Two USPS riders used & Landis Challenge
Yesterday the news broke (Yahoo news story here and here) that two people on Lance Armstrong’s USPS team (now Discovery) have admitted to doping. Team manager Johann Bruyneel has not commented on the story.
One of the two riders is Frankie Andreu. That is important as it is Frankie and his wife Betsy that claim to have heard Lance Armstrong tell a doctor in 1996 he (Armstong) had used drugs. Frankie continues to say that he personally never saw Lance use drugs. The other cyclist is not idenfied as he is still involved in the sport.
This story does not help former USPS rider, and currently under attack rider, Floyd Landis who claims to not have used drugs. I say this even though yesterday Lands went as far as to claim that scientifically he and his defense team can now challenge the positive tests that started this controversy (story here and here)
From Landis’ claim -
* Three of four testosterone metabolite differentials tested in his sample were negative, considering the margin of error, while WADA protocol requires all such differentials must show clear evidence of testosterone to have a positive;
* The lone testosterone metabolite that could be seen as a positive resulted from an unknown laboratory error and is not the result of testosterone usage;
* The metabolite that WADA-accredited laboratories declare is the best indicator of improper testosterone usage was negative in Landis’s urine samples.
Most interesting to me is how there is such a wide difference in the results that it looks like the may be from two different samples and how the “B” sample that was tested was not a control number assigned to Landis. Stuff like that makes you wonder, but Landis still has uphill battle to fight on the outcome of this case.
The reason that I think that the two admissions hurt Landis, even in light of his new claims, is that it is positive evidence that there was doping in and around USPS. Add to the admissions that another former USPS rider Tyler Hamilton is getting ready to come off a 2 year ban for doping, while another former USPS rider Roberto Heras is in the middle of a 2 year ban at this time and claims of a clean riders look harder and harder to believe.
Stories like the one’s above, and the sheer fact that a person is around and associated with dopers, it becomes harder and harder for people to believe that USPS riders were clean - be in Floyd or Lance.
This will be a interesting story to follow in the coming weeks.
The San Diego Tribune has a exhaustive and excellent piece on the Landis and Armstrong situation today - full story here.
