Updates and I.O.U.
Almost all of this page was written in August 2006, with very little revising or supplementing since then, mainly a few updates in 2007. It's a reporting of what I was thinking & feeling at that time. Obviously, in all ways (including my thinking & feeling) it needs a major update based on events between then and now: especially Floyd's confessions in 2010 (about plenty of doping including 2006, but maybe [I'm not sure about this] not testosterone for his super-ride in 2006) {ESPN - Landis admits to doping}; plus his testimony about Lance Armstrong's use of EPO & blood doping, which has been reinforced by statements from other riders, including Tyler Hamilton (60 Minutes in May 2011, and in August 2012 a book, The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France). {one update among many possible: Since I wrote this, Lance has admitted his doping, although I think he is a hero-and-villain, is worthy of respect in some ways.}
UPDATE on September 19, 2021 – Today I web-searched and found an ESPN article from 2010, describing acknowledgments from Landis about the uses by him (and many others) of performance-enhancing drugs: "Floyd Landis told ESPN.com on Wednesday he used performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career as a professional road cyclist, including the race whose title he briefly held. / In a lengthy telephone interview from California, Landis detailed extensive, consistent use of the red blood cell booster erythropoietin (commonly known as EPO), testosterone, human growth hormone and frequent blood transfusions, along with female hormones and a one-time experiment with insulin, during the years he rode for the U.S. Postal Service and Switzerland-based Phonak teams. / Landis confirmed he sent e-mails to cycling and anti-doping officials over the past few weeks, implicating dozens of other athletes including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, team management and owners, and officials of the sport's national and international governing bodies." But... "As for his own positive test [in the 2006 Tour de France], Landis still maintains that result was inaccurate and that he had not used synthetic testosterone during the 2006 season -- although he now admits he used human growth hormone during that time." So he has not [at least in 2010] said that he used testosterone before his amazing day in 2006.
Eventually I'll add an introductory section about these new developments. The new section will supplement my original thoughts with new thoughts, and will provide external links to web-sources with up-to-date information about the testosterone mystery and the news-events since August 2006.
But I will leave the page below unchanged. As an honesty-check on this, you can see an archived copy of this page (it opens in a new window so you can compare it with the current version) from the Wayback Machine, captured by them on March 14, 2007. { a personal note: That's exactly 10 years after I officially submitted my PhD dissertation to the U of Wisconsin-Madison on 3-14-97. }
Below is “what the page was” in its early days.
As a scientist,
athlete, and a fan of the Tour de France since 1985, I'm
confused. Why? Because in some ways "it
doesn't add up," according to an expert on drug testing.
Avoiding Oversimplification
Those
who don't understand the physiology of pushing-the-limit athletics ask “how
could Landis be so weak during Stage 16 and so strong the next day, if he wasn't
using drugs?” This
question might make sense if we ignore the fact that Landis was consistently
strong throughout the tour (pages with details are cited below)*
and that external testosterone is typically abused for long-term
improvement in muscle strength, not as a "one-day
wonder drug" for a quick increase in
energy, strength, and performance.
During three weeks on the
Tour, Landis was riding as fast (or faster) than almost all of the other
top-10 riders in
almost every stage. But in
Stage 16 something strange happened to him physiologically; probably
his body didn't have enough water (he got dehydrated), enough energy (he
ran low
on glycogen, the "sugar fuel" used by muscles), and/or he got overheated. When
the body's physiology gets messed up, it's difficult to operate at the high
levels demanded in mountain climbing, and he fell far behind his world-class competitors. The next
day, in Stage 17, several times the TV commentators pointed out how he was
drinking lots
of
water,
eating
lots of food, and
pouring water over himself (to cool off), doing all of this to insure that
whatever happened in his "bad physiology day" would not happen again
in Stage 17.
This variation in performance
is not unusual, and other
riders sometimes have one bad day and naturally recover
the next day.* This could also happen
to Landis, so there is no need to say "it was drugs" to
explain his dramatic one-day improvement between Stages 16 and 17. (* an
example: Oscar Pereiro, who finished second and may now be awarded first, lost
26 minutes in Stage
11 but regained 30 minutes in Stage 13, and rode strongly the other 19 days
despite
his one
very
bad day.)
* Here
is information
(in pages
I've linked to) about
Stages 16 & 17. Also, there is
a
detailed table
about the "roller
coaster" race (check the third paragraph with "comments" in
green
print)
showing
that Floyd Landis was the most consistently strong rider throughout the Tour, followed
closely by Andreas Kloden.
A Mystery Story
When I began writing this
page (on August 3, 2006) there were mysteries, with uncertainties leading to many
questions —
•
1. Was
Floyd "artificially supercharged" during
his amazing win in Stage 17? and also in other parts
of the Tour?
•
2. If YES, why were all of
his other eight tests normal?
