Infinite Monkeys

Say it ain't so

Unfortunately, most folks have probably heard more about Tour de France winner Floyd Landis and a preliminary "statistical anomoly" in one urine sample than they heard about the entire three week stage race. Let me see if I can put things in perspective. (I should note that at this time I am still biased pretty heavily in favor of Floyd, spurred by hope and denial, really wanting to believe he is innocent. I felt the same way about Tyler Hamilton until earlier this year. I have since changed my tune on Tyler, who I now really believe to have blood doped. Coincidentally, my team's primary sponsor is a shop called Landis Cyclery though there's no relation. Oddly, though, it was that coincidence that opened a conversation between me and Floyd Landis when I met him before last year's Tour de Tucson. I'll have to write that exchange up in another post. Anyway, obviously, I'm biased. Take it as you will.)

First we need to remember that only the A sample has been tested, and that the B sample still needs to be tested in order to make the accusation of "doping" official. Sadly though, even if it comes back negative, the chances that Landis's reputation and career are damaged irreparably are very high. Everyone knows cycling has an association with doping and a dirty history. And while the sport has been leading all others in taking serious steps to clean itself up and punish offenders (unlike several sports, cough...), it has another reputation. In its new zealotry, cycling has been quick to try those under suspicion through press leaks and preliminary results, sometimes mistakenly, contributing to an environment of mistrust and vague doubt throughout the sport.

While everyone is talking about how Floyd's urine test after winning Stage 17 showed an elevated ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, most are assuming incorrectly that it means there was a surge of testosterone that needs to be accounted for. While testosterone is not actually a performance enhancer that would make one go faster or farther, riders have been known in the past to use it as a recovery aid at night between race stages. Therefore, many have assumed that the test results indicating a skewed ratio mean that Landis must have used a testosterone patch or cream illegally between stages 16 and 17.

But it seems that Landis's unusual ratio may be due not to an unusually high level of testosterone, but a suppressed level of epitestosterone. Such a low level could lead to a red-flag ratio. But the question is how such a condition could have occurred. To review, Landis had a spectacular crumbling on stage 16, losing nearly 10 minutes to his rivals and seeing his chances of overall victory nearly disappear. (The bookmakers in Belgium, the cycling capital of the world, had dropped his odds to 75-to-1 at that point.) The failure was something of a combination of a bonk (completely running out of glycogen), dehydration, and overheating.

Normally, big-time stage racers employ a battery of recovery techniques that begin the moment they step off the bike to prepare for the next day's effort. It is not at all uncommon, or against the rules, for riders to use sophisticated equipment to check their own blood and urine for electrolyte imbalances and other metrics, and to use IV fluids to speed rehydration. Special diets based not only on composition but also exact timing are employed to keep these athletes in condition to perform the equivalent of a full marathon day after day for three weeks (with two rest/travel days built in). But the report is that after the train-wreck of stage 16, Floyd passed on the normal routine and instead visited a bar and tried to relax with a beer. He also reports that after the bar proved too crowded, he and a few teammates commiserated in adjoining hotel suites over a shot or two of Jack Daniels.

Some have reported that alcohol has been studied inconclusively as an elevator of T:E ratios. Others have pointed out that while the beer story was public as of stage 17, the whiskey didn't get mentioned until after the Tour and the anomolous test. I don't know what to think. The best article I've yet found on the matter is here at cyclingnews.com, who has been the sine qua non of official race and scandal coverage. For the pajamas media style angle, keep your eye on PodiumCafe.com. They've got some excellent links there.

It's a sad affair. Even the best conclusion will still leave a sour taste. The worst could be heartbreaking and crushing for the already troubled sport. What I fear is that we'll never really have the issue resolved. Testing for substances that occur naturally in the human body is problematic. The history of T:E ratio test appeals favors the rider, but I don't know what can now be done to take the tarnish of the 2006 Tour de France, the de facto championship of international stage racing.