The Legal Has Landis

45 minutes after the B sample results came out, Phonak dismissed its captain for “violating the teams internal Code of Ethics.”  Way to show some loyalty there.  They stood by Tyler Hamilton even though he tested positive for blood doping at the Olympics, got out of it because the lab froze the blood, and then he tested positive again at the Vuelta.  Landis is still the de facto winner of the Tour de France because only the UCI can sanction the pro cyclist, and only after USA Cycling completes its investigation and requests the sanction.  The Tour directors consider runner-up Oscar Pereiro the winner, as does Oscar himself.

Landis' American lawyer, Howard Jacobs, outlined his plan to attack the science behind the carbon isotope test and also the leaking done by the UCI when the results of the A sample came to light.  Jacobs was also the lawyer for Tyler Hamilton and Tim Montgomery, who both unsuccessfully fought their doping sanctions.  Montgomery never tested positive for any doping, but was caught up in the BALCO scandal.

I'm not sure where they're going to go against the isotope test.  Synthetic testosterone, which is manufactured from a plant, has a statistically higher ratio of 13C to 12C carbon than in naturally occurring testosterone.  Team Landis has always claimed that the results of the testing are from Floyd's individual body chemistry.  Where the "wiggle" room may be found is that, although the 13C/12C ratio in the synthetic testosterone lies outside a standard deviation of the endogenous isotope ratio, the metabolized forms of the synthetics (i.e. found in urine samples) are only "statistically similar."  If there is an overlap in the deviations, then the so-called fool-proof method doesn't work.  My gut may be filled with coffee and jumping all over the place, but it's also saying this is what the Landis defense is going to claim.

The legal proceedings, according to Jacobs, will take between four and six months.  It's pretty convenient that Landis' schedule has no more racing in it except for the hip replacement.  He lost a lot of appearance money in the little races the week after the tour, and even if he clears his name, the hip replacement makes him an athlete a team will have to gamble on.