I just heard an interview where someone said that his testosterone levels were actually below normal, but his epitestosterone levels were even lower... creating an 11/1 ration of testosterone to epitestosterone above teh 4/1 legal threshold.

Maybe there's reason to still believe... or maybe I'm just setting myself up for another kick in the stomach.

Where did you hear this and who was interviewed ?

lw

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John Eustice on ESPN.com... Granted ESPN is hardly an authority on cycling but at least it's a sound bite.

You have to be an ESPN Insider to get link to play.

Well ? What's you login and password ?


Thank's we'll find out soon enough.

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http://www.beautifulvista.com
Great wine !
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This may be a local radio reporter repeating from the same ESPN source, but the Houston, TX sports radio show just said the same thing--testosterone level normal, epi level low creating a high ratio.

He also went on to say that the test which declared his "A" sample as positive has never held up in "Court"... not one single time, though he didn't name any specific cases where it came into play.

I'd like to be optimisitic and give Floyd the benefit of doubt, but seriously he needs to come out and make a statement. I can understand not showing up for scheduled races if it's doctors' orders, but remaining silent makes me think guilty... rightfully or wrongfully.

well i'm not true expert, but if he were using topical testosterone (or test suspension) daily his ability to produce his own would be repressed and this i wonder could lead to deacreased levels of epitest? maybe that's why the ratio test works???

Heard basically the same thing on NPR. But I think the ratio is now 6:1 raised
from 4:1 because of too many false positives?

T=testosterone
E=Epitestosterone
T/E of 1:1 is normal (?)
High ratio could be high T (doping) or low E (who knows?)

It's the other way around... it was just lowered from 6:1 to 4:1.

An exclusive interview with FL has just hit Si.com

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...act/index.html

Synopsis: Floyd denies it, has a lawyer, author wants to believe him but can't quite drink the kool-aid.

Ohhhh, I want to drink the Kool-Aid! I haven't yet, though...maybe just a sip

If his testosterone levels are actually normal, is there any way to explain the messed up ratio? I find it hard to believe that testosterone doping would leave his levels normal.

Is there an endocronologist in the house?!?!

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Assuming the test results are accurate, I don't know how the powers-that-be can decide what is a "normal" value for someone in such extraordinary conditions:

1) He had been taking cortisone (corticosteroid) for his hip. On the radio, they reported that his doctor said that he had stopped taking it "several weeks" before the Tour, but how long does it take the liver to recover after chronic steroid use? (The liver metabolizes testosterone.)

2) What was Landis's physiological state after the "bonk" and the ride on stage 17? My guess is that his adrenals were putting out lots of glucocorticoids (stess hormones, like cortisone) and adrenaline. Who knows what his liver was doing under those conditions? I could imagine that, under conditions of high stress/exertion, testosterone metabolism would slow.

I hope that the news outlets interview some real physiologists and see what they have to say about the above.