Garrett Lai

In what is surely a dark day for cycling, and a dark day for the world’s greatest bicycle race, the results of Floyd Landis’s B sample confirm the findings of the earlier A sample.

As far as cycling’s world sanctioning body (UCI) is concerned, Floyd is being charged with trying to cheat the Tour de France.

The UCI’s official communiqué states that, according to the anti-doping rules, the UCI will ask that the U.S. cycling federation open disciplinary proceeding. The case now goes to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which means we’re looking at a potentially lengthy review process that could takes weeks, if not months, to resolve. In the meantime, it sure looks bad for Landis.

Landis was immediately dismissed by the Phonak cycling team “for violating the team’s internal Code of Ethics.” The team acknowledges Floyd can legally contest the findings, but stated unequivocally that this is his personal affair and he will no longer be associated with Phonak or enjoy their support.

For the record, this is the second time Phonak has had to sack their team captain for doping allegations — their previous leader, American Tyler Hamilton, is currently serving a two-year suspension following positive results for blood doping at the Vuelta a Espana and the Olympics.

Landis immediately issued a response on his website, floydlandis.com: “I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone.”

He went on to state, “I was the strongest man in the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion. I will fight these charges with the same determination and intensity that I bring to my training and racing. It is now my goal to clear my name and restore what I worked so hard to achieve.”

The positive result of the B sample test wasn’t unexpected — Landis’s attorneys have been stating they expected these results for over a week.

The current media storm surrounding Landis has been without precedent, but then this is also the first time a Tour de France winner has turned up with a positive doping test. It’s been an ugly mess, created by leaked information and the spectacle of a fraudulent champion.

On the UCI’s own website, the press release announcing the initial lab finding July 26 states, “The World Anti-doping Code and the anti-doping rules of the UCI do not allow to make the name of the concerned rider public, as well as other information that may allow its identification until the end of the results management provided by the anti-doping rules of the UCI as well as the World Anti-doping Code.” But what followed was leaked information about the rider’s identity, the test results themselves, and open speculation about what this all means for the sport and Landis.

To my knowledge nobody outside the UCI or Floyd’s camp has seen the test results, so we don’t know what’s really going on here. Landis’s doctors have confirmed leaked information that the A sample showed an 11:1 ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, but this doesn’t necessarily mean Floyd had high levels of testosterone in his system on Stage 17, when he made that incredible ride out of 11^th place back into contention for the overall.

A low level of epitestosterone could also create a positive result (for the record, the normal ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone is 1:1, and rarely 2:1—the positive results from a ratio greater than 4:1).

MORE FROM CYCLING / TOUR DE FRANCE

Cycling / Tour de France Section Front

Burghardt wins 18th stage, Sastre keeps lead Officials check car of ex-Tour leader's parents Rider 'think they can get away with' doping Opinion: Lots of dopes racing in the Tour de Farce American teams vow to keep it clean at Tour   Images: Top Tour de France pictures Tour de France results, standings Tour de France Stage Winners Descriptions of Tour de France stages Slide show: Tour de France crashes Cycling / Tour de France Section Front   Add Cycling / Tour de France headlines to your news reader: