calmAccording to this article Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after his miraculous comeback in the Tour de France. Other articles indicate that the results are "reliable".
Does he look like a high testosterone individual to you?
My gut feeling is that Floyd Landis did not take supplemental T. I think he is the sort of animal who can chemically manufacture massive amounts of hormone when fueled with beer and whiskey. I would like to know what else happened the night between his hard day and his comeback. The ratio of hormones that was tested in Landis (11:1) when the supposed "normal" ratio is 1 to 2:1 while the ratio that causes alerts in the doping scene is 4:1. An NPR commentator mentioned that the ratio could also be altered by a lowering of the second hormone in the ratio.
I don't know how much data is behind the doping-board's understanding of testosterone and its natural fluctuations in an athelete. I doubt their finding that he must be doping. I have any reason to believe that the carbon isotope testing is reliable--I think we are in the great gray area, the unknown. I do believe that people's hormones can change dramatically based on circumstances--because I have seen it. Just as fast as we can push out a jolt of adrenaline, we also can alter other chemical balances in our bodies far more than science has yet to acknowledge. But then as my friend Terry constantly reminds me, my impressions and personal experience are not statistically relevant.
Still, I am inclined to believe Landis when he denies taking illegal drugs, and claims that his name will be cleared.
I would love to know his testosterone levels hourly for the 24 hours after he found out he lost the title. I bet they plummet. And it may be a once in a lifetime surge that he experienced......imagine having lost the race one day before the end, and having nothing to loose, riding like he did. He may never have that feeling again.
This is not just about testosterone. That hormone is only one indicator of how he must have felt, with the chance to win a race whose winning slot has been tied up for years. He was a human animal in prime form, in a very competitive and exciting situation. I bet his blood was a cocktail of human chemistry WAY out of its normal range.
Stress lowers T. That Landis was drinking whiskey tells me that he wasn't too worried. Or treating his stress. The NPR story also mentioned that there is research out there supporting the idea that beer increases T. Just one study.