It's hypocritical for any of us to condemn Landis, because the simple
fact of the matter is that none of us know the truth. (I'm talking
about empirical truth, what actually happened, not conclusions drawn
from positive dope control tests.) Only Floyd Landis knows 100% for
sure what happened every second of the evening after Stage 17. If
he didn't dope, then I understand his vehement assertions that he
will fight tenaciously to clear his name. I mean, put yourself in
his position: if you knew you hadn't done anything wrong, and you
had just ridden your heart out to pull yourself back into contention,
but you tested positive anyway, wouldn't you do everything in your
power to prove to the world that there was something wrong with the
test?
Landis says his 11:1 ratio was caused by a low epitestosterone level,
not a high testosterone level. I guess time and further testing
will tell if that turns out to be the case or not. As of this
morning, Velonews is reporting that "no tests have shown whether
that ratio was the result of high levels of testosterone or
unusually low levels of epitestosterone"
(http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/10646.0.html).
But again, no matter what the tests show, none of us except Floyd
Landis knows if he doped or not. Admitting it or not is a matter
for Floyd and his conscience, and the calls for him to "tell the
truth" and "come clean" are stupid, if the only answer you're
willing to accept is for him to say he's guilty. Because if he
didn't dope, then he *is* telling the truth.
~bob