posted by CEO Terry Madden on the agency's web page over the weekend.

"USADA will not comment on the facts of any active case since the rules we follow allow for a full and fair process prior to the details of any case being made public," Madden said. "Anyone accused of a doping violation has a right to have his or her case determined on the evidence through the established process and not on any other basis.

"With that said, USADA's mission is to ensure the integrity of sport and to protect the right of clean athletes to compete on a drug-free playing field. Doping is an attack on our fundamental values. We all should be angry when an athlete, coach or any person of authority in sport participates in, or permits, doping."

Landis has denied taking banned doping substance and insists he that the imbalance of his testosterone and epitestosterone levels is natural and could be due to low levels of epitestosterone instead of high levels of testosterone. His lawyers said he will undergo a series of endocrine tests to try to demonstrate that.

Under WADA code, Landis faces a two-year racing ban and the loss of his Tour crown if his T/E ratio is shown to be unnatural or it the testosterone is from an outside source.

At this point, Landis could officially lose his Tour victory and second-place finisher Oscar Pereiro would be proclaimed winner.

Depending on what USADA decides, both the UCI and Landis have one month file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, located in Lausanne, Switzerland. Any CAS appeal could take several weeks to months.

According to sources at the UCI, the entire process could take several months, with the final CAS appeal not likely to be concluded "until sometime this autumn."

So far, the test results are moving much faster than in a similar case involving Roberto Heras, whose positive doping test for EPO was not revealed until two months after the conclusion of the 2005 Vuelta a España.

Heras was eventually stripped of his Vuelta crown and banned for two years by the Spanish cycling federation in February 2006. Like Heras, Landis would also face an additional two-year exclusion from riding on a ProTour team, meaning that the American would be nearing the end of his career before he could ride in another major Tour.