•
3. If NO, then
•
3A. was
this test positive due to physiological strangeness (unique to Landis and the
context of Stage
17) that naturally raised his testosterone level and/or lowered his epitestosterone
level? { But what about the "isotope test" that
indicated artificial testosterone? }
• 3B.
Or was he "framed" by
someone who had access to his urine samples, and added drugs to them, or who
falsified the lab-analysis results?
•
4. If
YES to 1 or 3B, then WHO? — Was there intentional cheating (and when
did it begin) that Landis knew about and approved? or,
without his knowledge, did
his
team
(Phonak) try
to "help"
him? or did some
member
of his
team, such as a masseur, rub testosterone cream onto Landis without the knowledge
of Landis or Phonak? Or was Landis "framed" by an enemy — someone
on another team, a team supplier, a spectator along the route,... — by
secretly adding drugs into (or onto) his body?
[ here is an extra comment, added in late-May 2011 — If you compare 1-and-4 with 3B, you'll see two different questions: Was the lab test accurate because there really was extra non-natural testosterone in his urine? Was his performance during the race improved by a body that was supercharged with non-natural testosterone? ]
The following wish
was written August 5, after the B-sample also tested positive, because (unless
it's 3A above, with everyone being totally honest) at
least one person, and maybe more — maybe
it's Landis, and maybe not — knows what
happened, who was involved and why. Whoever this is, I
wish they would share the truth with us. But
in the absence of honesty by this person(s) and because there is no theory
to explain 3A, I
still consider the questions
above to be part of an unsolved mystery story.
Now, back to a year earlier, in late July and early August of 2006:
A Variety of Views
I'm not the only one who
(in early August 2006) is confused and is asking questions, as you can
see in these
pages:
Doping
expert thinks Landis result ‘doesn't add up’ (July 27, re: Gary
Wadler)
Sports
doping expert explains cycling's drug-testing process (from Dr. Don Catlin,
director
of the Olympic Analytical Laboratory in U.S.)
In
Landis
affair, more questions than answers (July 29)
testosterone
is effective for quick recovery (in second half of page)
On July 27, ESPN analyst John Eustice said the amount of testosterone in Sample A was normal, so perhaps the testosterone/epitestosterone ratio was high due to an unusually low level of epitestosterone. USA Today (Eustice-info plus links & blog)
But the suspicions
are
based
on more than just a high T/E ratio:
Isotopes
help pin down Artificial Testosterone (from Nature)
Test
for Synthetic Testosterone is Accurate (August 1)
UCI source says some
Landis testosterone exogenous (Aug 1)
IRMS
Test is Positive but Low, Says Landis' Doc (on "Free Floyd Landis" blog)
August 5: Landis'
'B' test results come out positive Landis's
second sample confirms original finding — "Landis...
was tested eight other times during the three-week tour [six times before
July 20 when he tested positive, and two after this on July 22 & 23]
and all the results came back negative." / I
have
a biological question: If Landis knowingly took (or
was given without his knowledge) enough testosterone before Stage 17 to produce
a very high T/E ratio
of 11-to-1, would it quickly decrease so it wouldn't show up in his next test
two days later,
on July 22 when he was automatically tested after regaining the yellow jersey?
Here
is information (but it's incomplete) from my initial searches:
In a forum Terri
says, "According to the results of my Google search
on "half life of testosterone", it depends on how testosterone is administered
(oral, dermal, intramuscular, etc. as to how efficient the absorption by the
body) AND with what the testosterone has been compounded. It appears the
half life of "testosterone" can be anywhere from 1 hour to 12 days. This
is a pretty complex topic. Any pharmacists/chemists/physicians want to
weigh in on this one?"
Dr. Pam Hinton (on
fitness
panel of Cycling
News)
says — in Testosterone,
epitestosterone and the doping tests — "The
form of the hormone that is available for exogenous administration is chemically
identical to what is produced naturally in the body. Only a small fraction
(about one percent) of the testosterone produced every day is excreted in the
urine. Blood and urine levels increase after taking testosterone. But
because the half-life of testosterone is very short, about one hour, blood and
urine
levels return to normal very quickly. Thus, measuring testosterone levels
in urine is not an effective means of detecting steroid abuse." (July
31)
In
the SuperTopo Climber's Forum Kate says, "...
[first half of paragraph, also interesting, is skipped] Natural T in the
body has a half life that can be as short as 10 minutes. Methyltestosterone,
available
orally, has a half life of about 4.5 hours. [editor's comment: sources vary,
some
say
4
hours & others say 4 days, maybe there is a difference between 4-hour elimination
&
4-day breakdown?] Some
are available for longer. Various synthetic orally-available testosterones
have
been engineered with the objective of increasing half-life to reduce dosing
frequency and dosing volume, which could reduce harm to the liver. One
could
pick and choose
the synthetic testosterone molecule with the desired half-life."
