Floyd Landis was on Larry King last night, and I assume most of you watched if you were able to. If not, you can click on the Link below and read the CNN show transcript.

I thought Floyd presented himself pretty well - any of us would be somewhat uncomfortable if we were interviewed on Larry King in the best of circumstances. Floyd came off as honest, sincere and straightforward - as he really is. Not glib and smooth-talking, but just an honest joe who is in the headlights of a blood-hungry media frenzy.

Floyd acknowledged that he now knows what Lance has been going through since his first Tour win. Larry King interviewed Lance via phone, and Lance totally defended Floyd as innocent. Floyd’s physician, Dr. Brent Kay, was interviewed and he said what everybody should be thinking about. He said that testosterone builds bulk and body mass over a period of time. In other words, just what a cyclist does not want, and it is not an instant boost.

Dr. Kay also made the point that what is in question is the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, not a high level of testosterone in his urine. Floyd has not traditionally had a high level of testosterone. But it was pointed out that the racers never see the results, or numbers, from all their testing unless it is abnormal. My thought right there was maybe Floyd’s ratio has been borderline all the time, just under the wire. Nobody would know that, certainly not Floyd. And just this once, it increased slightly and redlined.

Here is an excerpt from an article in the Salt Lake City Tribune:
”Landis' heroic ride in Stage 17, the stage after which he tested positive, followed his meltdown in which he lost the yellow jersey and trailed by more than eight minutes. Could Landis, in an effort to salvage his hopes of winning the sport's biggest race, have taken a shot of testosterone before his solo breakaway to spark his improbable comeback?

If he did, it probably didn't help, said Wayne Meikle, a professor of medicine and pathology in the University of Utah's School of Medicine. "It takes several weeks to benefit muscle mass or function," he said. "There wouldn't be a benefit that soon, except maybe a psychological benefit that occurs with almost any medication."

The article also said that one test that could be done to distinguish naturally-occurring testosterone from pharmaceutically induced testosterone is a carbon isotope test. However, the question is, was it used in the A test, and will it be used in the B test? If I were Floyd, his doctor or attorney, I would insist that carbon isotope test be run on both samples.

If I owned, or managed a professional team, every rider, at the time he was signed, would have a panel of tests run. Every possible test that WADA could use, would be included, to provide a documented baseline for each team member. Blood and urine samples taken immediately after high stress training rides to be included.

Why? Not because the riders are not to be trusted, but to protect them against any incompetent or deliberate, malicious testing errors in a certain French laboratory or anywhere else.

Personally - I’ll say it again - I totally believe that Floyd did not try something stupid, and totally ineffective. I took this photo of Floyd during the Tour of California this year.