TRUST BUT VERIFY

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TRUST BUT VERIFY

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TRUST BUT VERIFY
NEWS, RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY ABOUT THE FLOYD LANDIS DOPING ALLEGATIONS.
October 06: documents released by Landis.
November 06: "No Documents For You!"
March 07: Slide Show 3.0; Judging Floyd Part I
April 07: First Arbitration Decision
September 07: Hearing Award
October 07: Hue's Hearing Appraisal
November 07: Major document Release
.
.
.
.
WHAT"S HERE
TBV (also at trustbut.com) keeps
track of the Floyd Landis doping
allegations at the 2006 Tour de
France. If you're new here, start with
the CURRENT STATUS REVIEW,
KEY REFERENCES, GLOSSARY,
or the TIMELINE.
There is a daily roundup of links with
specific Landis interest, with brief
comment. We avoid bashing, gushing,
or gross stupidity. Unless it's funny.
One of TBV's sons gives Landis a "thumbs up" at the Tour of California,
February 21, 2006 -- before things got complicated.
full size image/full image
Primary Documents Here
Hearing coverage here
APPEAL COVERAGE HERE
All Legal Coverage Here
Science Coverage Here
RSS comment feed
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2006
Tuesday Roundup
News
If you find something, please
drop a link in a comment, or
send mail. Thanks!
Comments are welcome, but may be
edited/moderated or deleted for
propriety and relevance. The decision
of the judges is final. Your milage
may vary, taxes and license
additional.
TBV tries to be objective, making
reference to all points of view. It's
intended to be useful for folks of all
persuasions.
Part II of the Amber Landis
Interview at Daily Peloton.
CyclingNews hears from Peirero on
Puerto in El Pais: "We must fight
against the dopers within the laws,
together and without haste", says
CALENDAR
(FFF Events Page)
together and without haste", says
Oscar, concluding, "The leaks to
TRANSLATIONS, FEEDS, AND
RECENT COMMENTS
the mass media have done
damage". Samuel Sanchez adds,
"All that has happened invites us to reflect on whether the controls
that we have are totally trustworthy. There are many false positives,
many errors,"
Mort Zuckerman of US News talks about "Our Cheating Hearts", uses
"alleged" correctly.
Subscribe to my feed
Google
MSN
AOL
Windows
Live Alerts
San Diego Union Tribune columnist gives a boo to a certain witch,
and MSNBC's Celizic goes snarky on the Halloween costume,
suggesting you go knock on Landis's door as Mr. Pound, bearing a
sample cup. That'll sure go over big. [both courtesy thinnmann.]
Technorati
Yahoo
More...
Reading (PA) Eagle says Landis' defense claims "ring hollow"
Blogs
Lij Discovers the truth about a Phonak Jersey on Halloween: "Are you
Lance Armstrong?"
Renewable Energy website compares usage to the KWH produced by
Landis on the Morzine stage. Is that unit now a "Floyd?"
Stop Fooling Around has pictures of what happened in Madison after
Landis left the fund-raiser, and some other pictures from earlier in a
different post. The PG on the left looks like the Mrs, so no trouble
there.
Feetwasher gets snarky about people not taking responsibility.
TourDeFranceLogue comments on the route unveiling.
trust but verify
Calfeegirl,Do you still have
the emails from SJ? ...
The law students beat
USADA. Did you all cover
th...
Hey CC what did you think
of Mr. Johnson? Did you ...
BTW - The MissingSaddle
post is courtesy of your o...
Why should Steve Johnson
care? I mean, heck, he's...
Bill -Terrific analysis, thank
you for posting thi...
wschart,I completely agree
with those sentiments.A...
New Feed
Banshee is starting to sound mostly coherent, and thinks most folks
... Free Widget by MuseStorm ...
don't care whether Floyd has heavy C13 atoms. He's been climbing up
from his original mention here. Watch it, Dirt, or you might get taken
seriously.
An old post from Steve-Z (Sep 12) about the ADRB filing I'd missed.
He's in the 'everybody dopes' crowd. But, he plugs TBV, so I can't
resist. Obsessed? Hah!
Forums
At DPF, Duckstrap returns to the T/E confirmation test around post
#365;
» Blogs that link here
#365;
Floyd names a WHO in post #117 of this thread. He thinks the ADA
TBV's "authority"
side is into winning!, not finding the truth, and suggests he needs
money, but isn't outright asking for it:
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT TBV
All of this discussion needs a little more context from someone
inside in order to be more productive. Think, for example, how
often in sports or business or politics, the guys with the most
money win. Money translates directly to power in the form of
better experts on whatever field you happen to be playing. Now,
if the situation were as Chris implies, we wouldn't be talking
about the winning side but rather about truth prevailing and
nobody would be considered winner or loser.
Unfortunately, several problems are preventing that from
becoming reality.
First of all science is not "foolproof" in the pure form and even
less so in the context of vaguely written standards (clearly so as
to provide opportunity to hide mistakes and prosecute without
proving what happened) based on studies kept secret from the
accused.
The second, and more important problem comes from some
philosophical misunderstanding within the antidoping agencies
with respect to what they have set out to accomplish. They will
not specificaly state the issue at hand, but the most obvious
incriminating statement comes from Travis Tygart of USADA
after publication of all of the provided documents (more to
demonstrate to the world the refusal to provide sufficient
documentation) when he stated that USADA had never lost a case
in arbitration.
The problem lies in the perception that he is competing with the
athletes just like in a race, he wants to win. I believe that in the
history of USADA more than one innocent athlete has been
prosecuted and therefore his statement, while it may seem true to
him, is a lie if you consider the mission. When an innocent athlete
is prosecuted and Tygart "wins" the mission loses (I know it is
inevitable that some innocent people get punished, but for the
sake of discussion, hear me out) and therefore Tygart also loses
because he doesn't understand the purpose of the (government
funded) agency which he represents.
The point is, of course I need lots of money, because I am up
against an opponent with more money than I, and with the
objective to win, not to find the truth. Had Travis Tygart actualy
consulted with his "expert" when we asked for the case to be
dismissed, he would have learned that it was in the interest of
truth to drop the case, but now he is committed to winning
whatever the cost to truth.
[end]
Full Post with Comments...
POSTED BY TBV @TRU STBU T. C OM AT 1 0 / 3 1 / 2 0 0 6 0 5 : 3 5 : 0 0 AM
3 C OM M EN TS
L I N KS TO TH I S POST
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L AN D I S , L E TOU R , TOU R D E
FR AN C E , U C I , U S AD A , W AD A
"An informational effort that I think
rivals the physical effort of a long
distance ride, without the fun and
exhilaration." (Vemos)
"As always, Trust but Verify has the
best coverage, if you want to delve
into it." (Doucheblog)
"Floyd Landis: Blog on Landis Doping
Allegations" (LA Times [better than
nothing])
Total Poindexter Website Prize: to the
fabulous geniuses over at
trustbutverify, who not only are
perhaps the most impassioned
defenders of Floyd Landis' virtue
beyond only the boy himself, but
actually seem to understand the
detailed scientific arguments they put
out that the rest of us (well, me) are
too stupid to even coherently
summarize. Floyd, you better be
innocent, or you owe these folks a
*major* freakin' apology!
(racejunkie)
"TalkingpointsBeforeVeracity "
(Will@topix, our #1 fan)
"For another solid synopsis of the
latest developments check out the
always trenchant Trust But Verify
site." (JohnnyBaseball)
"For more in-depth daily coverage, go
to trustbut.blogspot.com)." (Martin
Dugard, author of Chasing Lance)
"Who does awards for blogs? I sense
a nomination is in order." (Carlton
Reid, of BikeBiz)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2006
Welcome strbuk!
TBV welcomes a new member of the staff, STRBUK, who joins us from
the East Coast and is going to help collect Roundup items. We haven't
worked out how this is going to be done exactly, but we'll hope for the
best. Don't be surprised if posts come and go while we figure out
details.
STRBUK has been our best email informant, often catching things we'd
missed, so we welcome the help with open arms. I have not found out
if the handle is a reference to the coffee or the Colonial Viper pilot, but
perhaps we'll learn.
Yay!
TBV
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Monday Roundup
News
CyclingPost gives their monthly roundup; Landis still the #1 topic.
VeloNews reviews the course, says Landis would be the favorite if he is
able to return.
Letters to VeloNews:
I'm in the U.S. Military, which has been conducting drug testing for
years, and I'm amazed at the possibility that Floyd Landis'
allegations could have merit- such sloppy record-keeping is a total
disgrace if it's true. Although the truth appears far from certain in
the Landis case, the ambiguity on both sides has caused this longtime ardent fan to falter in my support of what was for years quite
literally only one of two sporting events I'd watch without fail, if not
the only things I even watched on television all year.
CyclingNews reports on Phonak goodbyes; here's a link to the team
site.
Forums
At DPF, Floyd gives a little lesson on economics. (Queue a replay of
"There is Power in a Union"), also a little earlier wondering at what
point the underpaid riders might start questioning their commitment
to the world as it now is:
I have the support and sponsors to promote a one day race in
"Hands-down champion of full-and I
mean full-coverage of this hearing is
the blog Trust But Verify. You'll have
to have excellent background
knowledge of the issues, and wade
through page after page of detail to
get to anything interesting, but it's
raw and unfiltered and all there. The
guy who runs the site, a cycling fan
from Northern California, began
casually providing a clearinghouse for
Landis case news nearly 10 months
ago, and now he has the haunted look
of a man whose life has been hijacked
and wants it back. (Loren Mooney,
co-author of Positively False, at
Bicycling)
"thank you for you balanced look at
what is happening with floyd."
(Michael Farrington. Green Mountain
Cyclery, Ephata, PA.)
"This genuine Floyd basher would
like to thank you for the hard work
you put into this great resource."
(Spinopsys Phil)
" Trust but Verify, the essential
clearinghouse blog about the Landis
case" (Mark McClusky of Wired
magazine)
"if you want the latest news on the
Floyd Landis case, Trust but Verify is
the go-to site. The author is biased in
favor of Floyd (so am I) but the
reporting is neutral and
comprehensive." (12string musings)
"Great blog. You're tagged. "
(BikingBis. Great, more work)
[More...]
CONTRIBUTORS
marc
bill hue
[email protected]
June or July of next year for which the prize money will be
1,000,000 dollars for first and another mil split for the next few
places. What are your ideas on that. Do you think it is a good
start in providing some competition to the grand tours so that
they improve things or do you have a reason why it is self
serving? Keep in mind that for winning the vuelta you get 30,000
euros, and for winning the tour you receive 400,000 euros.
Later in the afternoon, in post #58, Will drops what he believes to be a
bomb, in the 2006 Prohibited list, as adopted on Jan 1 2006, wherein
the key passage reads:
a Sample will be deemed to contain such Prohibited Substance
where the concentration of such Prohibited Substance or its
metabolites or markers and/or any other relevant ratio(s) in the
Athlete’s Sample so deviates from the range of values normally
found in humans that it is unlikely to be consistent with normal
endogenous production.
(Also, original from WADA which says the same thing.)
Which gets rid of the parentheses around the trailing 's' in
metabolites, making it vastly more likely to mean the 'all' reading
rather than the 'any' reading as used by LNDD. Still, there is
confusion:
the above paragraph is about concentrations of metabolites, not
about IRMS measurements of metabolites. To the extent that it
might apply to IRMS, it says "and/or any other relevant ratio(s)
in the Athlete’s Sample". In that case, any is clearly not all. If that
applies, of course.
I've read this thing a couple of times, and, honestly, I'm not sure
why Will posted it.
and then back:
This is not TD2004EAAS, however, it is a later WADA document
which clearly spells out the determination of whether a
prohibitied substance is in a sample.
This gives us more to chew on for a while. For discussion, the
explanatory note of the 2006 edition says at 1.b says,
The explanatory note in Section 1b: "Endogenous AAS" have been
reworded and expanded in order to further clarify the procedures
and/or tests to follow whan an Advers Analytical Finding is
reported for this category of anabolic androgenic steroids or for a
T/E ratio.
But it is not clear if this clarfication is intended to encompass an IRMS
determination of exogenous origin.
[email protected]
strbuk
Ali
ABOUT US (ADMISSIONS)
TBV is personally biased towards
Floyd. I think it'll be a better world if
he proves his innocence, and some
inquisitors meet their own just ends.
Interspersed between daily link
roundups are pieces of commentary
slanted towards understanding what
will prove innocence in the discipline
proceeding, and what will rehabilitate
his reputation in the public eye. Make
of them what you will. Agreement
with me is not required, though I am
right.
Thanks to Free Floyd for the idea,
and Groklaw for some inspiration.
PK/Strbuk is similarly inclined.
Bill Hue is a passionate about
fairness and justice, and is relatively
indifferent to Landis' guilt or
innocence
Marc is an American living in Paris.
If someone who leans towards
guilt would like to contribute
directly, please inform us.
Blogs
Dugard says Landis will be in NYC later this week doing media, and
may run into Lance.
Sharing a diversity of
viewpoints is the best way we
know of to arrive at the truth.
Bicycling's Boulder Report summarizes recent DPF discussions with
Landis, especially the financial ones, and his remarks about the UCI.
There's the heavy implication that Boulder thinks Floyd has drunk his
own Kool-Aid.
LINKS OF INTEREST
Boulder also plugs the Wiki and TBV, so we're happy about that at
least, especially saying we're only slightly biased as a result of getting
most information from Landis and Jacobs. It would be nice if any of
the Lab Directors or Doping Agencies would return my inquiries that
are not specific to the Landis case. There is information they ought to
be willing to share with the public and perhaps we'd be informed in a
more balanced way. (For example, this fruitless exchange with
TBV CURRENT STATUS REVIEW
TBV TIMELINE
TBV GlOSSARY
TBV KEY REFERENCES
USADA Official
Floyd Landis Official Site
Floyd Landis Official Site
USADA).
OuchProCyling has more on the Canine Companions for Independance
appearance.
Podcasts
CompetitorRadio talks to Michael Ashendon, involved in the Hamilton
case and engaged in an exchange of barbs with Howard Jacobs over a
previous show. An emailer listened, and says that
Ashendon complains that the ADA side can't speak out now
and that is unfair;
He doesn't talk directly about Landis, but says smoke implies
fire.
He thinks "metabolite(s)" is perfectly clear.
Elite cyclists have to be doping.
