September 11th, 2006 Landis Camp Makes Public Specific Detail of Errors and Inaccuracies in Testing of Landis ‘A’ and ‘B’ Sample
Los Angeles, September 11, 2006 – Howard Jacobs, attorney for 2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis, today submitted a Motion for dismissal to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Independent Anti-Doping Review Board. The specifics of the submission support Landis’ long-held innocence and argue that tests conducted on the athlete’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ urine sample from Stage 17 of the Tour de France do not meet the established World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) criteria for a positive doping offense.
Made without access to complete documentation and other test results, today’s Motion is by no means an exhaustive recitation of all defenses. Nonetheless, Jacobs’ request for dismissal still provides the scientific and legal basis to vindicate Landis.
“I did not take testosterone or any other performance enhancing substance and I’m very happy that the science is confirming my innocence. I was relieved, but not surprised, when I learned that scientific experts found problems with the test,” said Landis. “I look forward to restoring my good name so that I can focus on my hip replacement and begin training for next season when I want to return to France to defend my title.”
Based largely on the carbon isotope ratio (CIR) – the test that has been characterized by the anti-doping authorities and the UCI as a fool-proof method for detecting the presence of exogenous testosterone
– the Motion focuses on three issues with the testing protocol and results provided by the LNDD lab at Chatenay-Malabry. In summary, these three arguments demonstrate that the CIR test conducted on Landis’ stage 17 urine samples does not show a positive result:
• WADA’s own protocols require that all testosterone metabolite differentials provide clear evidence of testosterone usage to find an athlete positive. Given the data, three of the four testosterone metabolite differentials tested in Landis’ sample are reported as negative considering the margin of error.
• The only testosterone metabolite that can even be argued as positive under the WADA Positivity Criteria resulted from an unknown laboratory error and is not the result of testosterone usage.
• The one metabolite that has been identified by WADA-accredited laboratories as the best, and longest-term indicator, of exogenous testosterone usage was reported as negative in Landis’ urine samples.
In addition to the analysis of the testing documentation, Jacobs argues “the single [positive] T/E [Testosterone/Epitestosterone] analysis in this case is replete with fundamental, gross errors.” These errors include markedly inconsistent testosterone and epitestosterone levels from testing on the ‘A’ sample as well as multiple mismatched sample code numbers that do not belong to Landis. In the case of the mismatched sample identification codes, the alleged confirmed T/E data on the ‘B’ sample is from a sample number that was not assigned to Landis. The differences in sample identification numbers also point to issues in the chain of custody of the Landis sample.
“Clinical laboratories making these types of gross errors could easily find themselves answering to a wrongful death lawsuit, and often do,” said Jacobs. “At a minimum, those laboratory errors must go to the defense of the athlete and must result in a finding that the T/E results are wholly unreliable.”
The ADRB is expected to make its recommendations to USADA within a week of Jacobs’ submission to the review panel.
Thanks for posting this. I still believe him, which I'm sure puts me in a small minority. That could be partly due to how much I hate everything about Dick Pound, though.
__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
Thanks for posting this. I still believe him, which I'm sure puts me in a small minority. That could be partly due to how much I hate everything about Dick Pound, though.
But there are a lot of us who would still like to believe him. Rob
Ditto - I want so badly to believe he is innocent. However, I have no frikkin' idea how to interpret what his lawyer said. Someone needs to give me a scientific rosetta stone.
• WADA’s own protocols require that all testosterone metabolite differentials provide clear evidence of testosterone usage to find an athlete positive. Given the data, three of the four testosterone metabolite differentials tested in Landis’ sample are reported as negative considering the margin of error.
If the level is 51, he may have tested at say 54 +/- 5 In a best case scenario he would be innocent.
The only testosterone metabolite that can even be argued as positive under the WADA Positivity Criteria resulted from an unknown laboratory error and is not the result of testosterone usage.
Sounds like a 4th one was VERY positive, but it occured from a lab error.
It's not like they never screwed up before, I mean they tested a Lance B sample just recently, found it positive and then got shot down.
Politically speaking, for Lance to win it 7 times and then Landis to come up and claim the title as an American again, it could easily be an attempted frame job. If there was ever a sample to say he doped on that the world would believe it would be his comeback leg, which was pretty incredible.
In order for him to have used it, he would have had to have been SUPER confident he would not get caught. After a display like that, as an American moving back into position to win the tour, he had to know they would not only test him, but probably find him positive no matter what.
He is either innocent or monumentally stupid.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
In this month's Bicycling, I read a letter that had, I believe, the best argument for his innocence. Namely, that he couldn't have had an 11:1 T/E ratio one day and have it be normal the next. If this is true, I'm going to be a big believer in the French-frameup theory.
In this month's Bicycling, I read a letter that had, I believe, the best argument for his innocence. Namely, that he couldn't have had an 11:1 T/E ratio one day and have it be normal the next. If this is true, I'm going to be a big believer in the French-frameup theory.
Holy crap! I never thought of that - at all! That IS indeed a great argument.
But even before seeing that, I had already begun to believe Landis was innocent.
Editorial lead in to the story says they have no confidence at this time of either accuracy or non accuracy of the tests. Second they claim the "agencies put in place to catch cheaters are themselves cheating"
The article is interesting. Thus far there is no serious discussion of the reliability of the testing. The French laboratory is noticeably more lax in its standards than the California lab would be. In fact by California standards Landis would have been cleared.
Interesting article. As always raised more questions than it answers.
From MSNBC (an excerpt)
PARIS - Follow-up tests on backup urine samples by Tour de France champion Floyd Landis found traces of synthetic testosterone, the French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported Monday.
The tests on seven “B” samples clearly showed traces of the banned substance, the paper said on its Web site. Landis had insisted the follow-up tests weren’t necessary because the primary “A” samples tested negative for banned substances during the Tour.
The cyclist and his lawyers would not confirm the newspaper report Monday, saying they had not been given access to the complete test results.
The Latest on Landis...
Linear Mode
