Simon Brezovar napisal/-a:Dragi moji!
Tale vir me je spodbodel, da pišem tale prispevek. Floyd Landis - mož, ki je letos na tako izjemen način pometel z nasprotniki. Tisti, ki ste vsaj bežno spremljali Tour gotovo veste o čem govorim; nenormalni beg v 17. gorski etapi, s katerim je izničil skoraj ves zaostanek, ki si ga je nabral na prejšnji dirki. Mož, ki je čez noč gotovo postal vzornik mnogim mladim nadobudnim kolesarjem, mož, ki mu je uspel zgodovinski preobrat (imel je že 10 minut zaostanka) in ne nazadanje mož, o katerem se je govorilo v vsaki športni instituciji, se je sedaj znašel tam, kjer so se nekateri (Ulrich, Basso) znašli že pred začetkom same dirke. Na črni listi dopingiranih kolesarjev. Občudovanje, katerega je bil pri meni še do nedavnega deležen, je izginilo. Floyd Landis se je pridružil Brahimu Boulamiju (3000 m zapreke - svetovni rekord - Zuerich), Johannu Muelegu (dvakratni olimpijski prvak v teku na smučeh - Salt Lake City) ter še mnogim drugim, ki so si skušali na nedovoljen način pomagati do rezultata.
Spomin na miting v Zuerichu, ki sem si ga imel priložnost ogledati v živo je še zelo svež. Tek na 3000 m zapreke, vsi so pričakovali svetovni rekord. Prvi kilometer so tekači tesno skupaj, nato pa Boulami silovito potegne. Samo še mladinec Steven Cherono mu lahko sledi, pa tudi ta odpade kakih 800 m pred ciljem. Boulami vrti noge kot gazela, uspelo mu bo. SVETOVNI REKORD. Kako sem bil takrat ponosen na tega tekača, na vse fotografije, na katerih se je pojavil. Pravi vzornik. Potem pa kak mesec kasneje pride na dan vest, da je Boulami tekel dopingiran. Slika, ki sicer še danes visi na steni moje sobe je izgubila čar, tisti pozitivini športni duh, s katerim je bila nabita poprej. Recimo da je ostala na steni samo še zaradi estetskega prehoda zapreke, ves ostali blišč pa je izgninil. To zgodbo sem vam povedal, ker mi je od vseh dopinških afer nekako najbližje in ker sem lahko "dopinško-evforični tek" tudi v živo opazoval.
S Floydom Landisom je enako. Tisti mož, ki se je s šampanjcem v rokah zmagovalno pripeljal po Elizejskih poljanah, ne bo več isti. Nanj je padel črn madež, ki je, gledano skozi mojo prizmo, neizbrisen. In kadar se bo ponovno govorilo o Floydu Landisu, ne bom več navdušeno govoril o njemu, pač pa samo še o enemu več, ki je prestopil meje dovoljenega in se na protizakonit način skušal polastiti naslova.
Tako pač je Floyd, dovolj si star da veš kaj delaš in prav ni mi jasno, kako da se ne zavedaš posledic ki jih boš utrpel zaradi tega: pa naj se gre tu zate, predvsem pa za tiste ki so navijali zate, verjeli vate in se veselili s tabo.
Lep dan želim,
Simon
p.s. Imam novo poanto prefesionalnega kolesarstva: tisti, ki mislite da gre za športni boj med kolesarji se motite. Gre za boj med zdravniki. Tisti, ki bo našel poživilo, ki bo čimprej izginilo, tisti bo zmagal - posledično tudi kolesar. To je to; čimbolj učinkovito delovanje poživila in čim prejšnje izginotje iz organizma le-tega.
Za tiste, ki morda kdaj tudi razmišljajo (in dvomijo)
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UCI rules allow riders up to a 4-to-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. Normal males have a 1-to-1 ratio.
Landis said he did not know what his tested level was.
Landis has been taking cortisone for his deteriorating hip, and thyroid pills for a hypothyroid condition. Neither should affect his T/E ratio, Dr. Kay said. Nor should the much-celebrated beer Landis had after stage 16, or the small amount of Jack Daniels he had with a few teammates in the hotel afterwards.
One reporter asked Landis whether he had ever taken performance-enhancing drugs.
"I'll say no," Landis said. "The problem I have here again is that most of the public has an idea about cycling because of the way things have gone in the past. So I'll say no, knowing a lot of people are going to assume I'm guilty before I've had a chance to defend myself."
"All I want to do is ask that everybody take a step back. I don't know what your position is now. And I wouldn't blame you if it was a bit skeptical because of what cycling has been through in the past and the way other cases have gone. All I'm asking for is just that I be given a chance to prove that I'm innocent. Cycling has a traditional way of trying people in the court of public opinion before they ever get a chance to do anything else. I can't stop that. But I would like to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, since that's the way we do things in America."
