Let Me Be Perfectly Clear
Aug 8th, 2006 | By Fredcaster | Category: GeneralIt seems I have been taking a bit of heat over my last show and the apparent lack of outrage over the Floyd Landis doping scandal. Several messages have been posted here on the site and on the forum, and I have received a couple of e-mails with the same sentiments.
I welcome the criticisms as much as I welcome the praise. It only serves to make the show better. Some people have actually thanked me for not censoring their negative comments. For the record: I would never delete comments just because they weren’t complimentary. The only comment I ever deleted from the site (aside from blog spam) is the one that did not contain the poster’s true information so that I could contact them and have a dialogue.
When I recorded the last show, the allegations against Floyd were just a few days old. The “A” sample had been tested, and he hadn’t even had time to request the “B” sample test. There was enough for him to be rightfully suspended by his Phonak team, but not enough for him to be subject to disciplinary action by the UCI. I commented on the show about all of the reasons why the tests could have been wrong, and I also commented that if the “B” sample came back positive, then Floyd should be rightfully shunned.
As far as I was concerned, my comments were measured. Not muted or biased as other have suggested, but merely carefully worded until the “B” sample results were in.
So let me be entirely clear . . . The results of Floyd’s “B” sample are now in and the results are conclusive. Floyd has been shown to have failed two drug tests, with a testosterone:epitestosterone ratio that is nearly 3x the legal limit. There are even reports in the press that the carbon isotope tests have shown that he had synthetic testosterone in his blood. According to the rules of cycling, it has been proven that he is a doper. Unless he can prove otherwise (and he still has the opportunity to do so), then he is and ever-shall-be a doper. I stand by what I said on last week’s show: he should be stripped of the Tour de France title, he should be fired by his team, and he should be subjected to a severe sanction by the UCI.
My feelings on doping and dopers are well-known; I’ve ranted on the subject plenty of times on the show. Dopers cheat. They lie. They are unethical and are unsportsmanlike. They sully the reputations of the rest of the peloton through guilt by association, and give the sport a bad name. They should not be a part of professional cycling or any sport for that matter.
Until and unless he can prove otherwise, this includes Floyd Landis.
I will be repeating all of this on the show I will be recording tonight, but I wanted to set the record straight as soon as possible.
With all the doping cases in cycling, it is hard to believe Landis’s denials, but I also do not have a lot of faith in the drug testing system and people like Dick Pound who also give inaccurate statements to push their agenda. According to Floyd Landis the ratio was off because the level of epitestosterone was low. So low that it was barely detectable by the tests. This is what caused the ratio to be out of whack. He claims the testostrone level was actauly in the low range of normal. Also WADA official claims that the carbon isotope test is 100% accurate and doesn’t need to be done on the A sample. I find this hard to believe that it is 100% full proof. I’d like to see the published values from the tests. All that said, Landis isn’t that convincing. When asked if he had ever used performance enhancing drugs he calmly says “No, I have not.” I want to hear a more emphatic denial than that. When he says “I deserved to win the Tour because I was the strongest, and I am proud of it” that just come across as “I’m not doing anything that the guys I beat weren’t doing, so I deserved to win.” I’m sorry Floyd. I’d like to beleive you, but I wanted to believe Tyler Hamilton too.
I agree that the dopers should be removed. However, Floyd was tested three times after Stage 17. I have not seen any news reports which specifically addressed those tests. I do not have a medical background but it would seem that the samples taken after Stage 17 would also show higher than normal testosterone. I want to believe Floyd and I would like to see the other three samples tested. It would be even better if an independent lab or labs were allowed to perform the tests.
David’s post is simply amazing. Thank you, David, for your integrity and honesty. Who can ask for a clearer statement than that?! Bravo!!!
Good on you David…you’ve made your feelings very clear there!
I’m puzzled by Brian’s comment where he suggests that the other samples should be tested at “an independent lab or labs”. The French National Anti-doping Laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry is independent. In what sense does he believe it isn’t? Or perhaps he really means a non-French lab? In this case, I would point out that a French lab would arguably be more independent in this instance than a US, Spanish or German lab (the nationalities of the top-4 finishers).
IF Floyd is clean, some of the things he should do are: take a nationally certified polygraph, publish all results of his drug tests, have the Phonak medical team submit to polygraphs. While polygraphs aren’t 100%, it is an avenue for him to start recovering from this. I would like to believe Flyod, I really want to believe him, but, until I see concrete steps towards getting this cleared up, I have to believe the drug tests. Once I was found to be suspected, I would have checked myself into a medical facility (not in France) and had a complete once over in order to establish a clean record, SOMETHING to counter the UCI findings.
In response to Brent’s comment, the low epitestosterone may be a result of the use of exogenous testosterone. This is a quote from a cyclingnews.com article on testosterone testing/doping:
Because testosterone cannot be converted to epitestosterone, an elevated ratio suggests doping; moreover, exogenous testosterone lowers the body’s production of epitestosterone, further increasing the T/E ratio.
You can find the article here. I would like to believe that Landis is innocent, but he has to produce the evidence to support that innocence. I would also be curious to see the results of isotope testing on the other samples taken during the tour. If those samples resulted in a finding of exogenous testosterone, despite being within the ratios, I think it would prove that Landis is guilty.
If he is guilty, he needs to be out of cycling!
I absolutely agree with what you said and what should happen IF Landis is guilty of doping. My problem? You and the rest of the press have found him guilty and fried him in the court of public opinion before he has been allowed due process.
Like I said, if he is guilty, strip him of the yellow, fine him, ban him. But what happens if he is not guilty? Are you and the rest of the press going to spend as much time and energy clearing his name as you did dragging it through the mud? I don’t think so and as a result he will always have a question mark next to his win.
If you are going to report the news, report the news. Don’t add what should happen and what you think happened. We all get our news reports from the same sources, other new agencies. Unless you have some inside source that KNOWS what is happening, all that should be reported by anyone is “Landis’ B sample was found to be positive. He will be persuing the next step in his due process to clear his record.” Story done.
Put yourself in his place. If you were not guilty, wouldn’t you like to be given the benefit of the doubt and have people wait until ALL of the facts are evident before everyone claimed you should be banned, fired, stripped of the yellow, sanctioned? I know I would.
On the other hand, if he is guilty, he should be gone. But not before he is given his due process.
Beatifully…
To boldly go where I surely don’t belong.
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Nice…
Where do you think you’re going today?
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