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Landis could be the first champion to lose his title in the 103-year history of the Tour. |
"The Landis case pits him against the Paris laboratory that conducted the tests for the Tour de France and the Colorado Springs-based U.S. Anti-Doping Agency [USADA], which administers drug testing in this country," states an article on www.gazette.com.
Landis' lead attorney, Maurice Suh, called this case not like other cases. "This is a historic case, and it has to be done right."
According to the same article, it was only two weeks after Landis' victorious win that a World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] laboratory in Paris discovered something unusual in Landis' urine sample. "Just after his monumental comeback," the article says, his urine sample "registered an 11-to-1 testosterone-toepitestosterone (T/E) ratio. The commonly accepted ratio is about 4:1. A subsequent carbon-isotope ratio test on the 'B' sample detected synthetic testosterone."
The article goes on to say that Landis' defense focuses primarily on proving that the laboratories "violated procedures and scientific standards, thereby causing the positive results."
However, according to Richard Young, the USADA's lead attorney, "no matter how the data was reprocessed, including ways that were requested by the respondent's experts, they were still positive."
The hearing began at Pepperdine's School of Law on May 14, 2007 in the Darling Trial Courtroom and is scheduled to last until the 23rd. Testimonies from WADA laboratory officials, scientists, three-time Tour champion Greg LeMond, and Landis are expected to be heard.
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