By John Bagratuni Jul 27, 2006, 17:50 GMT
Hamburg - Tour de France winner Floyd Landis tested positive for the steroid testosterone at the famous French race last week and could be the first man in race history to be stripped of the title for doping in the latest massive scandal in the sport.
Picture dated 23 July 2006 shows US Floyd Landis (Phonak Hearing Systems team) in the yellow jersey of the overall leader drinking champagne during the twentieth stage of the 93rd Tour de France 2006 in Sceaux-Antony, France. Landis tested positive for the steroid testosterone at the Tour de France and could be stripped of the title he won at the famed race if found guilty, his Phonak team said on Thursday, 27 July 2006. EPA/GERO BRELOER
Landis' Swiss Phonak team said on Thursday that the American failed the doping test last week Thursday, July 20, after the 17th stage to Morzine.
'The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by the UCI about an unusual level of Testosterone/Epitestosterone ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France,' said Phonak in a statement.
'The team management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result.
'The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake in the confirmation,' said Phonak.
Phonak said that Landis is suspended and will be kicked out of the team if he is found guilty. Landis will also face a two-year ban plus a two-year ban from ProTour cycling.
Landis won the 17th stage in spectacular fashion after a long solo ride over 130 kilometres across three major alpine peaks, the day after he lost 10 minutes on his main rivals after tiring dramatically in the mountains.
His comeback on July 20 was named one of the most memorable moments in Tour history and paved the way to winning the world's most famous race last Sunday in Paris.
The news came a day after the ruling body UCI said that one rider had failed a doping test and that the rider, his team, domestic federation and World Anti-Doping Agency had been informed.
Rumours were flying earlier Thursday when many nations said they were not involved and Landis disappeared Wednesday after cancelling on short notice a race that day in the Netherlands and Thursday in Denmark.
If the B-sample confirms the original finding Landis would become the first man to be stripped of the Tour title for a doping offence.
In this scenario Spain's Oscar Pereiro would be promoted to first place, Andreas Kloeden of Germany to second and Carlos Sastre of Spain to third.
Meanwhile, a planned parade in Landis' honour in his hometown of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is now like to be be cancelled. Murrieta, the San Diego suburb where Landis now lives, was also planning a community celebration while the rider has also received an invitation to the White House to meet President George Bush. #
The 1988 champion Pedro Delgado was caught for masking agents during that edition of the Tour, but got away with it because the substances were listed by the International Olympic Committee but not the UCI, which only added them two weeks after that Tour.
It is the latest doping blow for professional cycling which on the eve of this year's Tour lost its top favourites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso plus, several other riders, for alleged involvement in a Spanish doping scheme.
'This is another massive blow for cycling if the B-sample confirms the A-sample. But maybe there is a positive aspect of this latest prominent case. Now everyone will know that only a zero-tolerance policy and complete structural overhaul can save cycling,' said Christian Frommert, spokesman of Kloeden's (and formerly Ullrich's) T-Mobile team.
The latest major doping scheme at the Tour came in 1998 when the entire Festina team was kicked out after a team official was caught with doping substances.
In 1967, British rider Tom Simpson died from a cocktail of drugs during a mountain stage.
Landis' compatriot Lance Armstrong, who won a record seven Tour titles 1999-2005, was last year linked to substance abuse in 1999 by a French report citing examinations of samples. But he has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
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