PARIS - Floyd Landis is ready for a battle to clear his name if his backup
sample also tests positive for doping on Saturday.
Floyd Landis of the
U.S. undergoes his Tour de France medical examination in Strasbourg in
this June 29, 2006 file photo. Tour de France winner Landis will learn at
0900 GMT on August 5, 2006 whether a test on his B sample confirms a
positive test for the male sex hormone
testosterone.[Reuters] |
A positive "B" result for elevated testosterone could see him stripped of his
Tour de France title and banned for two years. The International Cycling Union
is expected to announce the result at 0900 GMT on Saturday.
"Floyd is in a good state of mind and he is prepared for whatever the result
may be," Michael Henson, a spokesman for the cyclist, said on Friday.
Clearing his name could be a long process taking upward of a year.
"Floyd is a fighter and Floyd is prepared for a fight just like the way he
went out and fought for a Tour de France win," Henson told The Associated Press
in a telephone interview.
"To keep a title he thinks is rightfully his."
Henson said Landis was in the San Diego area, but no further details of his
whereabouts were given.
Landis does not plan to travel to Paris and is unlikely to talk after
Saturday's findings, Henson said, adding that any comment will be made in a
statement by Landis' legal team after the UCI's verdict.
Landis and his defense team expect the sample will confirm a July 20 urine
test showing elevated testosterone ratio after making a remarkable comeback and
winning the 17th stage of the Tour in a solo breakaway in the Alps.
"We think that it can confirm the 'A' sample," lawyer Jose Maria Buxeda said
on Thursday when testing began.
But Buxeda still believes Landis will prove his innocence even if the backup
sample is positive.
"He's pretty sure we will be able to prove, if this result is confirmed, that
it is due to natural causes," Buxeda said.
If the test is negative, Landis would be cleared. If it's positive, the UCI
will refer the case to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for handling. The process
could take weeks or months, including possible appeals to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.
"Mr. Landis is prepared to take this through the levels of appeal it has to
go through and the levels of the arbitration laid out by the governing bodies,"
Henson said.
If Landis becomes the first Tour champion stripped of victory, the title
would go to Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro.
Landis, a 30-year-old former mountain biker, says he was tested eight other
times during the three-week tour and all the results came back negative.
"I'm going to do my best to defend my dignity and my innocence," he said on
CNN's "Larry King Live" last week.
Landis has hired high-profile American lawyer Howard Jacobs, who has
represented several athletes in doping cases.
Since July 27, the explanations of why Landis turned up an
testosterone-epitestosterone ratio of 11:1, well above the 4:1 limit have
varied.
Was it the beer and whiskey he consumed after crumbling and losing the yellow
jersey on July 19, or his natural metabolism that caused the high reading? Could
it be thyroid medication linked to his ailing hip?
Now, dehydration is the latest possible reason offered.
That was quickly rebuffed by several of the world's top anti-doping officials
and contrasts with events during stage 17 when Landis drank huge amounts of
liquid and splashed his face with water.
"That reason doesn't make any sense. The ratio is already taking something
like dehydration into account," said David Cowan, director of the Drug Control
Center at London's King's College. "If you're dehydrated, you produce less
urine, but it's not as if you're producing less epitestosterone or testosterone
- the levels should remain the same."
Earlier this week, a New York Times report said that a second analysis of
Landis' "A" sample by carbon isotope ratio testing had detected synthetic
testosterone _ meaning it was ingested.
Although "B" samples rarely contradict the original finding, there have been
some exceptions.
In September 2005, the Phonak team reinstated Italian rider Fabrizio Guidi
after his backup test came back negative for the endurance-boosting hormone EPO.