Athletes should submit to DNA testing to resolve Puerto.
Which sounds pretty much like the standard ADA position -- all
cyclists are dirty, anything the ADA side does is fair, indisputable, and
no errors can be made.
WADA Official
UCI Official
LandisCase Wiki
Daily Peloton Forum on Landis Case
Rant your head off, more Landis
coverage
Peloton Jim, following Landis closely
WADA Watch
CyclingPost Landis Dossier
Google News search for Floyd Landis
Paul Kimmage for the Prosecution
Tom Prail, CIR False Positive?
Vrijman Report for UCI on WADA,
Lab, Armstrong
Free Floyd (on hiatus)
[end]
Civic Journalism
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TOU R D E FR AN C E , U SAD A
Home town news
Roundup
The Areas of My Expertise, by John
Hodgman
Groklaw: SCO vs. IBM + world
Xenu.net: Scientology vs. world
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2006
Existence acknowledged
Sunday Roundup
How weird are you?
Forums
At RBR, well known troll 'dupedcyclist' returns with more molotov
cocktails. He receives the usual short shrift.
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2008 (17)
At DPF, Floyd asks some questions that seem to be revealing more of
his hand:
I'd like to propose a few questions:
Under what category would it fall if you proved that with a
certain labs interperatation the false positive rate increased from
1 in 3 millinon, to 4 in 1 hundred? Would that be arguing the
science or the interperatation of the provided science?
▼ January (17)
Sunday Roundup
Saturday Roundup
CONI OP Hearing Forum
Shopping?
Friday Roundup
1000
How would you see the "metabolites" issue if you knew that the
2004 WADA document said metabolite[s], and the 2006
document said metabolites? Wouldn't it seem that the issue had
been considered and the conclusion reached that it was "all"?
Also, what would you say if you learned that some labs, who
have done the research and understand the metabolic pathways,
required all of the metabolites to be above a different cutoff than
WADA?
Thursday Roundup
One last hypothetical. What would be your oppinion if you looked
The Rulebook says...
Wednesday Roundup
Tuesday Roundup
Monday Roundup
Sunday Roundup
Saturday Roundup
through all of the research and could not find an example,
wheather it be in the control group or other, where the deltas
were that far apart in any given pair of metabolites (leaving
open the possibility that if the two were near the cutoff that it is
possible for one to be above and one to be below within margin
of error)? Would you then decide that the test is unexplainable
and therefore inconclusive or would you accept that some rule
had been broken even though it is not possible to know what had
transpired?
The Rulebook says...
Friday Roundup
Thursday Roundup
Wednesday Roundup
Mr. Idiot figures something out
Tuesday Roundup
An interesting set of questions, indeed.
► 2007 (751)
Blogs
PJ likens the Quarterly Report to cramming for finals. The idea that
reading it will help you chat up members of the appropriate sex at the
Halloween Party seems far-fetched.
(TBV also advises against wearing an Amish straw hat with your
Phonak jersey to go as Floyd Landis.)
► 2006 (229)
Rant wonders if the mirror effect will lead someone to seven years bad
luck.
► 2001 (1)
► 2005 (1)
► 2004 (2)
► 2003 (1)
► 2002 (1)
► 1978 (1)
Racejunkie swipes at Floyd and Phonak for what's happened to other
members of the team.
DigitalAgency chimes in positively on the Net defense strategy.
[end]
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Professional Development
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Opportunities
TBV Quarterly Report
www.sandiegorotaract.org
It's another 29th of the month for TBV, and being the third, it is time
for the Quarterly Report. Let's hope there will only be one more of
these and we can all get on with our lives. [more]
1 C OM M EN TS
Volunteer Organizations
Reviews on Volunteer
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Volunteer Organizations
www.Kudzu.com
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L E TOU R , TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAD A , W AD A , W I KI
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2006
Saturday Roundup
7:00pm, time for the first TBV update. You're getting what you paid
for today...
News
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McQuaid unhappy with Puerto, says AFP/VeloNews, and accepts no
responsibility in the least. Everything is someone else's fault.
Blogs
Now That's Amateur considers the role of belief in doping cases, as a
probability factor with a calculator.
Triple Crankset notes the PR swipes of the week, from ASO and from
Floyd.
Matthew says "two steps forward, two steps back and fall over."
BeanTownGecko gets so much wrong it's hard to know where to begin.
Smoke and Mirrors follows up an earlier post with a reminder that
things stay the same.
Tour photos from the Tourmelat.
Steve Lavey talks about release on Oct 12, gets a number of details
wrong, but generally positive.
Extreme presentation reviews the slide set on Oct 12.
[end]
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L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D OPI N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L AN D I S , TOU R D E
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2006
Friday Roundup
News
Yes, Oscar, you can be Champ if Floyd is DQed, says IHT. Asterix , er,
asterisk won't be number #1. Also in VeloNews.
VeloNews describes the video in some detail.
Officially off crutches -- Floyd.com says so in progress report by Dr.
Kay:
By the end of the first month he was riding one hour on the
trainer and was no longer using crutches. He has no pain and
will begin riding on the road now with the goal of gradually
building strength over the next 4-6 weeks to allow him to return
to normal training in preparation for the 2007 Tour de France.
Comments are closed, alas.
Daily Peloton considers doping in two articles, part one (why) and part
two (what do do). Vaughn thinks openness is part of the solution,
perhaps a "truth and reconciliation" effort as done in South Africa post
apartheid.
CyclingNews picks up the "take down the UCI" comment in Madison,
and Michael Henson tap dances and pirouettes.
Amber speaks to Daily Peloton, part 1 of 3.
Mrs TBV will recognize this:
Would he bring his doubts and
concerns home and talk to you about
them? Or would he only talk to his
coaches and trainers?
It depends how giving he is that day. He
doesn't like to talk about things too much. I
have to pry things out of him.
Floyd: The problem is that I feel like I've been
talking about everything. It's all just in my
head and I don't realize I never said anything out loud!
Amber: That's the thing! He's always thinking it in his head, and
he thinks his head talks to my head!
Part I concludes after Stage 16.
Blogs
Velochimp lays into the cracked glass.
Doucheblog does likewise.
Velogal jumps on.
Forums
RBR on Puerto and Landis, provoked by Doucheblog.
Double-Toungued notes Wikipedian Defense based on the Boulder
Report of Oct 24 for the lexicographers. Hmmm, I cited FL as saying
Wikipedia Defense (no 'n') on Oct 8, so priority is mine! Is the the
place to start the citation trail for roostered?
[end]
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L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D OPI N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L AN D I S , L E TOU R ,
TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAC , U SAD A , W AD A
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2006
Thursday Roundup
News
Ullrich cleared in Spain; ESPN's Kreider thinks it's good news for
Landis.
If the result serves anyone, it may just be Landis, if for no other
reason than that the Ullrich case makes it abundantly clear, once
again, just how slippery the truth can be.
Tour Route unveiled -- CyclingNews, VeloNews/AFP, IHT/AP,
Grauniad: 3547k, 11 flat, 2 ITT, 6 mountain, 3 mountain top finishes.
AP:
In the presentation, the traditional eight-minute film ends with
Landis on the winner's podium, with the screen then switching to
become a cracked mirror.
Guardian:
Unfortunately, the issue today is not where the Tour goes, but
rather the direction in which it and the sport it represents are
headed.
The rhetoric from Prudhomme and Clerc has not moderated.
Reuters quotes Oscar and Prudhomme as more ambivalently waiting
an outcome that is not under their control.
Pez passes on quote from Axel Merckx:
Floyd is a friend. If he has said to me that he is innocent, I believe
him. Firstly because I have seen nothing and then because I don’t
know why he would lie to me.
Same Pez article has outgoing TdF head Leblanc telling L'Equipe he is
concerned
for the sport he loves becoming ‘dehumanised’ with the ProTour
encouraging teams to become too big. This expansion of the
teams to meet the ProTour demands is, according to Leblanc
ruining the sport. “The big teams are becoming these big
machines…one can not speak truly of the team spirit. There are
riders in the same team who never meet each other.”
McEwen scoffs at the "shorten the tour to reduce doping" suggestion.
Hall of Fame Magazine considers Landis:
It's doubtful that we will ever know if Landis knowingly and
willingly used synthetic testosterone to gain an unfair advantage.
Even the most astute follower of the case may only reach a
judgment call at best. . . .
In a brilliant tactical move, Floyd Landis has placed his entire
defense of the charges online (www.floydlandis.com). It is
perhaps, the single greatest case of Cyber Ethics put forth in our
post-electronic society...
Quite honestly, the way immediate and mass opinion railed
against Landis, we don't deserve the truth in this case.
Bradley Wiggens probably won't be sending Landis a Christmas card,
based on comments reported in BikeBiz.
Snark 'o the Day
Tufts college paper with a top-ten list of cheaters. Landis at #2. [courtesy
emailer Gene]
Forums
Anyone wanting to contribute to the DPF cursed by popularity fund
can send donations via paypal here, according to this post.
Blogs
Rant returns with a chew on the unveiling: "Surreal"
PJ wonders about the geography depicted in the 2007 Tour logo, and
also says the riders will make the race.
Podium Cafe calls the broken glass video classless, also considers
contractual issues and DNA samples, finding the UCI position
wanting. Comments agree with Landis that UCI should go away.
Smithers says Landis's chances in 2007 tour are less than excellent:
I can tell you for sure who is not going to win: Floyd Landis.
Even if, by some miracle, he skates by being sanctioned and is
allowed to race in 2007, Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) is
never going to invite what ever team Landis finds himself on to
race the 2007 event. That’s just the reality of it. ASO is still
mortified that their race was tainted in 2006 and they have
proven time and again that they can hold a grudge.
Quincy discusses Wikipedia Defense, misses the LandisCase wiki.
Mention of the Saris/Wisconsin fundraiser points to pictures here.
Still has crutches in some of these shots. The Floyd Watch continues.
[end]
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2006
Wednesday Roundup
Web
Dr. Arnie Baker's presentation recordings from FloydLandis.com now
mirrored on archive.org for 'just click' play, audio (various formats)
and video (various formats).
Ancient (Aug 5) link to TBV on "steephill.tv", a video cycling site that
looks interesting.
Quote of the Day
[Shorten the Tour?]
"I think they should shorten the long jump." (link)
News
UCI Protour Director Rumpf thinking about shorter Grand Tours to
"combat doping", says IHT. And destroying organizations that aren't
going along with his political agenda would be tragic collateral
going along with his political agenda would be tragic collateral
damage, I suppose. And they aren't his events to shorten anyway. Also
touched on in CyclingNews.
Lamour selected as nominee to replace Mr. Pound, according to AP via
VeloNews. Previously reported as a possibility.
VeloNews has Peirero frustrated with the way this years results may be
reported. He wants the winner to be clear after all is sorted out, not an
asterix with him second. Threatens not to ride the 2007 tour. Here's a
grenade:
Echávarri even suggested that Tour officials knew that Landis failed
his "A" sample following his victory into Morzine before the Tour
finished arrived to Paris.
which would violate just about everything there is left about the
already shredded process rules.
ProTour directors run for the cover of DNA tests, hanging Basso and
Ullrich out to dry. They say they want all riders to "take DNA tests that
would categorically prove" something, certainly that they have
blood.
Tour Route Unveiling covered by AFP, reporting ASO sniping at
UCI; Reuters concentrates on the route itself with what must be preannouncement data; TodayOnline [courtesy Paula] says Oscar, no Floyd,
Ivan, Jan or Vino; BikingBis too.
NY Sun Society Page discusses Halloween costumes of the would-be
idle rich: Floyd Landis and his doping doctor.
WCBS/AP has Landis on a list of well known accused cheaters, along
with Jayson Blair, James Frey, Stephen Glass, Tanya Harding, Martha
Stewart, Jeffrey Skilling, Ken Lay, Sammy Sosa, Ward Churchill,
Frankie Andreu and James McGreevey. Except all but Landis were
convicted or open and shut cases.
Blogs
DPF has paid the price of popularity. Having been
shutdown on the 24th by hitting a bandwidth limit
on their server, they reached an accomodation with
their ISP and returned to life about 16:50 PT on the
25th. With a wave of the magic credit card, the
pumpkin transforms back into a working system.
Dugard is thinking about going back to the Tour, after saying never
again, just to see Floyd win two in a row. Mulling the Griswold
again, just to see Floyd win two in a row. Mulling the Griswold
experience, which may be near the Cotswolds and the UK start.
SFTwin talks about Oscar the Grouch and the messed up process.
MedX-Flash: A few recent pictures suggest Landis has gotten antsy
and tossed his crutches in the river. Maybe the DPF outage has gotten
him wanting to see the outside world again. Courtesy ROAD Magazine.
Click on pix for the original article.
DPF is back, but you may still
Go read and help edit the LandisCase Wiki
[end]
C OM M EN TS
15
L I N KS TO TH I S POS T
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D OPI N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L E TOU R , TOU R D E
Tuesday Roundup
News
Hip Resurfacing gets a feature in Boulder; minimal Landis hook, but
informative. Says that resufacing can't correct length the way
replacement can. Floyd had lost an inch, so that raises the question
whether the procedure left that unchanged.
Tour route unveiling on Thursday is turning into a pissing exhibition
of no-shows and non-invites, says VeloNews.
AP report thatUCI is demanding WADA intervene in Puerto, perhaps
to demonstrate that WADA is as toothless as the UCI is when faced
with uncooperative federations and law enforcement. Originally
noticed in a comment to this post. Also covered by CyclingNews, with
expansion including Landis mention.
San Luis Obispo columnist mea culpas her earlier leap to guilty
conclusion.
Roadcycling talks aero positions, and calls Landis's wierd.
PodCast
The Bike Show has an interview with Eddy Merckx from UK Cycle
2006 show. [updated] Starts about 24:00. Still riding 7000km a
year! On Landis, doesn't want to go into polemic, he's not a doctor.
Doesn't know how cycling can end this period of controversy, but
hopes it is the last time.
Forums
DPF's PowerPoint Review has a new summary of TE testing. In post
#330, Duckstrap finishes off as follows:
5. According to the WADA standard for determination of TE ratio,
the identity and quantitation of the putative T and E peaks must
be definitively confirmed by at least 2, more likely 3 ions in the
mass spectrum (TD2004EAAS, p. 2 and TD1003IDCR, pp 1-2,
section on "Mass Spectrometric Detection"). LNDD does not show
this information anywhere in this packet, although the
corresponding data are clearly displayed in the IRMS test (an
entirely different assay). Lack of these confirmatory data is, in my
view, more than sufficient to declare the assay results invalid,
especially because ...
