Landis comes clean on PED use

Whoa, didn't see this coming:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=5203604

 

shocking

 

Landis, who began his career as a top mountain biker...

"had kept detailed training journals since he was a teenager... continued the same methodical record-keeping once he started using banned drugs.... spent as much as $90,000 a year on performance-enhancing drugs and on consultants... kept all of his journals and diaries and has offered to share them with U.S. anti-doping authorities in recent meetings. He added that he has given officials detailed information on how athletes are beating drug testing."

Can someone explain the whole "drug testing" thing to me?
-Ways to cheat / cover-up drug use (steroids/transfusions)
-How long do these drugs remain in the body
-What exactly constitutes a positive test
-What exactly do they test for (elevated levels / inconsistencies)
-How often is the rule book "rewritten"

 

Really? Why filp now?

 

that's sad. i was really hoping that he had been clean...

oh, well. still, ****ing french. they could have busted him before he won, so that somebody else could have worn the yellow jersey, before testing positive and passing it down to others that would have also failed, until there was no one left but pee wee herman to cruise down the champs elysees sipping champagne.

 

Are you thinking about racing Dino? Don't dope! Don't do it!

Here's the big news. Ho-hum! This sure gets old after awhile!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703691804575255410855321120.html

 

Throwing a bunch of guys under the bus: #-o


The emails are particularly focused on American riders. Mr. Landis said in them that during his career, he and other American riders learned how to conduct blood transfusions, take the synthetic blood booster Erythropoietin, or EPO, and use steroids. Mr. Landis said he started using testosterone patches, then progressed to blood transfusions, EPO, and a liquid steroid taken orally.

In one of the emails, dated April 30 and addressed to Stephen Johnson, the president of USA Cycling, Mr. Landis said that Mr. Armstrong's longtime coach, Johan Bruyneel, introduced Mr. Landis to the use of steroid patches, blood doping and human growth hormone in 2002 and 2003, his first two years on the U.S. Postal Service team. He alleged Mr. Armstrong helped him understand the way the drugs worked. "He and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test," Mr. Landis claimed in the email. He claimed he was instructed by Mr. Bruyneel how to use synthetic EPO and steroids and how to carry out blood transfusions that doping officials wouldn't be able to detect. Mr. Bruyneel and Mr. Johnson could not be reached for comment.

In the same email, Mr. Landis wrote that after breaking his hip in 2003, he flew to Girona, Spain—a training hub for American riders—and had two half-liter units of blood extracted from his body in three-week intervals to be used later during the Tour de France. The extraction, Mr. Landis claimed, took place in Mr. Armstrong's apartment, where blood bags belonging to Mr. Armstrong and his then-teammate George Hincapie were kept in a refrigerator in Mr. Armstrong's closet. Mr. Landis said he was asked to check the temperature of the blood daily. According to Mr. Landis, Mr. Armstrong left for a few weeks and asked Mr. Landis to make sure the electricity didn't go off and ruin the blood. George Hincapie, through a spokesman, denied the allegations.

In the email sent on April 30 to Mr. Johnson, Mr. Landis said that in 2006, after leaving the U.S. Postal Service team for a team sponsored by Swiss hearing aide manufacturer Phonak, he said he told Andy Rihs, the team's owner, that he had been involved in a blood doping program in the past with his old team and wanted to continue doing so with Phonak. He said Mr. Rihs, who is the chairman of Sonova Holding AG, the Switzerland-based parent company for Phonak, agreed to pay for the same doping operations at Phonak. After Mr. Landis's positive test—which was for testosterone and not blood doping—the team disbanded in 2006. Mr. Rihs and a Sonova spokesman could not be reached for comment.

In addition to these allegations, Mr. Landis's emails called current anti-doping efforts "a charade," detailed how to use EPO without getting caught and claimed he helped former teammates Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie take EPO before one Tour of California race. Mr. Leipheimer and Mr. Zabriskie could not be reached for comment



#-o :-k :drunk:

 

Wow. Thats pretty revelatory.

 

ouch... in regard to mtnbkj-
the tour of cali is this weekend.......does that mean the transfusions are going on as we speak?
guess i should stop riding on pizza n beer if i wanna go fast
ricky bobby

 

"Landis exhausted most of his own savings in fighting his case, which cost an estimated $2 million, and also raised funds for his defense in a well-publicized effort. He said he would pay those donors back if he could, but does not have the money to do so. He said he did not level with the people close to him, but declined to say whether he informed his lawyers of his past drug use."

Haha...yeah right Floyd.

 

Mr. Rihs, through a spokesperson, declined to be interviewed. He said Thursday in a written statement that neither he nor the management of the team "knew that Floyd Landis was doped," and described the email statements by Mr. Landis as "lies" representing "a last tragic attempt of Landis to once again gain public recognition" that he has lost.

 

Hard to believe he kept incriminating diaries (think of all the travel he did). Maybe he wrote in a secret code? of course that itself would be suspicious.

 

Modern medicine has allowed aging and underperforming athletes to continue being competitive, relevant, and earn a living when the athlete could no longer do it on his/her own. As long as competition exists and money is being spent to win and compensate the winners, cheating in many forms will continue to be a part of every sport. I have come to the grim reality that nearly every athlete in almost any professional sport will do whatever it takes to be revered and loved by those watching and enjoying the performance.
Bert

 

There were quite a few people wanting to dis-credit/kill the messenger when Canseco sang, he was a malcontent with an axe to grind, a scumbag, a greedy guy just out to make a buck, etc...but he was right, too. Oh, how some cannot stand that light shine on their actions...

 

This is disgusting on many levels imo.....interested to see where it goes from here.

 

I should be so underperforming. The ones at the top are the best athletes trying for something extra to be #1.
edit: Do drugs improve anyone's handling ability? Descend a winding road at 50mph?

Then again there are those who sandbag the beginner class. :?:

 

Ever hear of the Nixon Watergate tapes?#-o

 

Agreed 100% I think every profesional athlete is doing something. Big or small to get that edge.

 

But they were secured in the White House. Landis had to stay in hotels, go through customs,...

 

Fail!