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LunarEclipse
Enlil's Official Story


Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 21,407
Loc: Building 7
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Floyd Landis Doped or Duped?
#5940665 - 08/07/06 12:22 PM (17 years, 5 months ago) |
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I saw his interview this morning and think this guy might be getting duped. He truly looked like an innocent man to me. It just doesn't add up that he would use testosterone the day before a race at that stage of the Tour De France. If one is going to enhance performance by using testosterone, one would want to start way using it early in training quit before the race to avoid any chance of getting positively tested. He had been tested previously several times with no positive result.
The timing and the circumstances of the positive result test are highly suspicious, with a French lab testing an American about to and later winning the Tour De France. What a coincidence?
In any case, this guy probably won't be able to prove his case and will lose not only the race but his career is over. So, if he was duped and some Froggie tainted his sample I think it just plain sucks. Finding the synthetic testosterone in only one sample after the big ride that turned the race around and having testosterone be a meaningless performance drug at that stage points to sabotage rather than cheating in my opinion.
Any thoughts?
-------------------- Anxiety is what you make it.
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Lion
Decadent Flower Magnate


Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 8,775
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Re: Floyd Landis Doped or Duped? [Re: LunarEclipse]
#5940706 - 08/07/06 12:38 PM (17 years, 5 months ago) |
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I think you may have accidentally picked the wrong forum for this, although one could argue it has to do with philosophy! 
In Europe, fans take for granted that Tour riders dope. All of them, without exception. It's a tradition that goes back to the '50s and the advent of stimulants; every rider from that era admits that it would be impossible to finish the most gruelling race on the planet without a few chemical helpers. Now, with things like HGH, blood-doping, and untraceable synthetics, I'd bet my wage that every rider uses some banned substance or other. Landis got caught, Basso got caught, Ullrich got caught, Mancebo got caught.
The philosophical question becomes, Is it worth it to watch [insert pro sport here] knowing that some huge percentage of its athletes are almost definitely using synthetic performance-enhancers?
-------------------- “Strengthened by contemplation and study, I will not fear my passions like a coward. My body I will give to pleasures, to diversions that I’ve dreamed of, to the most daring erotic desires, to the lustful impulses of my blood, without any fear at all, for whenever I will— and I will have the will, strengthened as I’ll be with contemplation and study— at the crucial moments I’ll recover my spirit as was before: ascetic.”
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LunarEclipse
Enlil's Official Story


Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 21,407
Loc: Building 7
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Re: Floyd Landis Doped or Duped? [Re: Lion]
#5940782 - 08/07/06 01:01 PM (17 years, 5 months ago) |
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I think you are correct that most of the riders cheat with something or other so it's all a matter of when and what and when and what test(s) they use to determine what is cheating. In Landis case, this is the only positive test and the timing seems quite suspect.
Part of the problem I have with this is understanding what substance could Landis have taken that shows up as synthetic testosterone and if so what short term benefit could it have given him?
As to cheating, I think it is not only prevalent in bicycling, but most other sports, all politics, and many other endeavors way more than it ever used to be. Worse, people not only cheat but lie about it as well. Even worse, after getting caught and lying about it, many people will "forgive" the others cheating and lying particularly if it also suits their needs or if they are both Republicans or both Democrats.
As to your question of watching sports with cheaters, what sports don't have cheaters? The only question becomes what types and to what degree. I personally feel Maria Sharapova and all her screaming cries on every shot is one of the biggest cheats of all even though it is "within the rules". Of course it's an unfair advantage and many women (and some men) do it so the question becomes to what degree. Maria is by far the worst yet makes it perfectly clear she is entitled to scream like a banshee on every shot.
-------------------- Anxiety is what you make it.
Edited by LunarEclipse (08/07/06 01:12 PM)
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