Common Sense

Or something like that.

Speaking about officials from both the international cycling federation and the anti-doping agencies, Landis added, “There are multiple reasons why this could have happened, other than what they’re saying happened. They’re saying that I added testosterone to my body in some way.

“I’m saying there are possibly hundreds of reasons why this test could be this way … and it appears as though there is more of an agenda here than just enforcing the rules — if you look at the big picture.”

Yes, the big picture. The big picture is that another American has won their precious little bicycle race, and they couldn’t bring Armstrong down on doping charges. Landis, on the other hand, is a complete unknown to most of us. Ergo, he’s ripe for the picking.

After a horrible stage 16, Landis won stage 17 in the Alps, a remarkable comeback that put him back in contention to win cycling’s biggest race. He said he won that stage and wrapped up the race because of hard work — and nothing else.

“I put in more than 20,000 kilometers of training for the Tour. I won the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia,” Landis said in an interview Sunday. “I was tested eight times at the Tour de France, four times before that stage and three times after, including three blood tests.

“Only one came back positive. Nobody in their right mind would take testosterone just once. It doesn’t work that way.”

He’s right about that. Testosterone and other things like that have to be cycled onto. You can’t just shoot up steroids and instantly get faster, stronger and better. Those kinds of things take time to really be an asset. Also, he was tested all through the Tour and no other positives came back. Also, I would think blood tests would be far more accurate than urinalysis when it comes to substances like synthetic testosterone.

Then again, I’m not a doctor and I’m naturally biased against the French. I’ll ask my doctor what he thinks when I go see him tomorrow.