The Twenty First Stage of the Tour

The most shocking (although hardly unpredictable) reaction to the revelation on July 27th that Floyd Landis had tested with an out-of-legal-range testosterone level on the day of his earthshaking victory in the Tour de France was the negative and castigating comments made before all the information was even in. As one whose glass is usually half full, I was miffed only because of the possibility that I had watched all eighty-five plus hours of the Tour and might have been watching a partially faux event.

I am writing this only one day into the crisis, not to argue the technicalities of drug testing and cycling, but to examine the emotional peaks and valleys the International Cycling Union’s announcement hath wrought. As a non-racer fixated on those who do, I have no vested interest in the purity of the sport other than wanting to believe reality is reality.

As soon as the allegations hit the news and Internet accusations started flying, Phonak suspended Landis, promising to fire him if his back-up second specimen produced similar results to the first. Greg LeMond chimed in with his by now de rigueur castigation of those alleged to have used drugs while
racing. His running battle with and accusations of Lance Armstrong for doping continue to this day. LeMond seems all too ready to jump into a fray he left behind after he stopped competitive cycling.

Of the charges against Landis, LeMond said, "I know Floyd, he's a good guy, he comes from a good family. If all this is proven, it will be a part of the tragedy that crosses this sport: even good people are obliged to deceive."

The cover of the July Outside magazine shows a picture of Landis with a short, well-trimmed beard and mustache as a lead-in to an article about him by Dan Coyle, author of Lance Armstrong’s War. His visage is steely and serious. As I watched the Tour it became clear that Floyd, of any of the American riders, would be a contender. Unfamiliar as I was with his Mennonite background, I discovered that they were one of the older peace churches; the largest population of Mennonites was in Africa and they are active in disaster relief efforts around the world. Landis apparently left the family fold as age fifteen when he discovered his natural aptitude for riding mountain bikes.

Landis’s performance in the Tour kept him up amongst the leaders until he ‘bonked’ in Stage 17. I had gone for a bike ride myself the same day on some rural roads near Oakley and Peoa and ended up riding for one hour and forty minutes. Towards the end of my ride I noticed I simply could not go faster. I was stuck in the second gear. There was nothing left in my tank. When I got home and talked with Jody she said that I had hit the wall, or bonked. I should have eaten some carbs. Despite the fact that I was riding a relatively flat course, I felt a kinship with Landis’s inability to ride the
Alps.

The next day was history, until yesterday when the news broke and the cascade of shock and criticism enveloped Landis and the world of cycling. Perhaps because of cycling history, allegations of doping evoke immediate castigation, scorn and embarrassment, so that even an accusation of
impropriety feels like a conviction.

Landis commented, “I would like to make it absolutely clear that I am not involved in any doping process. I ask not to be judged by anyone, much less sentenced by anyone.”

He had been tested five previous times during the Tour with negative results, but this did not allay the critics. There was even some suggestion, amongst Franco-phobic Americans, that the French testing agency had it in for Landis as he was American. French newspapers trumpeted the crisis with headlines
like ‘Landis’s Fault’ and ‘Caught By Doping’.

However the issue resolves itself, the mere allegation has tarnished both Landis and the Tour de France. Only time will tell. If Landis has naturally abnormally high levels of testosterone (or low levels of epitestosterone which could skew ratio) he will likely have to be tested several times in
the future. Patience rather than a witch hunt mentality is the logical approach.

I have faith in the exculpatory process concerning Floyd Landis, although it may take some time. The community of critics seems all too ready to condemn him, perhaps out of jealousy, incredulity, international antipathy, or who knows what.

Cycling has been fraught with accusations of doping over the years. The successful seem to be the ones most susceptible. It is a sad commentary on a sport which induces someone like me to watch eighty-five hours of television with rapt attention. My efforts and Landis’s are ineluctably linked. He
dragged me through every kilometer of this year’s Tour and I am not about to abandon him now.

C. Louis Borgenicht