More Landis Opinion and Speculation

I'm not the only one asking about the stupidity of using testosterone to enhance performance for a single stage.  Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of WADA, whose psychotic boss Dick Pound apparently never got over being picked on by jocks in high school, offered the same objections on the validity of the positive result on the A sample.  Here's the money quote:

One-time use of steroids could result in an abnormal test, but it would have no effect on performance and could not account for Landis’ astounding feat Thursday, “so something’s missing here,” Wadler said. “It just doesn’t add up.”

According to Landis, in his press conference from Spain this morning, he was tested out of competition four times, and six times before stage 17, with no positive results.  Of course, the testers are confident in their lab results.  Dick (how appropriate) Pound, against WADA regulations, crowed about the positive test:

"When is this going to end? What is the UCI going to do about it?" he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's always disappointing when you see something like this. If there is a positive test, what have you got? The guys who came second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth at last year's event have been busted in the (Spanish investigation), and now the winner of this year's event is busted in the race itself. ... You build up and create a new hero, and he gets slapped down. It's a serious blow."

Sounds like Dick was only disappointed in not busting number one, Lance Armstrong.  Some things have come out during all the speculation: cortisone shots would not have affected the testosterone levels; alcohol would not have affected the test; some athletes have naturally high levels of testosterone, but it takes months of subsequent testing of endocrine levels to fight the allegations.  On that last point, Santiago Botero successfully fought a high T/E result in 1999.  This is all far from over.