I didn’t listen to the whole 48 minutes, but the radio show exploration “On Point : Testosterone” covers interesting ground. (Thanks, Ken.)
In the wake of Floyd Landis’s fall, I was curious about two things. First, why did Floyd pass the other tests given during the Tour? Second, why testoterone, which I had understood to be effective over periods of time, but not an instantaneous boost. The answer, I’m told, is in recovery. The radio show mentions that, but doesn’t get into detail. Ken shared a link I don’t have now where someone in the know described putting a testoterone patch on your scrotum for six hours to get the recovery benefit without triggering the doping tests. If that was the method… oops.
The whole thing is disappointing, and cycling is more fragile than baseball in the United States. I don’t agree with Ken when he writes:
I know the sport will survive just as it has moved beyond previous doping scandals like Festina.
Maybe in Europe, but not here in the United States — not enough people cared to begin with. How is OLN (I mean, Versus) going to recoup their investment in broadcasting the Tour (and other bicycle races) over the next few years?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Ken Norton // Aug 9, 2006 at 10:50 am
The temporary popularity of cycling in the U.S. was already doomed. If anything, Floyd might have dragged out the ending, but if OLN’s sagging ratings were any indication it was already over.
Here’s another difference between cycling and baseball - Americans have decades of positive memories of baseball and only a fleeting few years of cycling. Notice how Americans are quick to condemn Floyd but are much more ambiguous about tarnished baseball starts like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. The difference? Our formative memories of great moments like the home run race of 1998 and Barry’s record-breaking year are harder to shake than one miracle stage on another continent less than a month ago.
2 Martin // Aug 9, 2006 at 10:22 pm
The 6 hours comes from an interview with Dr. Moosburger, Jorg Jaksche’s dr.
Dr Moosburger explained how it was done. “You put a standard testosterone patch that is used for male hormone replacement therapy on your scrotum and leave it there for about six hours. The small dose is not sufficient to produce a positive urine result in the doping test, but the body actually recovers faster.”
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/jul06/jul07news3
3 Martin // Aug 9, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Here’s something else:
according to floyd, the ratio was the problem - NOT high levels of T. He had low levels of E, therefore the T/E ratio was too high.
“I want to be entirely clear about one point of the test that has not been fairly reported in the press or expressed in any statements made by international or national governing bodies; the T value returned has been determined to be in the normal range. The E value returned was LOW, thus causing the skewed ratio.”
http://www.floydlandis.com/blog/2006/08/04/175/#more-175
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