Apparently the B Sample for Floyd Landis had some problems
An unnamed source confirmed Landis’ claims that the lab had given the wrong number in Landis’ positive B sample, French newspaper Le Monde reported Wednesday.
“The error, of an administrative nature, does not mean the positive B sample was not that of the American,” Le Monde said. “But it is being used today by his lawyers … to contest his positive doping results.”
Landis won the Tour de France in stunning fashion after an astonishing come-back on the final mountain stage of the 2006 Tour, but was later tested positive for excessive testosterone levels during the now infamous ride.
Landis has contested his innocence since the positive was revealed, and last month posted his legal defence in a 300-page report online.
In part of that report the American clamed that the French lab wrote sample numbers on test forms that did not correspond with Landis’ number, then covered over the number with correction fluid and added his own.
The Le Monde story, which comes one day after French officials confirmed they were investigating a hacking into the Chatenay lab’s computer systems, said that the lab wrote the number 994,474 onto the doping form, while Landis’s number was 995,474.
“Even the best people make mistakes,” Landis reiterated to French television on Sunday. “I can’t say that the lab is always a bad lab, but I can say that in this case it made some mistakes … I did not take testosterone.”
So let’s assume the worst that Landis was doping.
We can’t tell because the French lab in question covered up what they claim to be a mistake. If there is no chain of custody the evidence is gone. Given the way these sorts of hearings are held I don’t know if that means Landis will win or not, but he should. Maintaining a chain of custody can occur even with mistakes–you simply document the mistakes assuming it’s a consistent one. Once the mistake is covered up–that’s the end of the usefullness of the chain of custody and the sample.
I was crushed when I learned that Landis was found to have doped. I didn’t say much because I figured he deserved a chance to defend himself. Now, it appears he should be granted the Tour title and reinstated. Even if he was doping we cannot reliably establish that.
And that’s the great tragedy. Landis pulled off one of the truly great performances in the Tour de France and even if cleared, he’ll always live under the suspicion of doping. And because the Tour relies on a lab known for screwing up time and time again, the integrity of the sport cannot be fixed.
In even more fun news, the lab is claimed it was hacked. The evidence–fake e-mails. The most likely scenario of forged e-mails not from the server wasn’t even entertained by the lab.
Friggen geniuses.
But let’s put this in context of the governing bodies in cycling–Landis has to fight for his reputation while the testing lab gets to claim ‘an administrative error’ and get backed up as the victim. Unbelievable.