An AP reporter asked Landis, "How do you explain this fabulous performance on stage 17?"
"Listen, there are 20 stages in the Tour," Landis said. "And every day you see a fabulous performance. So explain the other 19."
Landis said he would request his B sample to be tested Friday. Regardless of the finding, he doesn't expect the media storm cloud to clear any time soon.
"Unfortunately it's not going to go away, no matter what happens next," he said. "It appears that this is a bigger story than winning the Tour."
Landis said he had a hard time articulating how he felt upon hearing the news of his A sample results. But he had no problem commenting on his family being brought in the limelight.
"I think anything goes in this situation, but one thing that did make me upset about the way things have gone in that last two days was the way my parents were treated by the press," he said. "I can handle anything. I don't look for sympathy. I take what I get in life and I deal with it. But my mom's a saint so I ask, please, leave her alone."
UCI rules allow riders up to a 4-to-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. Normal males have a 1-to-1 ratio.
Landis said he did not know what his tested level was.
But even if the B sample confirms the A result, Landis is not necessarily guilty of taking an illegal performance enhancing drug to boost his testosterone. Some riders can prove that they have an elevated Testosterone/Epitestosterone (T:E) level, if they undergo an endocrine test performed by a credible doctor. Landis said he will use Spanish doctor Luis Hernández, who has helped other riders prove a high T:E count. "In hundreds of cases, no one's ever lost one," Landis told SI.
Landis denies
Floyd Landis has broken his silence about his high T/E ratio that could cost him the Tour de France, as well as hammering cycling's already battered image. Landis, who has requested a B sample analysis to confirm his A test, told Sports Illustrated, that he "can't be hopeful" that the B sample will be any different than the A. "I'm a realist," he added. When asked whether he had used a testosterone patch for recovery, Landis denied it straight out.
But even if the B sample confirms the A result, Landis is not necessarily guilty of taking an illegal performance enhancing drug to boost his testosterone. Some riders can prove that they have an elevated Testosterone/Epitestosterone (T:E) level, if they undergo an endocrine test performed by a credible doctor. Landis said he will use Spanish doctor Luis Hernández, who has helped other riders prove a high T:E count. "In hundreds of cases, no one's ever lost one," Landis told SI.
Landis is looking for other answers too. He is allowed to take cortisone for his degenerating right hip, although he said during the Tour that he had only had a couple of injections this year. But he also told SI that he'd been taking daily doses of a thyroid hormone to treat a thyroid condition. Even if either of these can explain his high T:E ratio, Landis realises that it will be hard to convince people. "I wouldn't hold it against somebody if they don't believe me," he said.
Others have looked at explanations such as the beer Landis had the night before his stage 17 exploit, citing a study in the American Association for Clinical Chemistry ( Vol 34, 1462-1464, 1988) by Swedish researchers O Falk, E Palonek and I Bjorkhem. In it, they investigated the effects of the ingestion of between 110-160 g of ethanol (2 g/kg bodyweight). They showed that it "increased the ratio between testosterone and epitestosterone in urine from 1.14 +/- 0.07 to 1.52 +/- 0.09 in four healthy male volunteers. The increase ranged from 30% to 90% in the different subjects studied (mean 41%). In cases where doping with testosterone is suspected, the possibility should be considered that at least part of an observed increased testosterone/epitestosterone ratio in urine is ascribable to previous ingestion of ethanol."
As a caveat, Landis was quoted at the time as saying that he'd only had one beer. A pint of normal strength beer generally doesn't contain more than 20 g of alcohol - a much lower level than was studied by the Swedish researchers.
The amazing ride of Floyd Landis took a troubling detour Thursday. A positive doping test has cast doubt on one of the most stirring Tour de France comeback wins in history. Even if it turns out he's innocent, the American cyclist expects the disgrace will linger a long, long time.
"I think there's a good possibility I'll clear my name," Landis said Thursday. "Regardless of whether this happens or not, I don't know if this will ever go away."
Landis denied cheating and said he has no idea what may have caused his positive test for high testosterone following the Tour's 17th stage, where he made his comeback charge last week. But he aims to find out.
"All I'm asking for," he said Thursday via teleconference, "is that I be given a chance to prove I'm innocent. Cycling has a traditional way of trying people in the court of public opinion before they get a chance to do anything else."
Now the cycling world will wait for results from a backup sample which, if negative, will clear Landis. If ultimately proven guilty, Landis could be stripped of the Tour title and fired from the team.
The Switzerland-based Phonak team will ask that the backup sample be tested in the next few days, manager John Lelangue said. The team suspended Landis after the International Cycling Union notified it Wednesday that he had an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone" when his test was taken last Thursday, the day he staked his comeback in the Alps.