6. There is evidence of interference in the assay results by one or
more unknown substances in the urine blank and lowconcentration spiked samples, (compare especially the urine blank
sample on USADA 0091 and the blank spiked with 2 ng/mL each
of T and E on USADA 0100).
Blogs
FloydLandis.com posts audio/video of Arnie Baker's presentation in
San Diego. Haven't heard yet, so I don't know if anything is different.
I'll mirror up to archive.org when I get a chance.
Bicycling's Boulder Report follows up, says discussions are going back
and forth, that Arnie Baker coined the "Wikipedia defense" phrase,
and that Landis will have a harder time claiming miscarriage of justice
if he's found culpable. Remains a skeptic of everything:
Landis’ online defense is not the smoking gun in his favor that
perhaps was hoped.
There are serious questions about how the test was conducted,
but no one has been able to definitively say that the test was
flawed or the testers were so sloppy in conducting it that the
results should be disregarded.
ScienceFiction Twin revisits the case, and is uncertain of the truth;
thinks the process is screwed, and cites the LandisCase wiki for why.
Also plugs TBV, so is clearly well-informed.
Neil@Road says "No Landis News Today!" but runs his fave pix.
Crazy John cites Landis in an article about cheating in general, with
titillating illustration.
On The Borderline references Landis in an article prasing Lances'
reaction to the new book.
Banshee wonders if anyone cares about the Tour unveiling amid all the
other crap going on.
In comments to TBV, FLITM says he and Banshee have made up.
LandisCase Wiki is making progress
filling in the site as initially planned.
More help still needed.
Snarky Columnist Dept.
San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman faces a fourgame suspension for testing positive for steroids, several news
organizations reported.
League officials were tipped off when Merriman hit four home
runs against Kansas City on Sunday, sprinted to the parking lot
in 9.77 seconds, hopped on his bicycle and reached home before
you could say Floyd Landis. (link)
[end]
4 C OM M EN TS
TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAD A , W AD A
Monday Roundup
VeloNews prognosticates about Thursday's Tour Route announcement,
mulling the ways they may dis
*-- edit him out of the video, use an
asterisk where his name should be.
TechCrunch talks about Box.net, and Landis' use of it to host the
released documents.
Neil@ROAD covers Landis appearance at Canine Companions for
Independance dinner.
Agent Futura notes the discrepencies in fan bases, and bemoans lack
of visibility about cycling. '*' hook as TV person can't remember
Landis' name, but can remember what he thinks his offense was.
In comments to yesterday's Roundup, Spinopsys Phil keeps pounding
the "take down the UCI" remark attributed to Landis in the Madison
print interview. It does come off harsh enough as quoted that one
wonders if maybe the reporter lost some nuance, or Floyd talked
himself into a corner, as he did with the notorious, "I'll say no."
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
Ties that Unwind
In yesterday's roundup, Landis said he wanted to take down the UCI.
The obvious question that follows is what to replace it with. To TBV,
the nearest comparisons are to racing with motors. The parallels
between auto racing, and the perils and rewards are illuminating. Here
are some things to start thinking about...
[more]
0 C OM M EN TS
L ABEL S: C AR T , C H AM P C AR , C Y C L I N G , F1 , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , I R L ,
L AN D I S , L E TOU R , N AS C AR , TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U S AC , W AD A
Sunday Roundup
CyclingNews covers Madison,
talking traffic safety and
Birmingham hip.
Sam Abt of the IHT considers all
the offseason doping news.
NY Daily News columnist makes snark: "No kidding, I really did try to
open Floyd Landis' online defense last week, but my computer thought
it was spam." Rim shot. Thanks, he'll be here all week.
SFTwin clarifies comments on Spokesman podcast.
Spinopsys thinks Landis' comment on taking the UCI down is
indication he's lost touch with reality, drunk his own Kool-Aid, and
probably jumped the shark.
Micro Persusion considers the PR effort, likes it, but makes some
under-informed recommendations. The community is way ahead of
him. They had previously considered the case way back when.
Old (Sep 28) Banshee post on business impact. Looks like
cannibalizing your stars is not in the best interests of anyone but Mr.
Pound.
FLITM pokes fun, I hope, at Banshee's post yesterday, which was
poking fun at him.
The Wikipedia defense got its own Wikipedia coverage on October 16,
but not a full entry.
The LandisCase Wiki, still in startup,
seems to have gotten another
contributor, "Amateur", who I'm
guessing is from the Now That's
Amateur blog that posted a good review
TBV covered last week. He's added some
good detail about the case process and
the contamination issue.
More help needed -- listen up DPF people!
[end]
2 C OM M EN TS
Saturday Roundup
News
WMTV covers Madison appearance, text and video.
More detailed interview
by Madison Capital Times.
Citing hip problems, he may
not be in top form for the 2007 Tour, even if cleared.
Not mincing words, "I'm going to do everything I can to bring
the down the UCI," said Landis with his usual candor.
Chris Fortune of Saris Cycling is thinking of setting up a
defense fund.
On the Isle of Grenada, things including news move slowly, and we
get this report yesterday about Landis complaining about errors in his
tests.
Forums
The most useful discussions continue to be at Daily Peloton Forums.
Some of them have veered deeply into science, and I'm unable to
summarize with any useful accuracy. Floyd seems to have mostly left
the building.
Blogs
Banshee immortalizes FLITM, of the best T shirt designs:
Doucheblog goes after McQuaid for killing Phonak/iShares. Proprieter
Hoovis seems to be my evil twin -- when I try to gently correct a silly
website, he moves in with high explosives. See for instance yesterdays
comments to Brad Kearns.
Bell Lap admits to changing his mind completely since August.
Straight Dope points to the rap video Bikin Dirty again.
Nashville Cyclist says Floyd and
Jan should shut up.
Future ProjectUnknown says,
"Floyd Landis should shut his
mouth and give up his defense,
because no matter what he will
be a cheater. "
I guess Floyd will think both of
the above are losers. Pix at left
may have been taken when he
heard of them. Or not.
Ongoing discussion at Corante is mostly pointless, but talks about
TBV so we'll plug ourselves because we can.
Web
Lengthy and Detailed "modern" history of doping control in cycling
and the formation of WADA and integration with the UCI, from Daily
Peloton in 2003. Added to Key References.
Peloton in 2003. Added to Key References.
The LandisCase Wiki in early startup,
needs more contributors.
Youse people at DPF, help out, please.
[end]
3 C OM M EN TS
Friday Roundup
News
Wisconsin Radio blurbs Landis appearance for bike paths, notes
controversy.
Letters to CyclingNews are appalled by the lab work, critical of an
attempt to hold to the one metabolite standard, and scathing to the
organizations that shot their mouth off.
Letters to VeloNews all dope, all the time. Says one,
I am astounded to hear him [McQuaid] talk out of both sides of his
mouth in his answer to the first question:
"iShares put this off because of what Floyd Landis did." followed
shortly after with "As I keep saying over and over, until the
process on Landis is completed, he still has the presumption of
innocence."
Forums
At DPF, some interesting wandering may be turning something up on
the cortisone interactions around post 316.
Blogs
Manic Cyclist has his impressions of Menonites [sic] change again.
J's Place says Not Guilty.
La Flamme Rouge reviews current affairs mostly LA and UCI, in
google translation from Francais.
Brad Kearns, author a new Lance book, throws Floyd under the bus in
an article titled, "Why Lance is Clean."
Neil bags interview with Landis for ROAD magazine, but doesn't spill
anything.
PodCasts
Bloodthirsty Vegetarians riffs that "Floyd Landis thinks people are still
listening..."; I haven't listened.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
L E TOU R , TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAD A , W AD A
The Wiki defense gets its Wiki
DPF participant Thomas A Fine, of
research we've linked before, has started
a Wiki for technical details. It's at
LandisCase.wikispaces.com, and opened
today after Tom spent several days
setting up and seeding it. I've subscribed
to the RSS feed and will post pointers
here at TBV.
I hope Tom can get, collect, sift and organize the DPF material, which
has gotten too fast moving and technical for me to do it justice. I'm out
of time to do much more myself. With luck, this will produce
coordinated investment of effort, resulting in dynamic synergy of the
refactored disorganizational workload, as well as full ISO-9001
buzzword compliance.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
L E TOU R , L EG AL , TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAD A , W AD A , W I KI
Thursday Roundup
News
Jacobs gets a feature in the Mercury News.
CyclingNews feature on the Landis evidence by Laura Weislo. She
CyclingNews feature on the Landis evidence by Laura Weislo. She
pretty much accepts all criticism of the Landis arguments, including
Christiane Ayotte's assertions that only one metabolite is necessary for
a CIR positive. DPF post on the article observes only .31% of TE screen
positives end up confirmed, and that "about 70% of athletes initially
screened at 10:1 would subsequently be shown to have a T/E of less
than four on the confirmation test shows how much variability
between screening and confirmation tests typically occurs."
Mr. Pound will get replaced, candidates emerge according to the
Grauniad. Article says Pound is on a 7 year term that ends in
November 2007, which is news to me since I didn't see that in WADA
documents and there is no use of 'term' for the chair in the
constitutive document. Jean-Francois Lamour is up against
Viachhelav Fetisov for the European nomination, to eventually go up
against an American nominee. Lamour is a gold-medal fencer, Fetisov
a former hockey player. Discussed at DPF.
Lemond speaks to Pez at some length about doping; sounds
reasonable, and doesn't talk specifically about Landis.
O'Grady says drug claims "A load of crap", in this article, without
mentioning Landis. [courtesy emailer Gene] Discussed at DPF.
Spokesman podcast discusses Landis, talks with Vaughn of Daily
Peloton [thanks Carlton]. Haven't heard myself yet. Discussed at
ScienceFiction Twin, who points us to a clip of Carlton saying,
"testosterone does not make you go downhill faster." I'm not sure I
buy that -- it one believes the psychological effect theory, you can
imagine a testo-jacked dude descending like a madman. The phrase,
"balls ten, brains zero" seems to catch the drift of that theory.
Blogs
Rant is downbeat about the Keystone Kops of the anti-doping brigade.
Podium Cafe riffs on Lance with Floyd mention, and jabs at Lemond
in the Pez story above.
Ranch Rider feels duped by pro cycling, repeats confused claim that
Landis has 1100% too much testosterone.
Banshee says strategy might work.
Justin went to Baker's presentation, left during Q&A to get coffee, and
ran into Floyd.
Randal Friesen buys the Landis show.
Web
GCMS for dummies, with moving pictures, at Oregon State.
[end]
4 C OM M EN TS
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D OPI N G , FL OY D , L AN D I S , L E TOU R , TOU R D E FRAN C E ,
U C I , U SAD A , W AD A
What does it take to provoke a lab audit?
According to the WADA International Standard for Laboratories (ISL),
WADA is allowed to do an audit of an accredited laboratory at any
time, for any reason, or no reason at all. To the best of our knowledge,
the LNDD has never been the subject of such an audit, nor do we
know of any other labs that have been audited after their initial
accreditations.
[more]
2 C OM M EN TS
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D OPI N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L AN D I S , L EG AL , TOU R
D E FR AN C E , U S AD A , W AD A
Wednesday Roundup
Quote of the day
Floyd's treatment has very little to do with his
nationality. Floyd is collateral damage in a FrancoSwiss shootout, in which two of the major players are
Irish and Canadian. link
News
Basso leaves CSC, silly season full swing. CyclingNews, BBC,
Eurosport, IHT, VeloNews; PJ is snarky.
Christian! Varin! Quits! the UCI Anti-Doping Office, says the IHT.
This is the gentleman who sent the Excited! FAX! [courtesy Carlton.]
CyclingNews notes Landis appearance in Wisconsin, forthcoming new
anti-Lance book.
Blogs
Sports Economist briefly considers the wiki defense, says "Fight the
Power!"
Crystalzenmud buys the Landis line.
Sabin Iqbal hasn't seen anything to change his first impression.
Black Coffee buys the public defense
Anonymous Fortune Teller makes a comment to this post repeating
his previous prognostications (here, here, and here) that Basso walks,
Ullrich gets life ban, and Floyd blood doped. He's feeling cocky
because of Basso. Still looking for an in-depth discussion of the blood
doping theory.
Forums
At DPF, rational head explains the scientific part of the testing process,
TBV wonders about inlet pressure and flow rate inconsistencies, and
no one cares. Sniff.
At Topix, Will does us the favor of typing in parts the November
SciAm "Catchy Carbon" article, unfortunately, only the parts that
present it as infallible. We referred to this previously, and addressed
by Floyd personally at DPF. Will@Topix is revealed thoroughly in this
thread.
[end]
7 C OM M EN TS
Tuesday Roundup
Quote of the Day
Irony is like pewtery, only harder link
News
McQuaid compares Landis to Puerto in CyclingNews. Says the Landis
case is worse for the public image, but Puerto signifies deeper internal
problems because testing didn't catch anyone. PJ calls this
backpedalling doubletalk on both cases.
RoadCycling covers release.
Blogs
Now that's Amateur does an excellent detailed review picking
Now that's Amateur does an excellent detailed review picking
out new oddities and inconsistencies, with references to the TBV page
archive. This is the kind of look we'd hope for, three cheers. NTA
also has an editorial introduction where he tries to be as skeptical as
he can be about the Landis claims.
Sample number handwriting complaints considered by blogger; he
thinks they are bunk.
Floyd.com praised for Birmingham hip ad
Uh oh, competition in the celebrity hip endorsement market.
Transformatum thinks it's tit for tat with the ADA leaks.
Chattablogs takes both sides.
RaceJunkie meanders around, slagging everyone, Floyd, Ivan and Jan,
I think.
RawEditorial pulls no punches: It's them Frenchies.
Portugese homage: "O Powerpoint de Floyd Landys"
En Espanol, two more: here and here; the latter looks almost
interesting, try google translation.
Forums
DPF splits the discussion of Landis out of Doping into its own forum.
There is a new thread there called Science for Dummies, meaning
those of us who have gotten lost when the subscripts started coming
into the discussion. A different discussion on Legal Matters touches on
discovery, and folks seem too used to the US legal system to fathom
the constraints that apply.
