WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- As battered Tour de France winner Floyd Landis claims his innocence in an international doping scandal, experts say the tests used to detect synthetic drugs in athletes are "extremely accurate."
Urine specimens taken from athletes following a race are put through two vigorous tests, one that measures the levels of testosterone and epitestosterone -- a biological byproduct of testosterone -- and another that determines whether the testosterone came from the body or another source.
If both tests reveal irregularities -- as in the case of Landis -- "that would be extra unlikely to occur by chance," said Dr. Richard Auchus, an associate professor of internal medicine and endocrinology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Landis, 30, was fired by his Swiss-based team Phonak and stripped of his Tour de France title Aug. 5 after two separate series of tests revealed he had taken synthetic testosterone, a charge he denies. Landis has said he intends to pursue the appeal procedures of the International Cycling Union.
In another tragic twist, Landis' father-in-law, David Witt, committed suicide on Aug. 15. Family members said they do not believe it was related to Landis' problems.
The former mountain-biker came from behind to secure a dramatic victory in the final leg of the Tour de France on July 20. But a post-race urine sample showed his testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio was an elevated 11:1. The normal ratio of these hormones in the body ranges from about 1:1 to 1:3, Auchus said.
Testosterone, a sex hormone produced by both men and women, bolsters energy and immune function in the body, as well as protects against osteoporosis.
Taking synthetic testosterone -- which beefs up muscle and increases endurance -- suppresses the body's ability to make epitesoterone, thus causing the ratio to go up.
A secondary doping test, which identifies the content of carbon-13 isotopes in testosterone, also indicated Landis had non-natural testosterone in his body.
Synthetic testosterone drugs are manufactured by taking sterols from plants, usually soy, and chemically modifying them to make testosterone, Auchus said. The carbon-13 isotope in plants differs in weight and composition from that in people, and the differences can be detected in lab analyses.
When tested, athletes give both an A and a B sample, the latter being a back-up: If the A sample comes out positive for testosterone, a negative B sample could clear the person. Landis requested that his B sample be tested July 31; six days later, an analysis confirmed the A sample findings.
Landis said a night of drinking Jack Daniels, cortisone shots for his damaged hip or thyroid medication could have spiked the levels.
However, it's difficult to visualize how artificial testosterone inadvertently entered his body.
"It's pretty obvious the test was abnormal," said Carlos Hamilton Jr., a Houston endocrinologist and a member of the Health, Medical and Research Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the body that sets standards for doping tests. "The question of whether it was abnormal because of sabotage ... is another issue."
Hamilton, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, likens the detection of synthetic testosterone to testing blood sugar for diabetes. If it's there, it's there. "There's not a lot of room for error," he said.
Landis' results were taken to a WADA-certified laboratory in France, one of 33 worldwide. UCLA's Olympic Laboratory is the only WADA-accredited lab in the United States.
"You got to be a pretty sophisticated lab to qualify," Hamilton said. "These are not fly-by-night places in the back of somebody's van."
For example, the laboratory equipment required to run the urine analyses is not cheap -- a standard mass spectrometer, a device used in identifying testosterone, can run $200,000.
It's always possible someone could have put a drug into Landis' body without his knowledge, slapped a testosterone patch on him, or rubbed his body down with testosterone cream, Hamilton said.
There's also the foul play scenario: A doctor present at the collection of Landis' urine could have added something to the specimen. All samples are anonymous, with only a number as identification.
But the chances of that happening are "very, very slim," said Brian Walton, a 1996 Olympic silver medalist in cycling who has undergone more than 200 doping tests throughout his career.
Walton, now vice president of Performance and Partner, Cadence Cycling and Multisport Centers, a cycling training center in Philadelphia, has raced competitively about 1,500 times. He described testing as an often-immodest process, in which the athlete is asked to remove a urine cup from a plastic bag -- after inspecting the bag for holes -- and then pull down his shorts and urinate in front of the doctor. The athlete then pours the urine into two jars: the A sample and B sample jar.
This is not the protocol for all testing procedures, but it eliminates the possibility for swapping urine samples, Walton said.
Although Walton has never taken steroids -- "It is possible to win the Olympic medal clean" -- he said it's human nature to feel pressure to cheat. The failings of a few have unfortunately thrown cycling into the limelight, he added.
As for Landis, it's a "slim hope" he'll be cleared, but "I don't want to convict him until he's run his course," Walton said.
In this final race for his credibility, Landis seems to be drawing on an athlete's stubborn resolve.
"I will not relent on my pursuit of the truth," Landis wrote in an Aug. 15 letter to his disbanded cycling team, which was posted on his Web site.
"I will not shy away from this fight."
