Once again a French testing lab has jumped the gun, releasing test results for Floyd Landis before any confirmation of the test has been done. Is this the same lab that tested 6-year-old samples from Lance Armstrong and released the supposed positive doping results under pressure from a French newspaper after Armstrong’s 7th Tour de France win? Did I miss the retraction of that accusation? I think it’s about time someone investigates the French testing lab. Or France.
The fact is, logic tells us more about what must have happened to Floyd than any dubious test results from the French cycling community.
It is my understanding that testosterone doping works over a period of weeks to build muscle mass, strength and endurance. Floyd was tested numerous times during the Tour de France, obviously not testing positive during that period. He did well but his body crashed during the next to last mountain stage and he lost approximately 10 minutes to the new leader. Does that sound like he was artificially enhancing his performance? Not to me. Then the next day, stage 17, the last mountain stage, he reached down into his soul and performed magnificently, winning the stage and gaining back all but 30 seconds on the leader. What did he do, take a Superman pill the night before?
That’s not the way testosterone doping works. I believe it’s much more likely he manufactured the natural testosterone he needed by guts and the determination not to give up.
Until a non-French lab tests Landis’ backup sample and finds it positive for synthetic testosterone, I’ll believe in Floyd Landis. I find his courage and determination an inspiration for his country and a role model for young people to emulate.
Curt Greer
Marysville
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