The Cycliste Moderne, August 6, 2006
Landis' B-Sample Positive
Saturday French doping officials confirmed Floyd Landis' B Sample confirmed the result of the A Sample. It was expected as even Landis indicated that he expected it to confirm the intial result. The matter has been referred to USA Cycling and US AntiDoping Agency for action. Tour de France organizers stated that they do not consider Landis to be the winner of the race but will take no action until the matter is finally resolved by US officials.
This is an unfortunate result and will take months to play out.
Levi Leipheimer wins in Germany
Today's climbing stage of the Tour of Germany had bad weather, rider protests, and a victory by Levi Leipheimer. The riders protested poor weather conditions and forced organizers to rerout the state so that they avoided frozen conditions over the highest climb of the day. As a result the race was shortened and did not have as big an impact on the GC as was to be expected. Tomorrow's climbing stage may be decisve for the GC. Jens Voigt of Team CSC rode into the lead today finishing fourth on the stage finishing just two seconds back from Leipheimer.
Tour of Utah
I am in Utah for the next week on vacation. It coincides with the Tour of Utah which starts tomorrow in Provo and concludes with a race on Saturday from Deer Valley over the Alpine Loop finishing at Snowbird. With 12,000 feet of climbing, the stage follows the other big mountain finish on Thursday which races up to the summit of Mt. Nebo in central Utah. This is probably the best stage race for climbers held in America since the demise of the Coors Classic. The winner of the Tour of Utah will be a rider who can climb as two mountain finishes will determine the GC. The time trial stage will shake things up on Wednesday but is not long enough to determine the GC.
Saturday will also be for soccer as Real Madrid is in town to play Real Salt Lake. I will be back in Boise on Sunday the 13th.
posted by G.M.Wardle @ 7:29 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Question from a layman, about the Landis scandal.
Does testosterone have an immediate/short-term impact on physical aptitude? Or is it taken with the expectation that over a longer term, it will promote muscle growth?
Do you see what I'm getting at? If Landis had taken a stimulant before the crucial stage, his stellar performance could likely be attributed to his use of the drug. But unless I don't understand testosterone (and hormones in general), I'm skeptical that 2 or 6 or 10 hours after ingesting, you'd have any kind of huge physiological boost.
It's a shame. If it happened as the test would indicate, it's a shame. If it did NOT happen as the test would indicate, and he's somehow being railroaded, it's even more of a shame.
stevehulme you hit the nail on the head. Testosterone typically does not have a short term effect, although at least one German doctor has opined that the application of testosterone patches to certain regions of the male body may aid in recovery. Either Landis is incredibly stupid, doping and then winning a stage knowing he would be tested, or there is something else at play. He certainly has not shown himself to be as media savy as Lance Armstrong was. That has not helped the situation.
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