Substantively, some of the skeptics staring at the data, reports, and
scientific literature are starting to turn Landis's direction in this thread
and this one.
On Usenet, Dirtdogs Birmingham Cycling is being persuaded, as is
Oxford Cycling. RBR wonders what reaction he'll get if cleared, and
who gets him next year.
Memorium
Our deepest condolences to Rant, whose dad, a real nuclear scientist,
passed away.
[end]
1 C OM M EN TS
TBV Recommends...
For those bored at home with a good connection, TBV highly
recommends the addictive Google Earth program, which gives
phenominal satellite and aerial photo mapping and topology data. It is
very amusing to draw routes around the neighborhood, tilt the map to
see the elevation and terrain, and then fly the route. (Click the 'terrain'
overlay box and shift up and down arrow for 3d tilt).
The related Google Earth Community is a place for people to post
overlays of interesting points and paths. During the Tour, there was
one that plotted the route and kept track of the riders in near realtime.
Entertaining and addictive, 5 stars out of 5.
Also interesting, but in an immature state of development is Bikely, a
route mapping site with a neat interface through Google maps.
Promising, 3 of 5.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G
Monday Roundup
Forums
Jacobs responds to scientist's comment. Saturday, we reported on
comments made by a scientist about Jacobs's discussion of the
Hamilton case. Says Ashendon missed the context of the talk on the
show and went off on a personal attack. Jacobs takes the opportunity
to defend other common complaints about his representation in
doping cases:
The ADAs hide evidence;
Athletes make public statements after they've gotten crucified
by ADA leaks.
Most of his cases focus on negotiating sanction, not fighting the
science or labs.
He's successful in getting sanctions reduced, or dismissals prior
to arbitration.
Ashendon wasn't an effective witness in SCA Promotions vs .
Armstrong.
At DPF, the most interesting discussion has people digging into the
spectroscopy around the contamination question. Over the weekend,
there had been some thoughts the sample wasn't contaminated, but
now we're seeing some questions of calibration and lower detection
limits bring it forward again.
News
Ollie's Follies in San Antonio says you need amphetamines -- to get
through the released documents, under the subhead "Stink Floyd".
Dirtrag covers the document release and summarizes the slide show.
VeloNews Monday mailbag is appalled by labwork, wondering if
USADA is trying to make others look bad, glad Landis has the guts to
go public and fight back openly, and praises Arnie Baker for his help.
Pez mentions document release
Boston Herald mentions release and defense.
Calendar
Landis to appear at fundraiser in Wisconson Friday Oct 20th
Blogs
Rant asks if the CIR results are real or fake, making a case that all
metabolites should have the same ratios.
Khabar Bike covers documents in a brief, neutral way.
Slow twitch sunday covers, says Sunday's reaction was snark by
columnists, but he points out the Podium Girls on TBV.
PJ, puzzled, assigns journalistic roles to the various bloggers.
Compares TBV to Woodstein, though I'm more afraid of it turning
into Ace in the Hole.
GTVeloce NZ appreciates the openness, isn't sold on the innocence.
Cyclebum seems to miss the point about the non-positive results,
thinking the complaints are procedural rather than substantive.
Banshee Cycling thinks the Hip Resurfacing link on FL.com is creepy.
[end]
1 C OM M EN TS
Sunday Roundup
News
CyclingNews story of L'Equipe story about alleged doping at Postal
while Landis was there. This is probably the background to an earlier
story here about WADA/UCI thinking Floyd has some information
they want to squeeze him for to get at Lance. Supposedly, Floyd has
pictures of a motocycle that has the blood bags used by Postal for
blood doping, this from accounts of conversations and IM between
Vaughters and Andreu. At the end of the article,
Vaughters said he could not be sure if Floyd Landis really had
photographs of the alleged doping practices. "I regret saying
Floyd said anything to me in that IM because it was a friend of
Floyd's," he continued. "In fact, everything I wrote in that IM was
something I heard from somewhere else."
So, it is rumours on rumours, and we find that out at the end, after all
the accusations are made. TFT.
Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News takes a shot: "Floyd Landis,
makes PowerPoint defense on the Web: And if you believed him,
please contribute cash to the great new start-up site: YouRube.com."
NY Daily News does the same: "Floyd Landis' online defense makes
online poker seem highbrow in comparison. "
Bradenton Herald does a web review of FL.com- wants more pictures,
less text with TLAs on the front page. Sports Illustrated advised
Podium Girls. TBV has a large number of pageviews directed at our
post that covered the advice and experimentally put it into practice.
We are shocked, shocked to discover this technique works.
Better late than never, we notice an Oct 4 VeloNews piece that
discusses 2007 changes to USACycling points titles, to prevent things
like Landis winning the '06 crown with results in just two events, and
no race wins.
Blogs
Banshee Cycling likes doing it in public: "Fight on Floyd!"
Knowledge Problem blogosphere echo chamber: No, no, no, thank
you!
Forums
On RBR, Simon Brooke has documented his own change in attitude,
and seems to be getting to the heart of some issues, evidenced here,
and here. Also David Martin, here.
Over at Topix, Mr. LNDD returns with his moderate voice, a long list
of talking points and no SHOUTING. Sprited exchange both ways
continues. The poster known as "Will" still avoids direct questions,
preferring evasion and cryptic comments that go unexplained.
At DPF, holes are poked in the contamination argument.
[end]
4 C OM M EN TS
Today is Floyd's Happy Birthday.
Don't anyone tell him about the big party, it's a secret. Sssssh!
[end]
4 C OM M EN TS
Saturday Roundup
News
CyclingNews finally covers the document release in some depth. Gets
good quotes from Jacobs and Henson about the reasoning; wonders
about red-herring, and lets the opposing side do some more posturing.
RoadCycling notices too.
Web
As mentioned on DPF, a tutorial on gas chromatography and mass
spectrometry. TBV is saddened because long ago he did some X-Ray
Flourescence spectroscopic analysis, which is non-destructive, but
seems to have gone out of favor.
Yahoo! Answers collect opinions on various questions about Floyd
Yahoo! Answers collect opinions on various questions about Floyd
Landis.
Forums
Scientist discussed in Jacob's podcast interview disputes his
recounting of the Hamilton case, relayed via DPF.
Blogs
Biking Bis goes over McQuaid slam of the PowerPoint.
Smoke and mirrors is skeptical of Punk Floyd.
Rant looks at T and E.
Doug Tales says Counting Crows lyrics don't mean anything and
Landis might not be guilty. Two for two!
DevCentral compares the release to his training power data, is
sympathetic.
LetsKrong wonders if he's been lurking at LetsRun too. With his hip?
Surely you jest.
Seans's Blog reviews the powerpoint, and concludes, "these three
excerpts are fairly simple cases drawn from empirical data, all of
which suggest the case against Landis is somewhere between foggy and
complete bullshit. I hate to get sucked in by an accused rider, but this
is a far cry from a "disappearing twin" hypothesis."
Crowdsourcing looks and says, "It's a novel approach, whatever the
ultimate verdict."
EMail
Paula sends this clip from the society page:
Tour de France winner Floyd Landis will make a public
appearance at the Canine Companions for Independence "Wheels
of Wonder" fundraiser here next weekend. Landis and his wife,
Amber, are scheduled to attend next Saturday's gala at the
Estancia hotel in La Jolla. But, due to his recent hip replacement
surgery, organizers say he won't join the 20-mile bike ride up the
coast the following day. Landis will, however, be on hand for the
post-ride lunch. CCI employee Davielle Huffman is friends with
the Landis family, as well as 2004 Olympics bronze medal cyclist
Axel Merckx, who also will participate in the events
We covered this originally from an announcement on Axel's website,
before the operation.
Another emailer compares to the Duke Lacrosse team case:
I find a remarkable parallel between Floyd's case and this:
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/
This is the story of the very likely wrongly accused Duke Lacross team. I do
not defend their conduct, but it seems to me that innocent until proven guilty is
damn important. Somewhat like the Landis case, the Duke case created a
media frenzy with a presumption of guilt, with powerful players (in this case,
the NY Times, much of the staff at Duke, and the DA) making public
statements without the benefit of a clear understanding of the evidence, then
those same powerful players finding it impossible to back down from their
positions.
It troubles me that McQuaid and Prudhomme cannot bring themselves to
support due process. For both of them, the only ethical thing for them to do is
wait until the hearings play themselves out. It troubles me even more that
cycling seems to be run by people who make the creeps running figure staking
seem normal.
At first I was hesitant to run this, but then I decided the feelings of the
anti-doping side are probably pretty simliar to the feelings of the side
of the woman and her supporters in the Duke case. There's enough
emotional charge in each that if the comparison bothers you, it may
illuminate in some way your feelings about one case or the other.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
Verification
A comment to the Friday roundup asks pointedly
So does anyone have an explanation for the different numbers on
pages 13 and 16, or is this just a KoolAid drinking blog?
Trust and DON'T Verify?
Taking such complaints seriously, I put the two together and get:
slide/trial
t value
e value
reference
13 #1
61.37
5.2
USADA_092
13 #2
172.23
17.59
USADA_212
16 #1
49.7
11.1
USADA_057
16 #2
61.37
5.2
USADA_092
Which looks correct to me -- the only common values are from
USADA_92, and they appear to be the same in both slides. The
different values are from different pages, because they are comparing
different things. I've gone back to the PDF of the lab report and they
seem correctly transcribed.
I guess both commenters missed the change in source data from
USADA_212 to USADA_57. In so doing, both slides take the lowest
LDP page number as the first row.
[end]
6 C OM M EN TS
L EG AL , TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAD A , W AD A
Friday Roundup
News
McQuaid dismisses Landis effort, says you can put anything in
PowerPoint, threatens CAS appeal in Mercury News; also, blurb
succinctly shows uphill gradiant. The statistics don't look good. A
separate large article is fair and comprehensive.
Chicago Tribune does good story, balanced with ADA side hitting
back.
CyclingNews gets around to noticing, with an exceptionally neutral
tone.
ProCycling covers the basics.
Pittsburgh paper carries AP report, but uses a happy Floyd picture
instead of a weaseling doper facing his accusers image. Thus changes
the world.
Minneapolis StarTribune puts in in a wrapup, above youth baseball.
InsideBayArea rates it below Golf, above College Football (!)
Lemond says cycling needs to be brought to it's knees before it can be
fixed, in long article about appearance in Natick Mass. This could be
the case, one way or another.
Too good to miss, but no Floyd: Badass idiot by Fred at VeloNews.
Forums
Mostly quiet after the storm.
At Daily Peloton Forums, the important residue is in these threads, all
unresolved:
Positivity criteria
Most reliable metabolite"
5aA delta C13 values wrong (TBV is never going to try to type out
5a-androwhatever at these wages.)
PowerPoint analysis, which I think ends up agreeing with me,
so they are smart.
Late in the day, one-mint-julich shoots at the 'calibration
error' argument.
At rec.bicycles.racing, some folks are now anticipating the fall of
McQuaid, and Landis' defamation actions. Also here. Some of the
most skeptical but honest observers appear to have been swayed from
one side of the fence to another.
Bicyclling Forums discuss, mostly buy the slide set.
Blogs
Dugard thinks the release is the beginning of smart guys fighing back.
RandomString thinks its a total roostering and plugs TBV.
AusCulture loves his mug, which is reason to believe.
Buzzle reprints story with nice picture.
RaceJunkie says you shouldn't have put anything out and what you did
was weasely procedural stuff. Guess he hasn't been reading comments
and mail to TBV that are outraged when I say procedural complaints
aren't effective against the WADA machine or public perception -even if it should be a scandal.
Travis believes what he read in the presentation.
DirtPedaler likes the release.
FrontalCortex pretends he did the reading, flunks the exam.
TechDirt likes the idea, but thinks he should have a real wiki instead of
using DPF. I disagree -- better to reuse an existing community than try
to create one.
PJ mulls over his feelings about the 2006 Tour DVD set.
Adam Smith notes Knowledge Problem's observations of Landis' use
of "the wisdom of crowds".
TBV despises socialtag.org, which is an absolutely worthless
aggregation of things based on keywords. Here is one they picked out
for Floyd today: Landis Wash and Lube. Note the absence of a link to
landiswashandlube.com. Socialtag looks like a honeypot to get you to
click on their advertiser links, which are the only way to get out. Never
again!
Quote of the Day
You see, I have very small genitals and breasts, so I try to make
myself feel better by nitpicking grammar in blog comments. link
[end]
7 C OM M EN TS
Thursday Roundup
CURRENT STATUS REVIEW, KEY REFERENCES,
GLOSSARY updated.
It's here.
(the documents released by Landis)
Official Announcement from FloydLandis.com. Works now, but they
off-sited the documents to box.com needing a password. TBV's
download links are easier to use.
thanks once again to berkeley expresso, 1990 shattuck for the FREE wifi.
News
AP covers., CNN slightly different.
AFP via VeloNews.
BikeBiz covers, discusses DPF appearance.
SJ Mercury News rates it below QB food fights, wonders if anyone
cares. Yes, people do.
Charlotte Observer says, "Landis low on options takes to internet"
Canton Repository summarizes.
WKYC has snappiest (a model of brevity) report but the promised link
isn't there.
Telegraph UK has a homegrown coverage, says defense is mostly
procedural complaints.
FreeRepublic quotes Prudhomme and the usual suspects as
maintaining total confidence in the lab.
Bobke still thinks he's clean and a deserving winner.
Forums
Daily Peloton Doping Forum is the place to be.
Announcement thread. There's problems with FL.com site, fixed
by offloading the download to box.com or using the TBV mirrors.
Q: Are your experts present at the arbitration or do you just get
to use their sworn written testimony.?
FL: Not sure, but you can be there. It will be at Pepperdine
University. On side note the President of the French Olympic
committee has been convicted on corruption charges and given a
three month suspended sentence.
Q: Are you getting as much grief as I am for being online too
long???
FL: There is no way you are getting as much grief as me.
Explanation of statistical meaning of TE values.
slide show discussion.
LetsRun forum talks, and gives it site front page.
bdc-forum.it notices.
txbra talks. "I had him dirty before the slide show. Now- I am not so
sure . I have doubts of the credibility of the labs and the agency's
handling." Mission accomplished!
FreeRepublic discusses in a small way.
Figure Skating Universe is interested.
rec.bicycles.racing says it resurrects the Chewbacca Defense.
German forum had problems, ended up here.
Blogs
Freakonomics digs it.
