The attorney for Floyd Landis is questioning the accuracy of the positive testosterone tests attributed to the Tour de France winner and asking that doping charges be dismissed.
Meanwhile, two of Lance Armstrong’s former teammates on Monday said they used a performance-enhancing drug when they were getting ready for the 1999 Tour, according to a newspaper report.
In a letter sent to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, attorney Howard Jacobs disputed the accuracy of the carbon isotope ratio tests performed on Landis’ urine sample at a lab in France.
Jacobs also argued the analysis of a different test, the testosterone-epitestosterone analysis, “is replete with fundamental, gross errors,” including mismatched sample code numbers. Jacobs said the positive finding on the backup ‘B’ sample came from a sample number not assigned to Landis.
“It’s incredibly sloppy” work, Jacobs said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “It has to make you wonder about the accuracy of the work.” Both Landis and USADA had representatives at the testing of the ‘B’ sample.
USADA general counsel Travis Tygart said the doping agency couldn’t comment on specific cases but noted it is not unusual for athletes and their attorneys to seek dismissal of cases.
“Our standard process allows all athletes to make a submission to the USADA review board, and those submissions are seriously considered prior to any case going forward,” Tygart said.
A review board is expected to issue a recommendation on Landis’ case sometime in the next week. That process could be delayed if USADA responds directly to Jacobs’ letter.
If the review board recommends sanctions against Landis, he is expected to appeal and ask for an arbitration hearing. Jacobs has said he would seek a public hearing, and USADA has said it would agree to that.
Landis issued a statement reasserting his innocence.
“I did not take testosterone or any other performance-enhancing substance, and I’m very happy that the science is confirming my innocence,” he said. “I was relieved, but not surprised, when I learned that scientific experts found problems with the test.” Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine, said Landis’ attempt to have the charges dismissed by questioning the science behind the tests wasn’t unusual.
“It’s not useful to speculate about the science, until the science has had its day in the hearing process,” Wadler said.
“Only then do I think we can come to come conclusions. Until then, any assertion is only an assertion.” As for Armstrong’s teammates, Frankie Andreu, a 39-year-old former team captain, and another teammate who requested anonymity because he still works in cycling, told The New York Times they used EPO in preparation for the 1999 race, when Armstrong won the first of his seven titles in cycling’s biggest race.
“There are two levels of guys,” Andreu said in a story published on the newspaper’s Web site Monday night. “You got the guys that cheat and guys that are just trying to survive.” Andreu said he took EPO for a few races and is admitting the use now because he’s worried doping is having a negative effect on the sport.
Neither of the teammates ever had a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. Both said they never saw Armstrong take any banned substances.
