So, what about that second sample? SI.com – More Sports – Landis ‘B’ sample confirms ‘adverse’ finding – Saturday August 5, 2006 11:51AM
PARIS (AP) — Floyd Landis was fired by his team and the Tour de France no longer considered him its champion Saturday after his second doping sample tested positive for higher-than-allowable levels of testosterone.
The samples contained synthetic testosterone, indicating that it came from an outside source.
“I have received a text message from Chatenay-Malabry lab that indicates the ‘B’ sample of Floyd Landis’ urine confirms testosterone was taken in an exogenous way,” Pierre Bordry, who heads the French anti-doping council, told The Associated Press shortly after the “B” sample results were released.
Lab head Jacques De Ceaurriz said the isotope testing procedure was “foolproof.”
“No error is possible in isotopic readings,” he told the AP.
“Pulling a Landis” is going to be added to the sports lexicon, and not in a good way.
And then, the inevitable Frenchness:
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Landis no longer was considered champion, but the decision to strip him of his title rests with the International Cycling Union.
…
“We can’t imagine a different outcome,” Prudhomme said.
Weird that they don’t control their own determination of winners. They can run the race but not certify and decertify the winners?
Oh, and the trivia answer:
Prudhomme said runner-up Oscar Pereiro would likely be the new winner.
