per ESPNEWS... Whoops!

LOL@cycling

LOL@cycling

imadethisthreadinhopesofattractingsearchqueries

You just have to laugh at this. France finally gets their wish and gets to catch an American Cyclist doping... unfortunately for them they caught the wrong one.

Agree with Glenn... LOL@Cycling. Dirty.

So I guess he wasn't so heroic afterall?

I'm not sold on Landis cheating JUST yet.

The test said he had high testosterone. I have a feeling he probably just has high levels, and that testosterone can fluctuate naturally in such a manner to give him a false positive.

When I see evidence to the contrary, I'm all ready to tear that fucker a new asshole.

Even if he did "cheat", it's still an amazing feat. It's one of the most difficult events to compete in, so he still gets props from me even it turns out he did "cheat".

The "B" sample of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis confirmed the initial "adverse analytical finding" for higher-than-allowed levels of testosterone, cycling's governing body said Saturday. He has been fired by his team, Phonak, and a Tour spokesman said the Tour no longer considers Landis its champion.

The Swiss-based team Phonak immediately severed ties with Landis, and the UCI said it would ask USA Cycling to open disciplinary proceedings against him.

"Landis will be dismissed without notice for violating the team's internal Code of Ethics," Phonak said in a statement. "Landis will continue to have legal options to contest the findings. However, this will be his personal affair, and the Phonak team will no longer be involved in that."

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Landis no longer was considered champion, but the decision to strip him of his title rests with the International Cycling Union.

"It goes without saying that for us Floyd Landis is no longer the winner of the 2006 Tour de France," Prudhomme told the AP in a telephone interview. "Our determination is even stronger now to fight against doping and to defend this magnificent sport."

Prudhomme said runner-up Oscar Pereiro of Spain would be the likely new winner.

"We can't imagine a different outcome," Prudhomme said.

If stripped of the title, Landis would become the first winner in the 103-year history of cycling's premier race to lose his Tour crown over doping allegations.

UCI lawyer Philippe Verbiest said Landis would officially remain Tour champion pending the U.S. disciplinary process, which involves a series of steps:

Documentation from the positive tests will be forwarded to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which gives the evidence to a review panel. The panel will make a recommendation to USADA, which would decide if a penalty -- likely a two-year ban -- is appropriate. That decision is forwarded to USA Cycling, the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Landis can accept the decision or begin an appeals process, which can take up to six months.

"Until he is found guilty or admits guilt, he will keep the yellow jersey," he said. "This is normal. You are not sanctioned before you are found guilty."

The results of the second test come nearly two weeks after he stood atop the winner's podium on the Champs-Elysees in the champion's yellow jersey.

Testosterone, a male sex hormone, helps build muscle and improve stamina. The urine tests were done July 20 after Landis' Stage 17 victory during a grueling Alpine leg, when he regained nearly eight minutes against then-leader Pereiro -- and went on to win the three-week race.

The tests turned up a testosterone/epitestosterone ratio of 11:1 -- far in excess of the 4:1 limit.

The tests turned up a testosterone/epitestosterone ratio of 11:1 -- far in excess of the 4:1 limit.

thats just not natural. i hate to say it, but in my mind, any amazing feat in sports will be questioned if not dismissed as a fraud in my mind forever. how i long for the days when jordan jumped from the free throw line and there was no question that it was legit [smilie=sad3.gif]

Fuck you, Floyd Landis. Go spend a life without electricity, you Mennonite piece of shit.

lol


Report: Follow-up tests positive on Landis samples

April 23, 2007

AP - Apr 23, 12:12 pm EDT

PARIS (AP) -- Follow-up tests on backup urine samples by Tour de France champion Floyd Landis found traces of synthetic testosterone, the French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported Monday.

The tests on seven "B" samples clearly showed traces of the banned substance, the paper said on its Web site. Landis had insisted the follow-up tests weren't necessary because the primary "A" samples tested negative for banned substances during the Tour.

The tests were done at France's national anti-doping laboratory of Chatenay-Malabry outside Paris. L'Equipe said the lab used a technique that can distinguish synthetic from natural forms of testosterone, a male sex hormone. The lab is the same one that revealed Landis' positive test for elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels after he won the 17th stage of last year's Tour.

Pierre Bordry, president of the French anti-doping agency, told The Associated Press the tests were concluded this weekend but he didn't know the result because they were sent directly to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which requested the tests.

Landis spokesman Michael Henson said Monday the head of the French lab prevented the cyclist's expert, Paul Smith, from entering the lab Sunday to witness the testing.

"Such behavior constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis' rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process," Henson said in a statement.

Bordry confirmed the incident had taken place but said it stemmed from a prior agreement stipulating that Landis' expert would attend the test with two USADA experts.

Smith was excluded Sunday because USADA experts didn't show up, Bordry said.

Messages left by The Associated Press at USADA general counsel Travis Tygart's office were not immediately returned.

Landis lashed out at USADA in a statement Monday, saying the incident in which his expert was barred from the French lab was "yet another in a series of malicious actions."

"I'm infuriated by the behavior of USADA" and the French lab, Landis said. "Together, they have turned this proceeding into a full-scale attack on my civil rights and a mockery of justice."

The 31-year-old cyclist has an arbitration hearing May 14 in California, where he is expected to question the practices of the French lab. Landis wanted the follow-up tests on the backup samples conducted at the UCLA lab that handles much of USADA's testing, but the machine it uses is under repair.

If doping accusations against Landis are upheld, he faces a two-year ban from competition. He also would be the first rider in the 104-year history of the Tour to be stripped of the title. He already has agreed not to compete in this year's event while the case is pending.

You GOT to be on some kind of drugs to want to ride a bike that much.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18306874/

Arbitrators find Landis guilty of doping, rule he must forfeit 2006 Tour title
By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer
September 20, 2007

PARIS (AP) -- Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when the arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned.

The decision, handed down nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves Landis with only one more outlet to possibly salvage his title -- an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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

The decision means Landis, who repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, must forfeit his Tour de France title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to January 30, 2007.

If Landis doesn't appeal, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the title because of a doping offense.

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.