Knowledge Problem really gets it, or TBV is just susceptible to
flattery.
Spinopsys reads, takes a dim view of result.
BikingBis goes into a lot more detail later in the day, picking up the
specific TBV links. Whoo Hoo!
Cycloblog calls it a "confident" move.
Tidbits and More is all for the transparency.
Adventure Blog thinks it does nothing for case, may help PR.
VeloGal notes release, intends to read it sometime.
ScienceFictionTwin says Landis has bigger jewels than Armstrong.
PR Blog wants him to do blogging her way.
Center for Citizen Media says "Right On!"
DoucheBlog Cycling slams the whiteout by the lab.
Travis Bates (no relation to Norman Bickle) has his faith cemented.
Rant does an initial evaluation.
GodsOfSport takes a look, gets very nice screen shots.
RedHawk Review says, "Innocent? No way."
A PowerPoint blog gives the presentation generally high marks, except
for the gradient and slide two, which promises an order of
presentation that isn't delivered clearly.
PJ thinks McQuaid is fighting on too many fronts.
Anonymous comments on TBV's slide show paint us as Floyd Bashers.
Oh, the sweet irony.
[end]
5 C OM M EN TS
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D AV I D W I TT , D OPI N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L AN D I S ,
L E TOU R , TOU R D E FR AN C E , U C I , U SAD A , W AD A
It's Here
The released documents have arrived on FloydLandis.com. We've
copied them to archive.org, and done some additional housekeeping
that should be useful for discussions. On the archive, these are
available as large files and also as individual pages that are
suitable for linking into commentary.
C OM M EN TS
12
L I N KS TO TH I S POS T
L ABEL S: PR I M AR Y D OC U M EN T
The Lab Documentation Package
This is an archive post that will be updated as we learn more.
Landis got his full Laboratory Documentation Package (LDP) on
August 31, three very full weeks after the B sample test result was
announced. Without the data contained in the LDP, there was little he
could say in his defense.
The LDP is described in the WADA International Standard for
Labortories (ISL) as the total of all the information the Lab needs to
provide to the results management process. While voluminous, if there
is any data missing you are unlikely to get any more.
[more]
3 C OM M EN TS
The Slide Show
This is an archive post that will be updated as we learn and discuss
more.
Dr. Arnie Baker's powerpoint presentation shows a few of the defenses
that will be used by Landis, but not all of them. It focuses on the ones
that are easiest to explain. Landis has already said he's not putting all
the defense cards on the table, so if this is unconvincing, don't assume
that is all there is.
[more]
8 C OM M EN TS
The ADRB Filing
This is an archive/reference post. As we talk through, it will be
updated with recent changes boldfaced.
We finally have the Anti-Doping Review Board (ADRB) Filing. This
was what Jacobs submitted to the ADRB in an attempt to have them
give up on the case right away. We don't know if the ADRB seriously
considered the substance, and we probably never will. We do know
that the ADRB recommended USADA proceed with the case, causing
us to move towards a hearing.
If the ADRB has accepted the filing, there would likely have been a
direct, final appeal to CAS, and probably no public hearing.
[more]
0 C OM M EN TS
Wednesday Podium Girls!
News
SI Columnist Pete McEntegart says about the release:
Disgraced cyclist Floyd
Landis plans to post his
defense against Tour de France doping charges on his personal
Web site this week. It turns out Landis is very Internet-savvy. For
instance, in order to goose the number of hits, he'll surround each
dry recitation of testing protocols with pictures of the Tour's
"Podium Girls."
Good idea, Pete! Thanks! I'm sure TBV readers approve! (apologies to
Pez).
Lemond backpedals a little, saying charge hasn't been proven, but the
only defense is if someone confesses to sample tampering.
NYT covers release; Macur says it's uphill and Tygart preens.
Jim Litke of the AP's column
pours scorn on Landis' plan to
release. Says it will be warmed
over excuses, silly paperwork
complaints, and that the reading
of "metabolites(s)" is obvious,
and not the way Jacobs says.
Gets laughed at in DPF forum,
and then this letter is posted on
a blog in response. The letter reveals his email as [email protected] if you
want to send your own note of agreement, or otherwise.
Now it's official. Press release from Michael Henson:
LANDIS TO POST CASE INFORMATION ON PERSONAL
WEBSITE
Los Angeles, October 11, 2006 Floyd Landis, 2006 Tour de France
winner, will make public documents that use fact-based science to
support his innocence in the alleged positive doping test of July
20, 2006. The documents will be released on Landis' personal
website at 5:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, October 12. The
following documents will be available on
www.floydlandis.com:
Attorney Howard Jacobs' motion for dismissal, submitted
to the Anti-Doping Review Board (ADRB) on September
11, 2006.
The complete World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
document package, inclusive of the testing information
from Landis' A¹ and B' samples.
A PowerPoint presentation created by Arnie Baker, M.D.
with specific reference to:
1 . The details of the carbon isotope ratio test (CIR),
demonstrating that the CIR conducted on Landis' urine
sample does not meet the WADA criteria for a positive
doping test;
2. Demonstration of an unacceptable variation in sample
testing results;
3 . Errors in fundamental testing procedure and protocol
Landis received notice on September 18 that the ADRB has
recommended that the United States Anti-Doping Agency
(USADA) move forward in the disciplinary process related to the
cyclist¹s alleged positive drug test. Howard Jacobs, attorney for
Landis, has requested an open hearing by the American
Arbitration Association to contest potential sanctions against the
athlete.
Landis, who underwent the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing
procedure on September 27, is fourteen days into a physical
rehabilitation program and is steadily increasing strength and
range of movement in his right hip. Doctors anticipate that he will
be able to begin training in two weeks for the 2007 season, when
he hopes to return to France to defend his Tour de France
title.
Forums
Back at DPF last night, Landis explains the facts of life to those up
after TBV went to bed:
Because cycling is an Olympic sport, while the Olympics does
very little for cycling, we are subject to WADA. The problem
comes from the fact that mutualy, cycling and the olympics do
very little for each other. Therefore it is the perfect whipping boy
for Dick Pound who makes it clear that he cares very little about
the reputation of the sport and because it is big enough to get
publicity but not wealthy enough to make him go away, he makes
it one of a few which he would destroy for his agenda.
Furthermore to that end,
he and WADA have no
financial interest in the
sport progressing, so
why be reasonable, since
the more positive tests
they can produce (at any
cost) the more credibility
they gain. The sport
needs to leave the
Olympics if it will ever
become self governed
and make wise business
decisions from every
aspect, not doping alone.
...Furthermore, I was
invited to the Olympics
and declined. I am not
speaking out of spite. There is no value in the Olympics for a road
racer.
...Check out the statistics on the USADA home page, I have had
more out of competition tests at home for the year than all of
basketball last time I checked. An example of a rich Olympic
sport.
...My real point was that the problem is that the testers have no
financial stake in the sport and therefore have no reason to be
objective. It's called capitalism and it works.
...Whatever happens next, we should stop people from finishing
ahead of others while looking angry.
Q:Are you for a standardized test for "normalcy" for each rider,
to be used as a baseline for doping control?
FL: It sounds like a much more constructive idea at this point,
clearly at this point OP seems to have accomplished very little.
[on different thread]
We have asked for quite a
few things other than the
results of the A and B
sample but have been
ignored. Things, I might
add, that we suspect exist
and are being kept from
us.
So on Thursday, all you
will get is the lab docs for
A and B. Sorry it's all we
have.
...That was my logic too
but what if they used
multiple reference
compounds and failed to
find synthetic cortisone. Would that call the test into question
when they had the TUE at the lab?
Later in the day, it seemed like people were getting punchy and silly,
especially in the evening marking time until the release. I haven't
picked much more out of the discussion, except some suggestions that
contamination might be important, but maybe not for CIR.
rec.bicycles.racing on Pee Wee Herman's Slide show.
At topix, Rant wades in and takes on Litke.
Blogs
Bicycling's Boulder Report
applauds the release, and
favorably compares Landis'
openness to Hamilton's refusal
to return calls.
Dugard says, "it's only right that
he puts it out there. WADA has
tried him in the media, despite a
series of inconsistencies in the
testing process which cast
considerable doubt on his guilt.
It's only right that he fight back
in the same manner."
PJ is afraid 2007 is going to be a
meltdown for cycling with Messers. Pound and McQuaid going insane
because of failed cases, and Grand Tour organizers telling the ProTour
to stuff it.
Rant is optimistic about what docs will show, down on Pound,
McQuaid, and OP.
FLITM shows off his cake, no not George.
Frank Giradot's Landis stories. He's a onetime sportswriter who happens to be Floyd's
neighbor. I'd linked some of his articles earlier,
but the links went dead. They're archived here.
Drifting Son notes release, plugs TBV; we
reciprocate.
Hincapie for Cheryl,
by request in the
comments
[end]
4 C OM M EN TS
Glossary, Roster and TLA decoder ring
Started by Carlton Reid at bikebiz.uk, with permission.
AAF Adverse Analytical Finding - a "positive" or "failed" doping test.
ADRB Anti-Doping Review Board.
ADRV Anti-Doping Rule Violation - a case handled through results
management by an Anti-doping Organization. Many AAF's may be
folded into a single ADRV.
AFLD, French Anti-doping Agency, as of Oct 1 2006, parent of
LNDD.
AFO, Athlete Fairness Organization, proposed by Landis to address
shortcomings in the anti-doping enforcement process.
AIGCP Associazione Internazionale Gruppi Sportivi
Professionistici/International Association of Professional Cycling
teams
AIMEC, Italian Association of Cycling Medics.
Aguilera, Dr. Rodrigo; House Ear Institute, Proteomics Core
Facility, Los Angeles. Author of key papers on CIR applied to doping
control; present at the B-sample retesting in April 2007.
Amory, Dr. John Witness for Landis at hearing, expert on
testosterone.
Amstel Light, alleged beer consumed by Landis after Stage 16.
Andreu, Frankie; former American cyclist, member of Postal Team.
Recently admitted to EPO use in 90s. Compelled to testify against
Armstrong in a case that settled with Armstrong winning.
Armstrong, Lance; American 7-time TdF Champion, target of many
doping accusations and suspicions by L'Equipe and Mr. Pound.
Aggressively defends his reputation.
ASO Amaury Sport Organisation, owner of the Tour de France and
L'Equipe newspaper. Does not own LNDD, but seems to have close
unofficial connections.
unofficial connections.
AAA American Arbitration Association, under whose rules the
USADA hearings are run.
Ayotte, Christiane; Head of the Montreal WADA lab, testified at the
hearing. "OK for me"
Baker, Arnie; San Diego cycling coach who works with Landis.
Barnett, Matthew; Associate outside counsel for USADA in the
Landis trial. Known for his aggressiveness and presentation of the
"Dancing Monkey" in that trial. Originally given the handle
"condescending man" by Hue; also the author of the USADA discovery
letter that asked for contributor information.
Blood Profiling; A proposed technique for detecting doping. An
agency would keep historical values for an athlete, to be compared
against current testing. Variances that do not seem to be of natural
origin would be suspicious.
Bordry, Pierre; head of the French anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) that
funds LNDD. Filed the Police complaint about the "hacker".
Botre, Dr. Francesco; Director of the Rome WADA Laboratory,
"Independant" expert for the Panel at the Landis AAA hearing; present
for the "reprocessing" done at the LNDD. Author of a paper relevant to
the case about considering uncertainty in doping measurements, cited
in the Landis closing statement.
Bowers, Dr. Larry; Expert in CIR, directly helped USADA during
the hearing. Author of several important papers; alleged to have tried
blocking Landis access to log files from LNDD.
Brenna,J Thomas, Ph.D; USADA witness on IRMS analysis. Also
called the 1.3 million dollar man, for the amount of money he received
in grant funds from USADA during the 4 years prior to his testimony.
Testified early in the hearing, then next to last in rebuttal.
Brunet, Patrice; Canadian Immigration Lawyer and Arbitrator.
When Campbell and McLaren could not agree on a third arbitrator, he
was chosen as Chair of the Landis CAS-AAA Arbitration Panel by each
of the other two ranking/striking the other arbitrators on the list until
a common name, his, ranked at the top of each list.
Bruyneel, Johan; Postal/Discovery DS.
Buisson, Corrine, LNDD supervisor of Mongongu and Frelat,
testified at the hearing.
Call, The; made by Geoghegan to Lemond on May 16th during the
hearing.
Campbell, Christopher; Athlete's Panel member in the CAS-AAA
arbitrator pool. Ex olmpic freestyle wrestler and oldest athlete ever to
win an Olympic medal in that sport. Wrote a dissenting opinion in the
tyler Hamilton case.Member of the Panel in the Landis case.
CAS Court of Arbitration for Sport
CAS-AAA; Court of Sport Arbitration, American Arbitration
Association, the body that adjudicates disciplinary proceedings
involving USADA and an American Athlete.
Catlin, Don; Former head of the WADA lab at UCLA for 20+ years.
CIR, Carbon Isotope Ratio. By tecting how much Carbon-12 vs.
Carbon-13 are in something, you can tell something of it's origins.
Human-produced t(endogenous) estosterone is different than that
derived from plants and administered (exogenous). The CIR is
measured by using IRMS.
Davis, Simon; IRMS technical expert for Landis at hearing,
de Ceaurriz, Jacques; Director of the LNDD, pronounced the CIR
was, "infallible"
CIR Carbon Isotope Ratio test, a test for exogenous testosterone ie
synthetic man-juice; also IRMS CIR
Cleopatra, Queen of da Nile. I'm guessing some people won't get it.
Cofidis cycling team, on trial in France in the wake of the David
Millar doping case.
Confirmation Test; a test done after screening to obtain a more
definitive result.
CPA Professional Riders' Association, which is not a labor union,
more of a professional association. Has no power. TUU? Totally
Useless Union? Headed by Francesco Moser.
Dancing Monkey; A technique lawyers use to distract the finder of
fact from the relevant aspect of the case.
Darling Trial Courtroom; Site at Pepperdine University Law
School where the USADA disciplinary proceeding again Floyd Landis
took place.
DNA Testing; A method of identifying who belongs to some
biological sample. Often used to place people at crime scenes.
Presented as infallible, but failed to convince OJ Simpson jury.
Defense attorneys don't like clients to take them for fear of false
positive. There is talk of requiring ProTour riders to provide DNA
samples as a condition of license.