"My immediate reaction was to look for the alcohol bottle," joked Landis, who's known to enjoy a beer on the Tour and said he drank whiskey with teammates to bury their sorrows after Landis nearly fell out of contention the day before his stage 17 charge.
Landis wrapped up the Tour win Sunday, keeping the title in U.S. hands for the eighth straight year. Lance Armstrong, who won the previous seven, was himself dogged for years by doping allegations that he vehemently denied — and were never proven by a positive test.
Armstrong was riding in RAGBRAI, an annual bike ride across Iowa that attracts thousands of riders. After finishing his ride Thursday, he said would wait to see what happened when his former U.S. Postal Service teammate got the results from his second sample.
"Until that happens I don't have anything to say," Armstrong said.
Second-place finisher Oscar Pereiro, who would become champion if Landis is not cleared, said he was in no mood to celebrate.
"Should I win the Tour now it would feel like an academic victory," Pereiro told the AP at his home in Vigo, Spain. "The way to celebrate a win is in Paris, otherwise it's just a bureaucratic win."
Asked repeatedly what might have tripped his test, Landis refused to lay blame on any one thing. "As to what actually caused it on that particular day, I can only speculate," he said.
Landis had an exemption from the Tour to take cortisone shots for pain in his hip, which will require surgery for a degenerative condition, and was taking an oral medication for hyperthyroidism. He and his doctor were consulting with experts to see if those drugs might have thrown off his testosterone levels.
Landis said he was still in Europe, but declined to say exactly where. "Not to be elusive, I have to figure out a way to get to the airport and get home."
Arlene Landis said her son called Thursday from Europe and told her he had not done anything wrong.
"Lance (Armstrong) went through this too," she said in an interview with The Associated Press at her home in Farmersville, Pa. "Somebody doesn't want him to win.
"Why do they put you through two weeks of misery and spoil your crown? My opinion is when he comes on top of this everyone will think so much more of him. So that's what valleys are for, right?"
USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee said that organization could not comment until the process is complete. Carla O'Connell, publications and communications director for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, also had no comment.
UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said Landis requested the "B" sample, which is not required by cycling's governing body.
"We are confident in the first (test)," Carpani said. "For us, the first one is already good."
Tour director Christian Prudhomme stressed that the backup test still must be done, and it would be up to the UCI to determine penalties. It is obviously distressing," he said at a Paris news conference.
Under World Anti-Doping Agency regulations, a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone greater than 4:1 is considered a positive result and subject to investigation. The threshold was recently lowered from 6:1. The most likely natural ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone in humans is 1:1.
Testosterone is included as an anabolic steroid on WADA's list of banned substances, and its use can be punished by a two-year ban.
Testosterone can build muscle and improve recovery time when used over a period of several weeks, said Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine. But if Landis had been a user, his earlier urine tests during the tour would have been affected, he said.
"So something's missing here," Wadler said. "It just doesn't add up."
Landis' inspiring Tour ride reminded many of fellow American Tyler Hamilton's gutsy 2003 ride. Hamilton, riding for team CSC, broke his collarbone on the first day of the Tour but rode on, despite the pain, and finished fourth overall.
But a year later, Hamilton, then riding for Phonak, tested positive for blood doping at a Spanish race and now is serving a two-year ban. He has denied blood doping.
Speculation that Landis had tested positive spread earlier Thursday after he failed to show up for a one-day race in Denmark on Thursday. A day earlier, he missed a scheduled event in the Netherlands.
On the eve of the Tour's start, nine riders — including pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso — were ousted, implicated in a Spanish doping investigation.
The names of Ullrich and Basso turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who allegedly had contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who's at the center of the Spanish doping probe. Landis was not implicated in that investigation.
Since athletic drug testing examines the ratio of testosterone, it would be easy to simultaneously inject epitestosterone to avoid a positive test res ult. [R.V. Brooks, Drugs In Competitive Athletics page 29-32]
* Testosterone has not been shown to give immediate effects on strength or endurance. It must be consistently administered for weeks to achieve the desired results. [Dr. G. Forbes, Journal of American Medical Assoc. 1992 page 397-399]
Testosterone can build muscle and improve recovery time when used over a period of several weeks, said Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine. But if Landis had been a user, his earlier urine tests during the tour would have been affected, he said.
"So something's missing here," Wadler said. "It just doesn't add up."
. Ok, res da je to Amerika, ampak vseeno, ta podatek ni ravno za na odpad. Tako da kot ste že mnogi ugotovili, šport dejansko postaja nekakšen medicinski cirkus, kjer tiste elementarne, "starogrške" športne vrednote povsem izgubijo na veljavnosti.
