Too beautiful to die

I guess that by this time, you already had Floyd Landis arrested, charged, convicted and sitting on a very expensive BMC carbon fiber bike with a fiber Selle Italia saddle, hands bound, a noose around his neck, with the UCI and WADA ready to shove poor old Floyd down Doper's Ravine.

But hold on to your horses, folks, since this is just the start of the new life of Floyd Landis.

I don't know Floyd Landis from Adam and Eve but I think that there is more than meets the eye in this case. It just doesn't wash. You see, testosterone, the hormone Floyd had an "abnormal ratio" of, is not a performance drug per se. Unlike EPO or blood doping, the effect of testosterone is to speed up recovery time so that you can carry a heavier load of training. Yes, training!

So when he collapsed and lost 10 minutes on stage 16, testosterone wasn't the magic brew that let him take back everything he lost except for 30 seconds after stage 17! It could have been something else- EPO, blood doping, desperation, beer, Jack Daniels, embarrassment, heart- not testosterone!

If you ask me, the sport of cycling is not the one on trial here, thank God, but Floyd Landis, the UCI, WADA and the anti-doping crusade that is left slipping on its' own huge banana peel.

Deep in my heart, I don't think Floyd doped so I hope he can prove that he did not use testosterone. But proving that is like cleaning up the Aegean stable.

And why did the UCI announced to the world about Floyds' positive "A sample" when the recipient of the news was supposed to be only the Landis, his trade team and his national federation? What's the hurry of tarnishing a persons' rep when you can do it in a few days time if the "B sample" tests the same? Is UCI president Pat McQuaid now working for ASO, the Tour de France organizer?

And what about WADA? Led by a blowhard named aptly as Dick Pound, this unethical body's mission has more question marks than the "Riddler's". WADA is so arrogant that it doesn't open to the public its testing techniques for verification, that everybody should accept their findings like it's the awful truth and nothing but the truth. What's the secrecy, are the they the Prior of Sion?

THE TEST.

All stage winners and 2 random riders are picked daily to give urine samples. The samples are halved and sent to a WADA accredited laboratory. The first half of the urine, called sample A, is tested. When it tests positive, the rider, the riders' team and the national federation of the rider are informed of result. The rider will either confess or if rider disputes the results, the B samples will be tested in the presence of the rider. If the B returns a positive, the rider will be banned for 2 years. Add another 2 years if the rider rides for a Pro Tour team like PHONAK.

If the rider isn't satisfied but the WADA decision, he will send his case to the supreme court of sports, the Court of Arbitration for Sports, for a final decision. If the decision is overturned, the rider is free to ride. If not, he's canned for at least two years.

Remember that Landis tested positive for testosterone, not EPO, which is highly unusual. You don't take testosterone during races, you take it during training. So what was Landis doing with testosterone, to satisfy his wife? Fishy, huh?

No matter what the outcome of this case may be, everybody will come out scarred. We are the only sport that is bleeding itself dry. But the sport of cycling will live on. It's too beautiful to be dirtied by a stupid few, especially the UCI and WADA.