DPF Daily Peleton forum, the BBS chosen by FL to talk science, beer,
TLAs and choice of uphill mind music. Posted tirade about Lemond at
DPF was cited by USADA at the hearing as a threat.
DS; Director Sportif, the manager/head coach of a cycling team.
EFTMID, "Everyone Faster Than Me is Doping", a frequently
heard complaint that must be taken with a grain of salt.
Endogenous; stuff your body makes by itself.
ERC Endogenous reference compound. A natural hormone that is
used as reference to compare to.
Excreted; waste products are excreted into urine.
Exogenous; stuff your body didn't make, from the outside
Ferrari, Michele; Italian doctor/sports physiologist. Worked with
Armstrong. Major proponent of watt/kg efficiency measurement. Also
rumoured doping guru called "Doctor Evil."
Ferret, name given an anonymous source of some documents; turned
out to be Landis.
FFF, Floyd Fairness Fund, announced defense fund for the Landis
case. No contact information at this time.
FL , Floyd Landis
Frelat,Claire; LNDD lab technician, who tested the Landis "B"
samples after six months of training.
Fuentes, Eufemiano; Spanish doctor implicated in Operacion
Puerto. Had 200 bags of blood in his refrigerator, but we haven't
found out whose they were, with athletes refusing DNA tests.
GC/MS, Gas Chromatogaphy/Mass Spectrometry, also used for
doping tests that are not CIR, in particular, "quantitative" T/E tests.
Geohegan, Will; Landis' manager and long time friend. 'Will' @
DPF and the maker of a telephone call to Greg Lemond the night
before his testimony that may have turned the result of the hearing
from science to scandel. The stuff Tabloids are made of. Rhymes with
"Reagan".
Goldberger, Dr. Bruce, Forensic Lab expert, testified for Landis at the
hearing; invited to apply for Catlin's job at UCLA.
GT Grand Tour: Tour De France, Giro d'Italia, Vuela etc.
G&T Gin and tonic. FL prefers 'Jack'
Hamilton, Tyler; American cyclist now off two year suspension for
blood doping; former teammate of Landis and Armstrong.
Health Check; Not-a-doping blood test done by UCI "vampires" on
the mornings of stages to ensure hematocrit less than 50%. Failure
results in a 2 week "health break".
Hearing, The, Landis' public AAA-CAS hearing held at Pepperding
Univ, May 14-23 2007.
Hematocrit; amount of red blood cells in.
Hatton, Carolyn; UCLA WADA lab representative that aided
USADA attorneys throughout the Landis hearing. In our hearing
coverage, occasionally referred to as "Henson"; not all are fixed.
Hoisting on own's own petard; To cast blame for a complaint
upon the acts of person making it. See also, Young Gambit.
IDCR, WADA technical document on identifying peaks in
chromatography.
ISL, International Laboratory Standard, against which WADA
accredits laboratories. (Also ILS, SIL)
accredits laboratories. (Also ILS, SIL)
IRMS Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry test, how a CIR is typically
measured.
IV; Intravenous fluid replacement, either saline solution or saline +
glucose.
Jack Daniels, Tennesee sipping whisky, drunk by Landis on the eve
of Stage 17 along with some Amstel Light to wash away the bitterness
of S16.
Jacobs, Howard; attorney representing Landis, formerly
represented Hamilton and others.
Lamour, Jean-Francois, French sports minister, now also WADA
vice-chair and Mr. Pound's heir-apparent. Irate at revelations in
spring 2007 that he'd tested positive once, cleared by a different lab;
and a second time for something not then a prohibited substance.
Landis, Floyd; 2006 TdF Winner, our protagonist.
Lelangue, John; Phonak DS during 2006 TdF.
Lefevere, Patrick; Quick Step Manager, also AIGCP President and
UPTC member.
Le Figaro, French newspaper of conservative leaning, perhaps
similar to the Washington Times.
Lemond, Greg; American 3-time TdF champion, very critical of
doping in cycling. Testified to a conversation he had with Landis partly
concerning Landis' alleged use of testosterone during the 2006 tour de
France.
Le Monde, major French newspaper, considered the "newspaper of
record" similar to the New York Times or the Washington Post.
L'Equipe, French newspaper centered on sports, owned by ASO. Has
a somewhat tabloid and muckraking editorial interest that might be
seen as counter to ASO's other business interests.
Lim, Allen; Exercise physiologist for CycleOps/Saris, works closely
with Landis.
LDP Laboratory Documentation Pack (a 370-page LNDD vs FL
document) defined in the ILS.
LNDD Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (the lab that
tested both the A and B samples of Floyd Landis because UCI wanted
tests done quickly)
McLaren, Richard; USADA's representative on the Landis CASAAA Arbitration Panel.Canadian Arbitrator and Legal Professor.
McQuaid, Pat; head of the UCI.
Meier-Augenstein,Wolfram, a/k/a Herr Doctor, Landis witness on
issue of chromotography, co-elution, background noise etc. Critic of
LNDD lab interpretation og Landis "data"
Metabolite; decomposition product of some other substance. If you
can't detect the substance, you may be able to find the metabolites.
Mongongu, Cynthia; LNDD lab technician who tested the Landis
"A" sample, supervised the testing, by Claire Frelat, of the "B" sample
from Stage 17 of the 2006 TdF and the "additional "B" samples,
including reprocessing of all samples.
Moser, Francesco; head of the CPA; ex-rider. Has controversially
called for, "liberalizing doping under pro-riders".
MSM, "Mainstream Media", anything not part of the blogosphere.
Things that kill trees, use radio waves, or are the web presence of
those who do.
OLN Outdoor Life Network, carried TdF in US; changed name to
"VS". Sometimes called the "Only Lance Network."
Omerta, the "code of silence", originally related to criminal activities
and described as, the categorical prohibition of cooperation with state
authorities or reliance on its services, even when one has been victim
of a crime.” In context, applied to both the unwillingness of cyclists to
talk about doping, and more recently the WADA code of "ethics" for
labs and lab personnel.
OOC Out of Competition test
OP, Operaction Puerto, Spanish police investigation into doping.
Many accused, so far zero convictions.
Papp,Joseph; Professional cyclist, determined to have violated anti-
Papp,Joseph; Professional cyclist, determined to have violated antidoping rules who testified at the Landis trial that the professional
peloton dopes and that they know how to dope, using testosterone and
other drugs, without getting caught by doping controls.
PED Performance Enhancing Drug
Pepperdine University; Location in Malibu, California where the
Landis disciplinary hearing took place.
Post, The, Nov 28 post on DPF, quoted at TBV and used against
Landis at the hearing.
Pound, Richard; Founding head of WADA; announced departure in
Fall 2007, likely to be replaced by Lamour.
Proficiency Test; Quarterly test of a laboratory by WADA where
they are given samples and required to identify presence or absence of
what is in them. Described in the ISL.
ProTour; cycling series run by UCI; replaced the World Cup. UCI
wants this to include the Grand Tours; the GT organizations do not
want to be subsumed by the ProTour.
PT May mean either ProTour or Proficiency Test
Rihs, Andy; Phonak team owner, head of Phonak hearing systems;
owns BMC cycles.
Riis, Bjarne; CSC Team owner and DS; 1997 TdF champion, and as
of 5/2007, admitted EPO user during that win.
Ressiot, Damien; Top investigative reporter for L'Equipe. Broke the
"hack" story favorably to LNDD, implicating Landis without revealing
any evidence. Under indictment in France for publishing confidential
information injurious to Cedric Vasseur, among others, in the Confidis
case, including evidence fabricated by the Police. Put together the
LNDD/Armstrong/EPO story by getting the research data and the
codes from Zorzoli.
Roostered, term coined and picked up in DPF discussions, similar to
FUBAR.
Saiz, Manolo; Owner of the ProTour license and contracts for some
riders on the team once known as Astana-Wurth, then maybe Astana.
This is a mess. He's been implicated in Puerto with Fuentes, but not
charged. The team went on without him and secured new sponsorship,
but he still seems to hold some rights and wants compensation or to
run his own team. The innocent victim here is Vino.
Schanzer,Wilhelm,Ph.D. Director of Cologne WADA Lab, USADA
witness in the Landis case, that appeared by telephone
Screening Test; a simple, cheap test used to determine if there is
reason to do a more complicated confirmation test.
Shackelton, Dr. Cedric; USADA witness on steroid metabolism,
author of key paper cited by everyone.
Snark, snide remark, often emitted by columnists, pundits and
opinion makers when looking to score cheap points against an absent
party. Also a boat, a thing hunted, and a primitive cruise missile. TBV
is never snarky, and calls up others when they are. Uh huh.Star
Chamber,
2 C OM M EN TS
Tuesday Roundup
News
BBC blurb about of presentation. Doesn't mention LDP or filing.
MSNBC story from yesterday; looks based on USA Today.
Velonews picks up coming release.
San Luis Obispo opinion piece uses Landis as a hook for failure to take
responsibility and making excuses. From Morzine to these Badlands.
Sigh.
ESPN Radio talked about release today 1-4 ET, maybe also here.
Reader Chris sends this summary:
A few minutes of discussion in the "Big Show" portion with Keith
Olberman (former ESPN anchor, now host of Countdown on
MSNBC). basically, Dan [Patrick] questioned Landis using the
internet to bring out his defense (no reason why). KO disagreed,
saying internet is where people are getting their info from today
(traditional media on the decline, YouTube as example). typical
means for defending yourself (e.g. 60 minutes or Diane Sawyer
interview) not appropriate ... cycling is niche market that
probably doesn't much interest mass media. most of those who
care about the case (cycling followers) are mainly the "younger"
generation who are going to get their info from the net, not 60
minutes, etc. so, Landis is correct in bringing his case public the
way he is.
Sounds like a fair analysis to TBV. Olberman is pretty sharp.
John Dennigan comments:
Read the article "Catchy Carbon" in the November issue of
Scientific American about the accuracy of the CIR test:
"...if the body were able to make testosterone from an artificial
compound-such as the cortisone athletes sometimes inject to
reduce muscle inflammation-might the natural hormone carry a
synthetic-looking finger-print, Hayes notes."
Nothing on www.sciam.com website; discussed on Daily Peloton
Forums with paraphrase.
Blogs
BluecollarMTB points to Biking Bis story.
Velochimp covers release and forum appearance, also selects Badlands
quote. But no plug. Sniff.
Rant digresses into problems with another urine test that works too
well. Mentioned here before via ZBicyclist from a WSJ report.
GodsofSport thinks it's a trick by the lawyers.
Forums
Ongoing discussion at Corante picks up some current interest, thanks
to Rant for the reminder. I'd given up on that one since "Realist" is a
bit, um, whatever.
Daily Peloton Forum is exploding with King Floyd holding court, with
a fair amount of gushing and some heavily moderated but pointed and
persistent skepticism. Landis vanished after lunch yesterday, and
popped in at 11:40PM to check what arrived, and then signed off:
Looks like I have some work to do. I'll try to answer all of these
but sorry if I miss some. Also, on second thought, I'll start a new
subject in the cycling forum for those of you who want to know
things about that. For now I have to get some sleep.
Then he checked back in at 7:40AM Tuesday:
[what song was running through your mind on the way
to Morzine?]
The song was Badlands by "The Boss".
["Badlands. You got to live it every day. Let the broken
hearts stand, as the price you've got to pay. We'll keep
pushing till its understood, and these badlands start treating
us good."]
Later, in a technical thread about tests, Floyd pops in a one liner after
quoting a long thing about cortisone being different than testosterone,
and the LNDD ought to know the difference:
Just a question: What if the control metabolites used were those
of cortisone?
Ah, that is interrrresting.
The technical discussion is becoming worth following. This post
questions the "best" metabolite theory that was offered by Jacobs in
the summary of the filing. There is doubt the TUE'd cortisone could
come into play at all, but Will (Geoghegan) says, "wait till thursday..."
RH: We talked about this in August, it was found that cortisone
and testosterone do not have biochemical pathways wherein, the
pathways share exact metabolites. So to answer your question, if
the lab used metabolites associated with cortisone than the results
are in principle not consistent with testosterone levels.
FL: I think I understand you to say that, had they used
metabolites of cortisone, the results would not be reliable
assuming we know that I used cortisone for my hip. What if the
cortisone metamolite used appeared normal while knowing there
should have been some there?
Hopar: I don't understand this question... In any case analyzing
cortisone metabolite levels to determine testosterone levels will
not be reliable - no matter what the result.
From the mass spectrometer data it is relatively easy to tell what
metabolite was analyzed.
FL: Good.
Is that the sound of a trap being sprung?
A new perjorative colloquialism [verb, transitive] is proffered,
dissected, and approved for wider usage:
The lab roostered up the test.
Definition: to ***k something up, in a loud, puffed up and self
important way, foolishly intended to quell criticism.
In the other thread some boors arrive making very pointed comments,
but not (yet) moderated.
Bicycling Forum unjealously points people at Daily Peloton.
[end]
6 C OM M EN TS
Monday Roundup
News
BikeBiz concisely summarizes recent events, gives plugs.
European CyclingPost poll 51.2% guilty, 48.7% innocent.
VeloNews mail complains about "Guilty until proven innocent".
CyclingNews late with USA Today story, misses forum.
AP picks up USA Today report, via WJRT. Then ESPN gets it.
Business Law Society takes a look at the case from a procedural
standpoint. Fairly good summary, with a few clinkers in my reading.
Forums
Landis at Daily Peloton Forum last night after I crashed:
...First the UCI announced that there had been an adverse finding
and a few hours later, when asked who it was, Mcquaid said "it's
the worst case scenario" after which the press told us that they
had called all of the federations and been told that it was none of
them. Only USA cycling refused to return calls. Do you think they
followed the rules?
...Thank you, I too have no problem with the french people, I
found it to be a beautiful country. I never intended any of my
comments to be directed at the french in general. There are good
people everywhere, don't let a few idiots change your perception
of any group.
...We are not going to compromise our defense by telling all of it.
We will, however, hand over all of the things which have been
provided us and a few of the big obvious mistakes. In the end it
was not a positive result.
...The questions and other stuff have become too much for me to
reply. Thank you all for the personal messageg if I didn't get a
chance to reply and sorry to the posters who I overlooked. I'll be
fairly buisy tomorrow but will try to answer what I can.
Just so you know, weather you are with me or against, I am
sincerely enjoying myself.
