Asked repeatedly what might have tripped his test, Landis refused to lay
blame on any one thing. "As to what actually caused it on that particular day, I
can only speculate," he said.
Landis had an exemption from the Tour to take cortisone shots for pain in his
hip, which will require surgery for a degenerative condition, and was taking an
oral medication for hyperthyroidism. He and his doctor were consulting with
experts to see if those drugs might have thrown off his testosterone levels.
Landis said he was still in Europe, but declined to say exactly where. "Not
to be elusive, I have to figure out a way to get to the airport and get home,"
he said.
Arlene Landis said her son called Thursday from Europe and told her he had
not done anything wrong.
"Lance (Armstrong) went through this too," she said in an interview with the
AP at her home in Farmersville, Pa. "Somebody doesn't want him to win.
"Why do they put you through two weeks of misery and spoil your crown? My
opinion is when he comes on top of this everyone will think so much more of him.
So that's what valleys are for, right?"
USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee said the organization could not comment until
the process is complete. Carla O'Connell, publications and communications
director for the US Anti-Doping Agency, also had no comment.
UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said Landis requested the "B" sample, which is
not required by cycling's governing body.
"We are confident in the first (test)," Carpani said. "For us, the first one
is already good."
Tour director Christian Prudhomme stressed that the backup test still must be
done, and it would be up to the UCI to determine penalties. "It is obviously
distressing," he said at a Paris news conference.
Under World Anti-Doping Agency regulations, a ratio of testosterone to
epitestosterone greater than 4:1 is considered a positive result and subject to
investigation. The threshold was recently lowered from 6:1. The most likely
natural ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone in humans is 1:1.
Testosterone is included as an anabolic steroid on WADA's list of banned
substances, and its use can be punished by a two-year ban.
Testosterone can build muscle and improve recovery time
when used over a period of several weeks, said Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of the
World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesman for the American College of Sports
Medicine. But if Landis had been a
user, his earlier urine tests during the tour would have been
affected, he said.
"So something's missing here," Wadler said. "It just doesn't add up."
Landis' inspiring Tour was reminiscent of fellow American Tyler Hamilton's
gutsy 2003 ride. Hamilton, riding for team CSC, broke his collarbone on the
first day of the Tour but rode on, despite the pain, and finished fourth
overall.
But a year later, Hamilton, then riding for Phonak, tested positive for blood
doping at a Spanish race and now is serving a two-year ban. He has denied blood
doping.
Speculation that Landis had tested positive spread earlier Thursday after he
failed to show up for a one-day race in Denmark on Thursday. A day earlier, he
missed a scheduled event in the Netherlands.
On the eve of the Tour's start, nine riders - including pre-race
favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso - were ousted, implicated in a Spanish
doping investigation.
The names of Ullrich and Basso turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who
allegedly had contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who's at the center
of the Spanish doping probe. Landis was not implicated in that investigation.
