Berardi re: Landis & Testing

[Guest guest]

For those with an interest in the matter, here's a posting from Dr.

Berardi's blog. His breezy yet engaging discussion brings to light issues only

touched upon by many of us. hence is both thought provoking and illuminative.

Floyd Landis, Tour de France, Testosterone/Epitestosterone, & Doping Dopes

Right about now, the Landis camp is trying to make some sense of the doping

allegations. And rightfully so.

There is a good chance that Floyd didn't " cheat " .

Of course, after hearing about the alleged doping allegations on TV, on the

radio, on web blogs, and in chat rooms, one would think this was a cut and dry

case. It's just another one of them damn cyclists trying to cut corners, break

the rules, dope his way to the top.

Yet after talking with the Landis camp, and knowing a bit about the current drug

testing procedures, anyone with half a brain knows that this is anything but a

cut and dry case.

First of all, Floyd had at least 6 biological samples collected and tested

during the Tour de France. Five of them came back clean. One of them, however,

allegedly contained a high amount of testosterone relative to epitestosterone.

(If you don't know anything about this test, check out parts 1, 2, and 3 of my

Steroid Manifesto article series here.)

But get this - Floyd was tested on three consecutive days. Interestingly, he was

" clean " on day 1, " dirty " on day 2, and " clean " again on day 3. Something sounds

kinda fishy, eh?

Now, personally, I don't know if Floyd used banned substances or not. However,

I'm inclined to believe that he didn't. Here's why:

1) The Testosterone to Epitestosterone ratio is a poor test that can be affected

by a number of factors including alcohol consumption. In fact, alcohol

consumption can increase the T:E ratio by up to 300%.

Check out these two studies for more info:

Study 1

Study 2

Sure, I doubt Floyd was getting wasted during the Tour, but this points to one

flaw in the testing method. There are more to come.

2) Sample handling is a critical issue with the T:E test. Several high profile

cases have been thrown out as the T:E ratio can be profoundly impacted by less

than optimal sample handling procedures. Leave the sample out in the sun for too

long and you've got a false reading. Fail to chill the sample at optimal

temperatures and you've got a false reading. Dehydrate the body (cycling does

this, ya know) and you get a false reading. Send the sample to 2 different labs

and you get 2 different results. Heck, even urinary bacteria (and other

bacteria) can dramatically alter the T:E ratio. Click here to read a nice review

of this topic.

3) The T:E test has so many problems that a newer test - a test that determines

whether an athlete has exogenous testosterone in his/her body - has been

developed. This techinque is called isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

I'm not really sure why this technique hasn't been used yet while the flawed T:E

test is being used - but that's for cycling officials to address. If this test

comes out containing exogenous (external) testosterone, then the case is more

certain. If not, then we're looking at a potential false positive.

Now here's the kicker...anyone who knows cycling should know that testosterone

isn't the drug a cyclist like Floyd would want to randomly take on sunny July

day in France. Sure, he had a great performance that day. But testosterone

doesn't give any athletes an acute physiological edge. Some claim it " makes them

more aggressive or euphoric, but this is speculative.

In my opinion, I can think of a dozen different substances that could have

helped Floyd out on that particular day - but an acute dose of testosterone just

isn't one of them.

So, in the end, we all have to kick back and wait for either a) the results of

Floyd's " B sample " - a duplicate sample taken for follow-up analysis or the

results of an isotope ratio test on either sample A or B.

But based on what I know right now, I think that either Floyd is getting royally

screwed here -- OR -- he's working with a doping dope - a drug advisor who's

likely made one of the worst drug recommendations in cycling history.

Ken ONeill

Long Life Fitness

kayoneill@...