Just in from news outlets (L'Equipe reference here): Floyd Landis' urine samples, undergoing secondary testing show synthetic anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone).
As everyone breathing knows, Floyd Landis won the Tour de France in 2006. However his urine samples tested for a high T:E after one of the stages. Later, synthetic testosterone was found in a follow-up test. Landis' Tour title was held in escrow as officials tried to sort the entire imbroglio out.
Since then Landis has gone public with his Wiki-defense, claiming any number of Tour screw-ups. The USADA ordered testing of Landis other urine samples. And....(from the LA Times) this just in. Realize these tests DO NOT REPEATS of the Stage 17 of last year. The LNDD compiled tests on other stages of the Tour where Landis T:E ration was under 4:1; those samples would not be normally be referred for synthetic steroid testing (SFGate).
Synthetic testosterone found in Landis’ “B” samples
by Philip Hersh, Special to The Times
Evidence of synthetic testosterone has been found in "several" of the other urine samples Floyd Landis gave while winning the 2006 Tour de France, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported on its website Monday.
The arbitration panel hearing Landis' case approved in March a request by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to allow testing of the other samples. The tests were done in the same Paris laboratory that found Landis positive on the sample given after the dramatic mountain stage victory that wiped out a substantial time deficit and put him in the race lead for good.
According to L'Equipe, which did not cite the sources of its information, two representatives each of both Landis and USADA witnessed the retests on the "B" portions of the urine samples.
Landis was tested eight times during the Tour de France; seven of the eight, on which only the "A" portion was analyzed, originally were declared negative. Those seven had not been analyzed with the more sophisticated carbon-isotope ratio testing until last week.
Landis held a press conference just minutes ago. Report here.
Landis' hasn't gotten any official results, and hopes to get them in a few days. As noted in the earlier press release, they complained that USADA ran the analytical process, with their expert and attorney "over the line", while Landis' expers Scott and Davis were kept on the other side. They said that they were denied visibility into the critical parts of the analysis.
...Landis believes the leak could only have come from LNDD or USADA, an issue they expect to take up with the arbiters this week.
At the conclusion of the prepared remarks, Floyd gave a blistering attack, saying that he won the Tour fair and square; that is disappointed but not surprised by the leaked results, which show that what few rights athletes have are routinely ignored, reflecting a lack of ethics by the agencies. He thinks what happened at the LNDD borders on deliberate falsification and destruction of evidence.
(CBS report after the jump)
From CBS:
(CBS News) PARIS 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.
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