...It's the Birmingham Hip resurfacing process which was the
choice because of the bone saving quality and the bearing
surfaces. After much research by Dr David Chao of the Oasis
Medical Clinic and Dr Brent Kay, we concluded that this will give
me the best odds of restoring quality of life and preventing later
problems. It is a newly approved process in the USA but there are
currently more than 60,000 worldwide. I am doing very well at
this point and have been pedaling for 15 minutes a day. That's a
far cry from 3 months ago, but, all things considered, I am
feeling very well and am excited to demonstrate what this hip is
capable of doing.
Absent Floyd, Daily Peloton Forum goes into pointed discussion about
whether Landis had a glucose IV after stage 16, and whether that is
legal. Landis has been vague, and the posters argue the legality. There
doesn't appear to be a clear answer.
Floyd returns in the morning:
...please don't focus too much on the white out (although we have
been provided copies and cannot rub it off). The real issues are
much more substantial and yes I do regret saying anything at all
in the begining of this. In my defense, I did not come up with the
alcohol argument, I was telling everyone what I had done the
night before for no other reason than to give an interview so they
would leave my friends and family alone. It's hard for anyone,
who didn't see it, to understand the magnitude of what went on
but most certainly the alcohol defence was created later by
someone else.
...I, for one, want to be clear that I never directed my arguments
at the French in general. Not only because it doesn't make any
sense but because I have found them to be people like everyone
else (i.e. proud and defensive of the country and culture in which
they live). Let us not focus on the exceptions even though I am
begining to understand that a few of the exceptions are
participating here.
[comparing to Hamilton]
...I don't believe that these two cases are related apart from the
obvious. Our argumends will be definitive examples within
provided documents which demonstrate that, acording to WADAs
own guidelines and any and all other studies which we can find,
the sample was never positive. As far as motivation, I don't
know, but can assume that it must be one of; lack of knowledge
about said test, malice, stupid mistakes. Either way, someone
must be responsible.
[why go onto a forum?]
For the same reason that I enjoy a good group ride on a sunday
morning. Most of the people are pleasant to be around, some I
would invite over later for a beer, and a few would be better off
somewhere else and everyone hates them. But to make it a good
ride you need them all. (the ones causing crashes aren't
necessary)
...At this point I don't care which side of the fence you find
yourself, what brings me here is your interest in the subject and
the time you have all spent thinking about it. I need it, I'm a
cyclist, not a lawyer or scientist or anything else. Why turn down
free brainpower?
...I like to be a "smart ass" too. Maybe that explains why I'm here,
I realy am just another guy who happens to be able to pedal
harder than most.
[about code of silence in the peloton]
...I try not to give too much credence to rumors as I do not often
know where or why they began. Certainly if someone shows up
with a bullhorn and announces that they themselves dope, I
would accept that as truth because I can't think of a good reason
to do that if it was't true. I am still waiting to see that.
[about confidence in his defense]
If I had no good defense, I would take the advice of Mr. Mcqaid
and save my money.
[on an offer of lunch pickup]
Man I am gaining weight at an incredible rate but what the hell
I'll take a double double, animal style.
[about Boonen complaining about stage length]
Tom Boonen is not a stage racer. I don't go to the Tour of
Flanders and complain about needing a new diaper. It is
incredible how so many complainers can exist in such a difficult
sport but that's the way it is. I think that they should shorten the
Long Jump.
After Landis split for the day, DPF largely turned towards the case,
taking a brief detour to bash over the Hamilton case. One person
noted that Hamilton got screwed procedurally, but was going to lose
anyway. Others think the procedural problems were overstated.
Almost all were of the opinion that, well, he was guilty.
In discussing Landis, there is substantial consensus that crying about
procedural flaws is a quick trip to a ban. The defense must focus on
refuting the execution of the tests or the interpretation of their results.
TBV agrees, having said this way back when.
Blogs
BicycleDiaries talks about gentle bikers in Lancaster county, Landis
hook.
TdF Blog says Landis taking the offensive, gives a plug.
PJ gets the drift of the defense, thinks it can work. Says upgrade PR to
emphasize innocence instead of "not guilty".
Rant takes advantage of available length to hope people will actually
look at the arguments.
Cheeseflavor (new to us) drops in and hopes he can prove innocence.
Riley says the case shows it good to question media reports.
Lucas Chan notes the Wikipedia angle and imagines Litigation 2.0?
TogoParts picks up BikeBiz, plugs TBV.
[end]
3 C OM M EN TS
McQuaid
In the AP interview run on 2-Oct, Landis says, "I'm not hopeful this
sport can be fixed as long as UCI is running it."
That was a pretty strong statement that seemed to come out of
nowhere. What fueled his ire? On Sunday 8-Oct, he wrote on the Daily
Peloton Forums,
I received a call from Pat Mcquaid, with whom I had never
previously spoken on the phone, during which I was told that I
should save my money and go home because it will be impossible
for me to win. I told him that I had not done it and had to defend
myself, to which he said; "Floyd, I think you're not a bad guy and
I think you're an honest guy who made an honest mistake. And I
am not saying that you did something that everyone else wasn't
doing, I'm just saying that you got caught".
That was news -- The head of the UCI believes that everyone in
the sport he runs is doping, and it is too bad for some
unlucky guy who gets caught. This only came out because Lefevere
decided to pile on and did an interview attributing "everyone does it"
to Landis, not McQuaid, and this really annoyed Landis:
Needless to say I will not give them the opportunity to speak in
private any more. I would have kept these conversations to
myself had they not been used against me in public.
And, of course, there was that business about McQuaid talking publicly
about the positive A sample being as bad as it could be before Landis
knew himself.
Yeah, you can see how Landis could be disenchanted with the UCI's
integrity when it comes to fixing the sport.
[end]
1 C OM M EN TS
Final! Ferret! - An! Exciting! FAX! from UCI!!!
TBV got one more mail from The Ferret today, revealing himself to be
F(erret) Landis of Murietta, California. He sends along one last FAX
from the UCI, being their notification of the results of the B sample
test (click to enlarge, 2 pages):
Failing! to! suppress! their! euphoria! at! having! A! Case! To! Pursue!,
the apparatchniks at the UCI sent this to the parties on August 5th,
notably excluding the ASO. This was the totality of the factual
communication about the B Sample test before the 370 page
Laboratory Documentation Package was delivered on August 31st.
Landis apologizes for the subterfuge of the previous ferret documents,
and says that the useful and positive reaction to them helped cement
the case for releasing it all later this week. As he noted in his Daily
Peloton Forum appearance today, it's the open-source/Wikipedia
effect -- many eyes will find things a small number can't. Since he has
nothing to hide, have at it.
We are humbled to have been noticed, and a little shamed at being a
backchannel. Since the documents are coming out, fulfilling our long
standing campaign, we are also happy. When they show up, we'll index
them, archive them and collect contributions.
Now, Mr. Landis, about those Oakley Zero sunglasses. What the heck*
were you thinking?
* hopefully safe for use in Farmersville.
[end]
3 C OM M EN TS
Sunday Roundup
CURRENT STATUS REVIEW and REFERENCE PAGE updated.
Quote of the Day
We decided that, if given the info, you would be
constructive. We'll call it the Wikipedia defense... (below)
LANDIS COMES CLEAN! (about the ferret).
We're expecting to see the Laboratory Documentation Pack on the
FloydLandis.com website on Thursday. Hope for a rainy weekend so
there will be no guilt for the time spent poring over it all. I'll archive
and index them, and collect any analysis and interpretation you add
via comments or mail.
Forums
Floyd returns to the converstion at the Daily Peloton Forum. Some
snips:
In the big picture I am being called unethical by the IOC. You
have to admit that you see the hypocrisy in that.
...have been reading these from the beginning and while you guys
are opinionated (as am I) we decided that, if given the info, you
would be constructive. We'll call it the Wikipedia defense, and I
would have given everything to you sooner but had a very hard
time selling the idea to the lawyers.
...There were a lot of strange statements which were attributed to
me in the first few weeks and it was due to complete confusion on
my part. I had a couple beers and a couple shots of jack, I
honestly don't remember if it was 2 or 3, I only remember that it
happened because it was unusual.
...As far as the defense that I had high testosterone, I was taking
advice of lawyers and we were defending ourselves publicly with
no information other than that the ratio was 11/1. They don't test
for absolute values in urine testosterone, they only have an upper
limit which is suspicious. Mine was well below half of the upper
suspicious limit as you will see in a few days, not only that but it
turns out that the t/e ratio wasn't even 11/1.
...I received a call from Pat Mcquaid, with whom I had never
previously spoken on the phone, during which I was told that I
should save my money and go home because it will be impossible
for me to win. I told him that I had not done it and had to defend
myself, to which he said; "Floyd, I think you're not a bad guy and
I think you're and honest guy who made an honest mistake. And I
am not saying that you did something that everyone else wasn't
doing, I'm just saying that you got caught". I repeated this quote
to Lefavre, identifying it's sorce, and later he attributed it to me,
so you can thank Mcquaid for that comment. Needless to say I
will not give them the opportunity to speak in private any more. I
would have kept these conversations to myself had they not been
used against me in public.
...I only want everyone to see that I am not trying to get off on
some technicality but rather that, according to the WADA rules,
the test is not positive.
There's some back and forth about IV after Stage 16. One poster
suggests it isn't legal, and Floyd does some tap dancing to avoid
putting his foot in his mouth.
Blogs
Biking Bis picks up USA Today story about defense, slide show and
immanent document release. Observes that the PR effort of this
release is important to his future career no matter what the outcome.
Plugs TBV, which we always appreciate.
Spinopsys thinks the whiteout defense is lame, the PR is lame, and
Phonak was a doper paradise and Landis was at the epicenter.
Arithmetic Dept: 2 + 2 =
The defense slide show mentioned above and by USA Today yesterday
must be what Arnie Baker is presenting in San Diego on October 18th,
mentioned here on Tuesday. Baker prepared the set for Landis,
according to the reports.
Print
Anonymous comment notes that
There is an extensive article on Floyd's case in the November 2006 issue of Men's Journal magazine.
The magazine's website bills it, "SPECIAL REPORT: DOPING
Cycling's Fall Guy. Why busting Floyd Landis won't clean up his sport's
drug problem." Can someone who has it send a summary?
[end]
2 C OM M EN TS
Saturday Roundup
CURRENT STATUS REVIEW and REFERENCE PAGE
updated.
News
CyclingNews covers visit to the Track Nationals. Picture above
confirms he had a visibly good time.
USA Today breaks story
outlining parts of the defense,
referring to a Powerpoint slide
show that has been given to
some media outlets. Says that
Landis will release documents
this week. Ha! We knew that
hours ago!
hours ago!
Forums
At Daily Peloton Forums, Floyd
gets into it. He promises to be posting 370 pages of French documents,
and pushes back on some doubters:
Before I can prove it, I would at least like to hear you all admit
that someone being wrongly accused is a possibility. The other
side has been using words like "foolproof" and "you can't argue
with science", even in sixth grade they teach you that nothing in
science is foolproof, especially when the outcome requires 470
pages to explain. Just understand that you don't have yet, enough
facts to objectively decide. It's not your fault and I will provide
everything I have as soon as it can be put in a readable format
on my site...
Thursday of next week I will put up everything that I have on my
home page and I am sure you guys will find every mistake, even
things we haven't noticed.
Go buy yourself some new ink or toner cartridges, a ream of paper,
and a bunch of caffeinated beverage of your choice. It's coming.
Also comments on the Vuelta, Vino and Valverde:
I know Vino and Valverde to both be good people with nothing
but friends in the peleton. There are others of whom I would not
say the same but those two are sincerely good people.
[Vino] is one of the best and I was lucky that he wasn't at the
tour. I wish, however, that he had been there because he deserved
to be. . . . I am personaly a fan of Vino, he races respectfuly but
agressively and I am sure that he is more fun to watch than to
try to follow.
At the fixedgear fever forum, a Mr. Pompy offers
Speaking of Dopers, does anyone find it ironic that a busted
doper Floyd Landis is passing out medals at the National
Championships? That's crap!
Blogs
Landis on crutches visits the Track Nationals, and watches Sarah
Hammer do it to the competition. Reported by FixedGearFever, First
Last and Always, and Obra Chat.
PJ discusses Merckx stories.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
Friday Roundup
News
CyclingPost recycles yesterday's Pez interview with Eddy Merckx,
without attribution; CyclingNews gets same quote, but attribute it to
Het Laatste Nieuws.
Eddy Merckx interviewed by the Telegraph. He observes that after his
injury, starting the race in pain meant he didn't hit the wall 3/4 of the
way in like everyone else. Same way for Landis this year? That's the
only Floyd connection I can manufacture, but it's a good interview.
Blogs
Everyday Economist muses about steroid hypocrisy, touching Landis
on the way to NFL and Baseball.
PJ says if you want to be able to talk like a knowledgable cycliste this
party season, you need to know some things about carbon, as in C12
and C13, not as in OCLV fiber. Plugs Rant and TBV.
Rant goes off on trial by media, and how Landis hasn't been well
served.
Lij shows off her Alpe D'Huez camping pix, and the "Floyds" on the
road.
Fat Man Cycles says he's innocent.
Forums
At Daily Peloton Forum, some n00B going by "floyd" seems
knowledgeable in a technical discussion of watts and kg on some
climbs, e.g., 3w == 30 seconds on the Alpe D'Huez.
Probably getting a better reception here than he would on Topix, or on
RBR where he'd be called a "dumbass". Earlier poster 'Will' appears to
be Geoghegan, an old friend.
[end]
1 C OM M EN TS
Thursday Roundup
Back sooner than expected -- early updates courtesy the free
WiFi at Berkeley Expresso at 1900 Shattuck.
News
Landis on CBS Early Morning show; Completely insists on innocence.
Money quote: "Now I'm even more motivated to prove to them that I
didn't (use performance enhancing drugs), first of all, and after that, to
go and win the race so I can have a proper celebration," Landis said.
"And I think when everyone gets to see that I was innocent and am
innocent, that they'll want to celebrate with me." Video is here -- see
Floyd smile! See him haul himself up stairs with crutches! Hear
whether he sounds like a dirty rat or a wronged man! See how neat he
keeps his garage, which has many wheels and few bikes! See him
tortured in physical therapy and ride a CycleOps stationary bike for the
camera!
CIR promoted as part of the answer to NFL steroid problems, touts
use against Gatlin and Landis. Usual suspect Catlin quoted. At least
they wouldn't be using LNDD.
