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07/27/2006: "I Just Wish I Could Say I'm Surprised"
Yesterday, a story came across the wires about a positive test result having been found in the recently-completed Tour de France. At that time, the rider and team were not named, but, considering that the 180-odd riders were tested multiple times over the three weeks of Le Tour, I wasn't really surprised that one might be positive. Today, though, came the news that the rider in question was Tour winner Floyd Landis, and that the sample was taken after his epic win in Stage 17. I was shocked, to be sure, and saddened, but again, I wasn't really surprised.
Professional cycling has had issues with performance enhancing drugs for decades. In the '90s, several scandals rocked the sport, culminating with the Festina scandal during the '98 Tour. Many believe it was only the emergence of Lance Armstrong, and the positive publicity he brought to the sport, that saved cycling from oblivion. With Armstrong enjoying his first season of retirement, the scandals returned. Several top riders and one entire team were prevented from starting the race due to allegations of doping, and now the winner is under a similar cloud. This will be a difficult one to survive.
To be clear, there's no real evidence that Landis did anything wrong. His primary sample from Stage 17 showed a unusual ratio of testosterone to other hormones, but not an illegal level of testosterone. The B sample is currently being tested, but as Landis himself stated today, there's no reason to believe the result will be different. Such is the ass-backward system used in France that the burden will be on Landis and, to a lesser extent his Phonak team, to justify the results of the tests. There's no such thing as "innocent until proven guilty" in this case. And even if the hot-shot doctor he hired to help clear his name is successful, it's unlikely he will ever fully remove the stain from his reputation.
I don't know if Floyd cheated in the Tour. He has stated that he did not, and is "astonished" by the results. But he's also a guy who will undergo a potentially career-ending operation in a month, and one can only imagine the pressures that come with such a situation or the lengths to which an athlete might go to give it all they have. No matter how it ends, though, professional cycling will need to take immediate and significant steps to avoid being written off by the public. If you reach a point where you cannot trust the athletic feats to be pure, you have nothing.
