Fallen Hero

Now that it has been leaked to the New York Times that Floyd Landis’ urine sample after 17th stage of the Tour de France contained synthetic testosterone [btw, I seem to remember that this was leaked to someone else on the first day the story broke but it wasn’t picked up widely — and what’s with all the leaks anyway? That doesn’t make the whole process seem all that professional and competent], it’s probably time to become cynical and figure out what might have happened (while of course holding out hope that he is after all innocent). Here’s my best shot at making sense of it all:

• After the collapse during the 16th stage, Landis gets drunk with his teammates. He decides that he needs to try to make up time the next day. In spite of his upbringing, he is clearly not someone who can take being an also-ran or even just second fiddle.
• He asks his German doctor for something to bring him back up to speed. The doctor says that the only thing that could make a difference in such a short time-frame are amphetamines, which are easily detected in a drug test. So, they say no. [BTW: The doping expertise that East German doctors developed over the decades under the old regime is certainly something that they have continued to fine-tune and monetize. Reports are that the infamous Spanish doping doctor received his substances from Germany.]
• Landis decides on his own that some testosterone might help. Riders report that testosterone (which experts say does not give short-term boosts) can lead to euphoria — and maybe that’s all he needed. He self-administers and might have made a mistake in the dosage.
• He probably doesn’t expect to win the stage and thus be subject to a mandatory drug test. All he wanted was to make some time back to be in a position for a respectable finish after the time-trial.

I hope this is not what happened. I hope that Landis is clean. But one has to be realistic.

One thing I think that should happen in cleaning up cycling and other sports is to not just suspend or ban athletes who have been found guilty of doping. I think there should be zero tolerance, as in immediate life time bans, for any coaches, doctors, team managers, etc. who are involved in doping. The Phonak team with its managers and doctors etc. should not be allowed to continue operating. They’re clearly dirty. Similarly, I cannot believe that Trevor Graham, the coach of Justin Gatlin, is still in the sport. I see that the New York Times reports similar sentiments.