WADA and Interpol to generate MOU for cooperation, further
criminalizing doping. (No Landis content.)
WSJ has an article about uninalysis tests, discussed by ZBicylist. If
someone finds a usable link to the original, please send along.
Blogs
Dugard tells us that Landis went off pain medication three days after
the operation, "he didn't want to be duped into feeling pain-free and
then get back on the bike too early. Man, that's gotta hurt."
Rant explores our tiny friends the isotopes and isomers. They're not
isomorphic! While we test the isotopes, we might be better off
differentiating the isomers. Isocomplicated.
Sports Law asserts that Landis has "been proven a liar". We'll see how
they respond to my gentle correction.
Forums
Daily Peloton Forum discusses altitude tents, and WADAs posturing
about them; new link to report dismissive of the regulation attempt.
Landis hook is that Floyd built himself a hypox room in his house
($450 worth), didn't find much gain and gave up on it.
At Topix, Mr. LNDD has returned with a calmer personality, and a
fragile civility is being negotiated. Even YHS TBV had been drawn into
the flame-throwing death match. We'll see how long the potential
truce holds. Remember kids, "tit-for-tat" is usually the best strategy,
not "massive retaliation".
Web
Too good not to link. Many of us have heard about Landis' great bike
handling skills, and seen him do a wheelie while climbing hills in the
(late) SF Grand Prix race. Phooey. He's just a testosterone poisoned
man. Watch what a truly skilled woman can do here. (link courtesy
RBR)
[end]
8 C OM M EN TS
Wednesday Roundup
News
Landis may be on Thursday 5-Oct CBS Early Show. Set theTivo.
Lelangue may go back to ASO, according to CyclingNews. Guess he
isn't tainted.
Eddy Merckx interviewed by Pez in Marin: "I don’t think he took
anything, he just happened to be doing what he was doing. I don’t
know for sure. For me, it’s a mistake, and I did not experience that, so
I can not speak about that."
New York Press slams Landis saying he's in denial and the "evidence is
overwhelming." Seems like a good example of the assumptions of the
overwhelming." Seems like a good example of the assumptions of the
inattentive. Cartoon shows cool Landis riding calmly in front of
gasping cyclists sipping a cappucino with an Rx bag by his side. I don't
remember him looking that dapper on the way to Morzine.
Blogs
Dilbert's "Sports Weasel of the Year" candidates discussed on F1
Fanatic. I'm reminded why I dislike Schumacher.
Rant looks at the Ferret pages, and concludes they are consistent with
Floyd's version of the truth. If they are authentic, Floyd wasn't lying
about the normal T and low E values. Rant also argues given the
science behind T/E testing, the result isn't conclusively damning based
on the absolute values in question. That leaves critical IRMS result to
be examined.
Y-Design goes over a book that discusses the pressure to dope to
succeed in sport; minimal Landis hook in the lede.
Doctor at a faith-based clinic in Tennesee uses Landis as a news hook
for commentary recounting the dangers of doping, and to say we
should strive to win naturally.
Old (30-Jul) article on 24x7 is inclined to believe Landis, cites WSJ
numbers guy article and refs two papers I didnt' have links for before - D.H. van de Kerkhof, D. de Boer, J.H.H. Thijssen, and R.A.A. Maes;
and L Dehennin's oft cited '94 article.
Another old article from Counterpunch (Jul 28) is ambivalent, and
does so fairly.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
TBV site news
TRUSTBUT.COM
For $40, I bought http://trustbut.com and it forwards to the
blog. It may be easier to remember. It's the same site, eventually.
Bookmarks to the real place are faster.
Peek-a-boo/Continued posts
Peek-a-boo/Continued posts
I've decided to leave Roundup posts complete on the front page, and
have features split, and tweak the wording on the continuation link. I'll
make things that would be really long in the roundup separate
features. [more]
7 C OM M EN TS
Tuesday Roundup
News
FloydLandis.com on Nickel Mines shooting tragedy.
VeloNews covers yesterday's AP Interview, as does CyclingNews, and
CyclingPost.
Peirero talks about Landis to
Spanish paper, awkwardly
translated in CyclingNews.
It woz a Birmingham Hip wot he
got, not the Durom, according to
the AP.
Mr. Rogers at Velonews thinks
Landis winning the US NRC title means the point system is broken.
Blogs
Dilbert nominates Floyd as sports weasel of the year, up against Barry
Bonds, Justin Gatlin, Lance Armstrong, Michael Schumacher, Terrell
Owens, and Zinedine Zidane. Vote early, vote often! TBV has been a
non-fan of Schumacher for years. Ayrton Senna, RIP.
Khabar Bike plugs TBV.
Ferret
Reader Marc has done a fabulous job reconstructing the ferret
documents, which we've put up on archive.org. These aren't the
originals, but a clever simulation that is readable by everyday humans.
Well done!
Update: versions at archive.org are now fixed twice, p3 again
on Weds 4-Oct.
English: page 1, page 2, page3; French page 1, page 2, page 3.
EMail
Seminar in San Diego, Oct 18: WHY FLOYD'S POSITIVE TEST
ISN'T.
We're forwarded the following announcement to San Diego Cyclovets, the club in which David Witt was a member. Does someone
near San Diego want to go and file a report?
FREE Presentation - WHY FLOYD'S POSITIVE TEST ISN'T
Image
by Dr. Arnie Baker
Wednesday, Oct. 18th, 7:00pm at our SAN DIEGO location Trek
Store
Dr. Baker, one of America's best-known cycling coaches, author
of over a dozen books on cycling, and Medical Doctor, has been
involved with the Floyd Landis case. He will share with us what
he has learned about the testing protocol and results, and why it
shows Floyd's test wasn't ever positive to begin with.
Dr. Baker's coaching achievements: 3 Olympic Competitions, 81
National Championships, 31 US Record Holders, San Diego
Cyclo-Vets: the winningest team ever at Masters Road Nationals,
National Coach of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America's
Team in Training: world's largest endurance training program
with 30,000+ annual participants, 800+ coaches developed and
certified in cycling, running, triathlon, and walking.
9 C OM M EN TS
Where's the money?
Does Landis have the money to defend himself, and if not, where's he
getting it?
[more]
4 C OM M EN TS
L ABEL S: C Y C L I N G , D OPI N G , FL OY D , FL OY D L AN D I S , L E TOU R , U C I , W AD A
Monday Roundup
News
AP interview with Floyd. Report says USADA is agreeing to public
hearing, and Floyd says USADA has been reasonable about performing
their obligations. Others, not so nice: "I'm not hopeful this sport can
be fixed as long as UCI is running it."
Blogs
Dugard picks up the morphine finding. He may be getting out in front
of the facts, as did Old Runner Guy at "LetsRun", which we talked
about yesterday.
Peloton Jim thinks Operation Puerto is unravelling.
Steve's Peeve's does a review predicting calm for a while, frustration
with the sport, UCI, WADA, and the lot; plugs TBV and Peloton Jim.
Racejunkie reviews a bunch of current cycling dope news, with swipes
at UCI and brief Landis mention.
Rant goes on a about lack of civility, and points at Topix forums as an
immediate example. Except he calls it "Toxic."
Forums
Daily Peloton picks up, grinds down the morphine story, starting from
Dugard. Martin gets dissed, TBV gets mentioned, and then it's all
about Lance, ultimately, isn't it?
Bicycling Forum has two threads, TBV's and Dugard's, and neither is
getting any traction.
Ferret rehash
Readers Marc and Rant did some decoding of the second helping of
Ferret droppings while I played hooky. Marc's detective work shows
page 3 to be the interesting new data. He observes and blows off a typo
in the sample number. Clarification of the previous day's interference:
"The results of the tests for ES04 and ES05 are not entirely
dependable because of the inhibition of the derivation due to
interference with the matrix." Then, what looks to me like the gold
data,
T/E estimated above the threshold of 11,4 (+/- 30%)
Conc [Concentration] testo estimated and corrected. 45,4 mg/ml
(+/- 20%)"
Conc epi estimated and corrected. 3.9 mg/ml (+/- 30%)
pH 5,2 d = [1.03 crossed out] 1.025 (+/- 0.002) screening
Interesting claim on the TE tolerance. This says a +/30% error on a
demoninator has only a 30% afftect on the result value. Let's do the
math:
The reported result 11.4 +/- 30% is 7.97 to 14.8. 45.4 mg/ml T +/20% is a range of 36.3 to 54.5, and 3.9 mg/ml E +/- 30% is 2.73 to
5.07, thus giving a T/E range of 7.15 to 19.96 allowing for errors.
Taking T as accurate, the error on E gives a TE range of 8.95 to 16.6.
That doesn't look like 30% to me. Yes, there are some probability
distributions I'm not considering, but the original tolerance claim on
the reported TE seems suspect.
One of the questions I've been carrying about the lab is, "can they do
the math?"
Also, note the difficulty measuring E at low levels is reflected in the
30% tolerance vs. the 20% tolerance for the larger values of T. I don't
know how close the E value is to the floor of reliability, either, which
makes me wonder about the +/- 30% claim on the E value alone.
Finally, the decoded result is in line with Mr. LNDD's estimates of
40/3.6 to 80/7.2 in the Topix argument.
Before moving on, a pointer to an old TBV post, "Where are the
numbers?". The arguments there are still true. If it's Landis people
ferreting, this can look as bad as when the Testinistas leaked. Live up
to the transparency claim and release it all.
Email
Michele Landis (no close relation) writes us about the Ferret:
The data sheets indicate that multiple analysts have made entries
on the data sheets that you have received. In any type of
analytical setting, it is imperative that the identity of the analysts,
the task that they performed, and the associated documentation
be communicated in a crystal clear manner. A reviewer should be
able to look at sample documentation and determine WHO was
responsible for each type of analysis; multiple analysis are
allowed, but the documentation should indicate who did what.
The reasons for this include ability to review training records (to
ensure the analyst has documented training in the performance
of the analytical method which they are performing) and to allow
the laboratory manager to review results and data to ensure
consistent and acceptable performances by the analyst. This
"chain" should be equally robust to the one used to maintain
custody of the sample from the time of collection through
submittal to the lab. Furthermore, AN individual in the lab MUST
be responsible for maintaining custody of the sample....sample
management by kumbaya (or "laboratory") is not allowed.
Having multiple analysts without anyone responsible is not
acceptable.
I have a background in health physics, sample management,
sample analysis (primarily for radionuclides), and litigation
support...and am a latent TdF fan, and a fervent Floyd
fan........my grandparents hailed from Pennsylvania so I have
claimed some distant kinship via last name.
Jim mails us a pointer to this ESPN article about a forthcoming lab
report that will try to explain to Mr. Pound's satisfaction what
happened in the Marion Jones case, and asks, "Did you know that
WADA was seriously considering doing away with bsamples?"
Web
A look for "morphine tour de france" turns up this interesting article in
U of Miami Medical School magazine. It discusses history of doping.
B Sample experts may have included someone from Catlin's lab for
USADA, and Marshall Saugy for the UCI, according to this old (Aug-3)
ESPN article.
[end]
1 C OM M EN TS
More Ferret Droppings
The e-mail ferret dribbles in a few more
pages, but not many. They are in original
PDF format, and may be easier for others
to manipulate. I'm not going to pull them
out, gamma correct them and show them
here.
Page 1 is an inventory sheet, page 2 is the
one we dissected yesterday, and page 3
appears to have some more results, along
with slightly confusing sample numbers.
Here is the PDF hosted on archive.org. I'm going for a ride, so maybe
y'all can figure out what there is before I get back.
Update: typos fixed twice, last on 4-Oct-2006: Reconstructed
pages readable by humans English: page 1, page 2, page3; French page 1, page 2, page 3.
[3-Oct]
[end]
8 C OM M EN TS
Sunday Roundup
CURRENT STATUS REVIEW and KEY REFERENCES updated.
Blogs
Yesterday's TBV post on a
ferreted lab sheet yielded an
unprecendented number of
comments as folks tried to glean
meaning. These have been
productive: There is
sentiment the detected
morphine is below a WADA
screening threshold, and
not in need of an AAF.
Multiple hands are seen on the document over multiple days, but there
is nothing particularly sinister about it. One partly legible line was
decoded as Triamcinolone Acetonide, a corticosteroid used for asthma
or as a topical medication for dermatitis. This also appears to have
been at a sub-threshold level, but without the same notation. Both of
the uses suggested have their own histories. There are many TUEs for
asthma, and Lance had his trickiest run in over a cream used for
saddle-sore butt-rash.
Everyone seems confused by the T/E reporting. On the sample
assumed to be Landis, there are two values given, 4.9 and 11.4, and we
don't know where they came from. If the 4.9 was value from an earlier
test, it should have been an AAF. It if was an initial reading of this
sample, its replacement with an 11.4 suggests inconsistent or cherrypicking lab practice. On another sample we may be seeing a 10.0 TE,
and if so, it should have been reported as an AAF. Looking closely, it is
hard to conclude it's a 1.0, but that might make more sense.
TBV's reaction is no surprise: more data, please! Release the full lab
pack, and the ADRB filing. This week would be nice. The ferret
business only goes so far, and leaves an incomplete picture that will
never be convincing.
Rant runs with it.
Picked up on Japanese blog. Bring your Kanji display support.
Forums
Topix discusses the lab sheet. First reactions are that it's just a smoke
screen with nothing really to do with the case. Turns into a debate
about TUEs, painkillers, and steroidal anti-inflammatants, like
cortisone. Argument is made that no TUE should have been granted
Floyd for hip cortisone. Injured? Tough. Little illumination, comments
on TBV were more productive.
At LetsRun, Old Runner guy points to TBV's ferret post, making leaps
and conclusions that exceed the known facts. In particular, we don't
have any idea which sample is ostensibly Peirero's; nor do we know
the morphine in whichever sample was 'just' below the threshold.
Since no quantification was given, it could be way under as far as we
can tell.
News
E-mailer Paula points out an article on this Dave Zabriskie appearance
in Deseret to give away bikes. He's delicate talking about Landis, but
willing to say doping is bad. He's in a very awkward position, and the
distraction from the goal of the event speaks to the continued impact
of the allegations on cycling.
Calendar
2007 Tour route presentation on Thursday, 26-Oct-2006 according to
this.
[end]
0 C OM M EN TS
November 2006
Home
September 2006
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