Floyd Landis doping case

On August 1, 2006, The New York Times reported that, according to a UCI source, Landis's urine test had revealed synthetic testosterone in his body.[9] Despite this, Landis claimed his innocence, promising to "explain to the world why this is not a doping case, but a natural occurrence" and that the testosterone in his body was "natural and produced by my own organism."[7] The variety of explanations offered up by Landis provided fodder for many skeptical columns by sports journalists[15] and inspiration for comedians such as David Letterman, who presented the "Top 10 Floyd Landis Excuses" on his show.[16] Several experts have refuted Landis's assertions.[17] Landis at first blamed consumption of whisky for his unusual results, an approach that was widely ridiculed.[18] Prof. Christiane Ayotte, director of Montreal's anti-doping laboratory, said that, "In 25 years of experience of testing testosterone ... such a huge increase in the level of testosterone cannot be expected to come from any natural factors." David Black, a forensic toxicologist for Nashville-based Aegis Sciences, said, "There are not hundreds of plausible explanations. If the tests were so unreliable that there were hundreds of possible reasons, there would be no point in performing the tests."[19] Landis later backtracked from some of the assertions, saying, "The whisky idea was not mine and the dehydration was a theory from the lawyers I hired in Spain to represent me."[20]

There is evidence to suggest Landis' positive test was the result of one or several blood transfusions administered to him during the course of that year's Tour. This might explain why Landis was not flagged for testosterone in tests after earlier stages, and only came up positive after the infamous Stage 17 breakaway. After a collapse on Stage 16 that saw him lose considerable time to his rivals, it is possible Landis received a blood transfusion that was tainted with testosterone still in his body when the blood was initially drawn. This also might explain the variance in his T/E ratio results from tests during the tour, and the abnormal (and technically exculpatory) confirmatory findings from the CIR test.[21]

On September 8, 2006, Landis's attorney announced that he would formally request that the case be dropped on the grounds that LNDD's 370-page report revealed inconsistencies in the way the samples were handled.[22]

Media reports said that synthetic testosterone had been detected in the A sample, using the carbon isotope ratio test, CIR, conducted at LNDD. The presence of synthetic testosterone means that some of the testosterone in Landis's body came from an external source and was not naturally produced by his own system. These results conflicted with Landis's public assertion that it was a natural occurrence.[7][23]

The CIR test is used to distinguish between testosterone produced naturally by the athlete's body and synthetic testosterone introduced from an outside source. The test is performed by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS). According to Gary I. Wadler, M.D., a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the carbon isotope ratio test needs to be done only once, on either an A or on a B sample, particularly if the athlete's T/E ratio is high as in Landis's case.[7]

It has been suggested that Landis may have been using testosterone over the long term but was either masking it or diluting it to avoid detection. The positive test result would therefore have been from a mistake with the alleged doping program on one day.[24] Landis gave a total of eight samples during the 2006 Tour. As part of its prosecution, USADA had remaining "B" portions of the other samples tested by the LNDD. Four of those samples also showed the presence of synthetic testosterone.[25]

On September 11, 2006, Landis asked an USADA review board to dismiss the doping charges against him. His request was made on the basis that the A and B urine samples from Stage 17 did not meet the established WADA criteria for a positive doping offense. Landis's lawyer said in a statement: "The single testosterone/epitestosterone analysis in this case is replete with fundamental, gross errors." The lawyer also claimed that the positive finding on the B sample came from a sample number not assigned to Landis.[26][27] The review board notified Landis on September 18 of its recommendation that USADA proceed with the disciplinary process. Howard Jacobs, attorney for Landis, requested an open hearing by the American Arbitration Association to contest potential sanctions against the athlete.

On April 14, 2009, the French newspaper L'Express reported information that had been obtained from hacking into the LNDD was sent to a Canadian counterpart lab from a computer registered to Arnie Baker, Landis' former coach.[28] The French police later invited Landis and Baker to attend a court hearing to answer questions regarding the issue.[29] On July 31, 2009, The New York Times featured an article on corporate spying in France, stating that, "No evidence has surfaced to connect Mr. Landis or Dr. Baker to the hacking, and each has denied any involvement."[30]

On July 28, 2006, Landis appeared on Larry King Live to explain his situation and reiterate his innocence. Lance Armstrong, the seven-time and subsequently disgraced[37][38] former Tour de France winner, phoned the show to express support for Landis, his former teammate.[39] Armstrong expressed skepticism of the French laboratory that conducted Landis's drug test, noting it is the same laboratory involved in some of the doping allegations against him.

Armstrong continuously expressed support for Landis and stated his conviction that the process is biased against athletes.