grkeller

from Wall Street Journal, Friday:
(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
· By Sam Walker
¶ THE DISCLOSURE that American Tour de France champion Floyd Landis failed a drug test administered after his triumphant ride in Stage 17 last week has cast more dark clouds over a sport that has already been shaken by allegations of doping.
¶ But in an interview yesterday, Mr. Landis, who has been suspended and could be stripped of his Tour title, denied using any illegal substances during the race and offered some surprising insights into his preparation for Stage 17. His performance on that race leg has been widely hailed as one of the greatest in the history of the Tour.
¶ The night before Stage 17, Mr. Landis said, while gathered with friends and teammates, he prepared for the strenuous mountain stage by drinking two beers and at least four shots of whiskey.
¶ The revelation that Mr. Landis was drinking the night before the test could be significant. According to several studies, alcohol consumption can increase the ratio between testosterone and epitestosterone, which occur naturally in the body. Mr. Landis failed the test because it showed an elevated ratio between the two.
¶ According to Mr. Landis, the drinks weren't part of his usual training. "I don't ordinarily ever drink alcohol during a race," he said yesterday. But earlier that day, during Stage 16, Mr. Landis had faded in the Alps, surrendering the leader's yellow jersey and falling more than eight minutes behind. Afterward, he was all but convinced that the race was over for him. "What would you have done?" he asked. "Until yesterday, that was the worst day of my life."
¶ Mr. Landis said he hasn't seen the test results, but people close to his Phonak cycling team said the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone in his urine sample was 11 to 1, above the acceptable threshold of 4 to 1. Studies, including one conducted in 1996 at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, and one in 1988 at Huddinge Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, indicate alcohol consumption can raise this ratio. Some researchers say the increase can be anywhere from 30% to more than 200%. Mr. Landis said he wasn't familiar with the research until he was told of it yesterday.
¶ Last week, after he completed Stage 16, Mr. Landis told reporters his first priority was to have a cold beer. He said yesterday he went to an outdoor veranda with a bar near his hotel and drank two draft beers. After a crowd began to gather, he retired to the hotel with about five other people, including Phonak teammates Axel Merckx and Robert Hunter. Someone produced a bottle of Jack Daniel's, he said, and he had "at least four shots" before going to bed before 11:30 p.m. Because he doesn't usually drink much and was so skinny from weeks of racing, the alcohol definitely had an effect, he said yesterday. "I don't remember much." Nonetheless, Mr. Landis said, he felt no ill effects the next morning because of the "adrenaline and energy" of the Tour.
¶ Mr. Landis said he will request today that officials examine the second of the two samples he provided to ensure that the first result wasn't flawed. The Phonak team said in a statement that if the second sample tests positive, Mr. Landis will be dismissed from the team. International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid said in a statement that if the initial finding is confirmed, it would be "a great disappointment and an unacceptable violation."
¶ A representative for Phonak, the Swiss hearing-aid maker that sponsors Mr. Landis's cycling team, didn't return a call for comment. In the weeks ahead, Mr. Landis said, he will begin what he expects to be a long, hard process of defending himself. "People have a preconceived idea of what goes on in cycling," he said. "I can say I'm innocent, which I should say because I am, but people are going to believe whatever they believe."
¶ Several of Mr. Landis's former teammates have come to his defense. Jonathan Vaughters, a Tour de France veteran, said he spoke to Mr. Landis yesterday and believes the testing system has failed. Mr. Vaughters said any number of factors, from Mr. Landis's alcohol consumption, to the regular cortisone shots he was receiving for his injured hip, to his exhaustion from the stage before must have contributed to the "perfect storm" that caused the positive test. He noted that Mr. Landis had taken several tests during the Tour as a leader and stage winner and passed them.
¶ "The Tour de France is finally cleaned up," Mr. Vaughters said. "Floyd won a clean race and now he's going to get hosed. It's just really unjust."
¶ Gary Wadler, a physician and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said he doesn't think the test results add up because Mr. Landis didn't show an elevated ratio in any other tests. "I can't imagine how taking a single dose of an anabolioc steroid could impact performance in the sport of cycling," he said. "They need to be taken for many weeks to have an effect."
¶ Even if Mr. Landis is eventually cleared, it's unlikely drinking before races will become a strategy adopted by other endurance athletes. "No one wants to go through what Floyd is going through now," Allen Lim, one of Mr. Landis's coaches, wrote in an email yesterday.
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