Having said that, if he’s bluffing and doping was the case it’s a dark day for cycling. But I think he’s clean, and the WSJ published an intelligent piece.
Booze can alter the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, in the WSJ article:
“I don’t ordinarily ever drink alcohol during a race,” he said yesterday. But earlier that day, during Stage 16, Mr. Landis had faded in the Alps, surrendering the leader’s yellow jersey and falling more than eight minutes behind. Afterward, he was all but convinced that the race was over for him. “What would you have done?” he asked. “Until yesterday, that was the worst day of my life.”
…
Last week, after he completed Stage 16, Mr. Landis told reporters his first priority was to have a cold beer. He said yesterday he went to an outdoor veranda with a bar near his hotel and drank two draft beers. After a crowd began to gather, he retired to the hotel with about five other people, including Phonak teammates Axel Merckx and Robert Hunter. Someone produced a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, he said, and he had “at least four shots” before going to bed before 11:30 p.m.
Methinks there could a bit of weak science in the testing methodology. Of course I could be wrong, but the average-ish 2:1 ratio can get out of whack for numerous reasons not involving doping. Though not sure re the booze argument.
