Followup tests positive on Floyd Landis's samples: report
Last Updated: Monday, April 23, 2007 | 10:57 AM ET
The Associated Press
Followup tests on samples given by Tour de France champion Floyd Landis have found traces of synthetic testosterone, French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported Monday.
The paper said on its website the tests on seven samples clearly showed traces of the banned substance. Initial tests on the samples had not produced positive results, it added.
U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis faces a two-year ban from competition if doping allegations against him are upheld.
(Jasper Juinen/Associated Press)
Landis gave the samples while on his way to winning the 2006 Tour, it said.
The tests were conducted at France's national anti-doping laboratory of Chatenay-Malabry outside Paris. L'Equipe said the lab used a technique that can distinguish synthetic testosterone, a hormone that also occurs naturally in the body. The lab is the same one that revealed Landis's positive test after he won the 17th stage of last year's Tour.
The president of the French anti-doping agency, Pierre Bordry, said when contacted by the Associated Press that the tests were concluded this weekend but that he did not know the result because they were sent directly to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which requested the tests.
They were on Landis's "B" urine samples.
One of Landis's samples, taken after the 17th stage, tested positive for a high testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. Landis had insisted that the followup tests weren't necessary because the other primary "A" samples were negative for banned substances.
He also wanted the tests conducted at the UCLA lab, which handles much of USADA's testing, but the machines it uses for the tests are under repair.
Landis has an arbitration hearing scheduled for May 14 in California, at which he is expected to question the practices at the French lab.
If doping allegations against the 31-year-old American are upheld, he faces a two-year ban from competition. He also would be the first rider in the 104-year history of the Tour to be stripped of the title. He has agreed not to compete in this year's event while the case is pending.
