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Innocent Reasons for Landis Dope Test?

July 27, 2006 -- Tour de France champion Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone, but experts tell WebMD that there could be many reasons why.

Landis told reporters he did not cheat, and says he wants a chance to prove his innocence, according to the Associated Press.

Wire reports say that 30-year-old Landis tested positive for what is being called "an unusual level of testosterone:epitestosterone" during the three-week race.

"This is huge news," says steroid law expert and former body builder Rick Collins of Carle Place, N.Y.

But Collins is quick to add Landis is innocent until proven guilty. "Don't draw any conclusions yet and certainly if he didn't, in fact, consume testosterone, Landis should mount a very vigorous defense," says Collins, author of Legal Muscle.

For starters, the test looks at the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone and is highly likely to yield false-positive results. The initial results must be confirmed by further testing and it is not yet known when this will occur. Until then, there is no conclusive evidence of doping, he says.

In the interim, Landis has been suspended. If Landis is found guilty of doping, he could be stripped of the Tour title and Spain's Oscar Pereiro would become champion, wire reports say.

"When balance between testosterone and epitestosterone are sufficiently far enough apart, it is deemed to be positive for doping," he says. But there are other reasons that this ratio can be off, he says. For example, studies have shown that a spike in testosterone can also result from certain circumstances such as before and after winning games, he says.

Testosterone Effects Not Immediate

At one point in the three-week race, it seemed as though Landis was petering out. But "an injection of testosterone is not some sort of miracle, immediate boost like an amphetamine or stimulant," Collins says. "Athletes who use testosterone use it over a fairly long course and the benefit accumulates over a period of time."

Testosterone would not account for his comeback, Collins stresses. "A single shot of testosterone would provide little or no benefit."

John Eliot, PhD, a professor of human performance at Rice University in Houston, and the author of Overachievement, agrees with Collins. "The likelihood [that he used illegal substances] seems small to me," he tells WebMD. "Landis is a pretty straightforward guy and personality-wise he does not want to take the easy route," he says.

Could Hip Condition Be a Factor?

Landis is known to have a degenerative, painful hip condition. "His body, in an attempt to recover, will naturally release more testosterone as part of the recovery process," Eliot says. Also "who knows what he is taking for the pain and this too could interfere with the testing results."