Jul 29, 2006, 13:53 GMT
Hamburg - The testosterone level of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was high over the legal co-efficient when he tested positive for the steroid at the French race, German ARD television said late Friday.
Tour de France winner Floyd Landis on Friday, 28 July 2006, insisted that he had not participated in any illegal doping processes and that the high testosterone levels revealed in urine sample last week were natural. "I would like to make absolutely clear that I am not in any doping process," said Landis, who vowed to undergo whatever tests were necessary to clear his name. Landis was speaking at a press conference broadcast from Madrid where he said he was meeting with doctors and lawyers to counter theallegations which surfaced on Thursday. EPA/KIKO HUESCA
Citing sources around Landis, ARD said that the Landis' testosterone/epitestosterone co-efficient was 11-1, with the legal limit at 4-1.
According to ARD, the doping test proved that the testosterone was provided to Landis externally.
Landis, by contrast, told a news conference Friday that he had done nothing wrong.
'My physiological parametres for testosterone and epitestosterone are naturally high. Therefore, I would like to make it absolutely clear that this is not in any way a doping process.
'I declare convincingly and categorically that my winning of the Tour de France has been completely and exclusively due to my years of training and devotion to cycling,' he said.
Landis tested positive after his spectacular stage victory in Morzine on July 20, when he launched an epic solo attack to claw back eight minutes from his main competitors after imploding in a mountain stage a day earlier.
The ride, which was described as one of the greatest in the history of the tour, set Landis up to become the third American to win the tour after Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong.
Landis has been suspended by his Phenok team and will be stripped of the Tour title if found guilty of a doping offence. He will also have to serve a two-year ban from cycling plus a two-year ban from ProTour events if he is ruled to have cheated.
The results of the examination of the b-sample are expected late next week.
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