Date set for Landis verdict

2006-08-01 13:55

Paris - The result of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis's back-up doping test will be announced on Saturday.

The analysis of Landis's 'B' sample is expected to take place from Thursday to Saturday at the Chatenay-Malabry anti-doping lab outside Paris, International Cycling Union spokesperson Enrico Carpani said on Tuesday.

Landis tested positive for an elevated ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone following the 17th stage of the Tour de France, where he staged a remarkable comeback in the Alps to make up for a poor performance the day before.

If the 'B' sample is negative, Landis would be cleared. If it is positive, which Landis's lawyers say they expect, he could be stripped of his Tour victory and banned for two years.

The American cyclist has said that his body's natural metabolism - not doping - caused the result, and that he would undergo further tests to prove it.

The New York Times reported on Monday that tests on Landis's 'A' sample show some of the testosterone in his system was synthetic, putting his defence into question. The report cited a person at the UCI with knowledge of the result.

UCI president Pat McQuaid said on Tuesday he had not seen the lab findings and could not confirm the report, but the cycling body had asked the French lab to speed up their analysis.

McQuaid said the uncertainty was not good for the sport.

"The longer it goes until the 'B' sample is tested, the more speculation, and the more denial and the more of everything that goes on," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

Analysis of the 'B' sample is a "two-and-a-half day operation," he said, and the lab closes this weekend for the August vacation period.

Landis's lawyers in Spain filed an official request for the 'B' test late on Monday. But Carpani said the UCI had already filed their own request earlier on Monday because of concerns about the case dragging on.

Landis told reporters at a news conference on Friday in Madrid: "We will explain to the world why this is not a doping case but a natural occurrence."

But after determining that Landis's ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone was more than twice the limit of 4:1, the lab performed a carbon isotope ratio test on the first of Landis's two urine samples to determine whether it's natural or synthetic, the Times reported.

The result showing synthetic testosterone does not need to be confirmed with a second test, said Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine.

"The rules say that it is a violation, but if you can show that the athlete had no fault or no significant fault, there could be a mitigation of the sanction," Wadler told the Times. "No matter how it got there, the athlete has to show how it got into his or her body. It could have been sabotage or contaminated dietary supplements, or something else, but they have to prove how the testosterone got there."

- AP