I have a question: Terri
says the half-life (inside the body, not in a sample) could be "anywhere
from
1
hour
to 12 days." What
form of testosterone was found in his samples? (Or would all of the
forms
be converted into regular testosterone in his body and thus in the samples?) Is
there
any
T-form that would be durable enough to last throughout the race (5 hours & 23
minutes)* but would disappear in two days,
before
the
next time he was tested?
* Maybe
if Landis was guilty, during the tough
race
his
physiology
would
be
so unusual — producing lots of natural-T and also breaking it down (along
with
the
extra-T
he
injected),... while pedaling up and down mountains at peak capacity
—
that
the
half-life math
just wouldn't work. And he has unusual medical conditions, with Hashimoto's
disease (affects thyroid metabolism), plus taking
cortisone
for his hip,... It's all very complicated and confusing.
Landis
reaction from around the web (on TDFblog.com, July 27-28)
Landis
suddenly a simple man entangled in a complex problem
another personal tragedy: stepfather-in-law
(and friend) of Landis dead in San Diego (August 16)
Landis
speaks out strongly in his defense (August 7)
an I.O.U. — Later, there will be a discussion of science-and-ethics, which will connect with other parts of our website including Ethics and Worldviews using papers from the ASA journal and more.
Here is a prediction — I think someone will write a book about this fascinating story, about the history of Landis and the scientific mysteries described (very roughly and incompletely) in this page, in the context of "doping in bike racing" more generally.
Below are interesting quotes, and then (following these) a few more links.
from Scott Osler, San Francisco
Chronicle, July 28:
Another
mystery: If a rider knows he's going to be tested, why would he juice up
and risk almost-certain
disgrace? If Landis is guilty, he is either stupid, naive, careless
or desperate — or all of the above.
from CNN, July 29:
Landis
was tested eight other times during the race — six times before the abnormal test result
and twice afterward — and he has not been told that any of those tests
had unusual outcomes, he said.
Regardless, Landis' physician,
Dr. Brent Kay, said that testosterone would have done nothing to help Landis
win the race. "Testosterone is a body-building steroid that that
builds mass over long-term use of weeks, months or even years," Kay
said. "It's crazy to think that a Tour de France professional
cyclist would be using testosterone, particularly in the middle of a race. It's
a joke."
from The News Tribune (Tacoma,
WA), July 30, Expert
thinks testosterone jolt possible:
A forensic toxicologist
in Nashville, Tenn.,
the author of the book “Drug Testing in Sports,” questioned the assertion
by some experts that it would not make sense for suspended Tour de France winner
Floyd Landis to have taken testosterone for a quick boost of energy and strength
before his Stage 17 breakaway. ... He said an injection of testosterone
would have a “profound” short-term effect on an athlete.
“I have injected
myself with testosterone in doing research, and I can tell you from personal
experience that within hours, you feel a profound psychological change, a
sense of well-being, aggression and energy,” Black said. “You
feel strong and powerful. And your endurance is definitely improved. So,
it’s not peculiar to me that a cyclist would take testosterone after
a bad day. What does seem peculiar
is that an athlete of that caliber would put himself at such great risk,
knowing that they test for testosterone.”
Dr. Gary Wadler, a member
of the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list and methods committee, spoke
Thursday [July 27, 2006] with ESPN.com about Floyd Landis, testosterone and
testing. / The following Q-and-A is from about halfway through
the brief interview:
Q: For a cyclist,
what's the benefit of elevated levels of testosterone? Why would a
cyclist use it?
A: It's certainly
not one of the first-line drugs one thinks of for racing. Steroids
can increase strength and improve recovery time and prevent the breakdown
of muscle, maybe make him more assertive and aggressive. All of those
could have some positive attribute. But most steroids are given in
cycles [6-12 weeks] and in context of working out in a gym with weights. It
makes no sense to me why an athlete would take testosterone the day of a
race when it doesn't work that way. It doesn't make sense in terms
of the pharmacology of the drug, and it really doesn't have the attributes
that would be attractive to a cyclist — particularly one running the
risk of violating anti-doping regulations.
Everybody knew the spotlight
was on cycling. For eight years, the world has been watching cycling
particularly closely. It would be the ultimate form of denial, or the
ultimate sense of invincibility, to think you're going to evade that. And
when the pharmacology of the drug doesn't really, in my judgment, seem like
a drug of particular note to a cyclist, it doesn't really compute.
EXTRA NEWS (optional leftovers that may be cut soon)
Pereiro
sees little gain if Landis loses Tour title (July 27)
Phonak:
Landis had positive test after Stage 17 (July 28)
Landis
calls his testosterone imbalance natural (July 30)
Inferences about Testosterone Abuse among Athletes (and false positives) (2004, J of American Statistical Association)
Testosterone 101 (7-28, AP) http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/10600.0.html
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