Landis: I Earned Tour De France Title

(CBS/AP)  American cyclist Floyd Landis says his remarkable comeback in an Alpine stage of the Tour de France is legitimate, and that he never used testosterone patches of any kind on his body.

Landis was fired by his team and the Tour de France no longer considered him its champion Saturday after his second doping sample tested positive for higher-than-allowable levels of testosterone.

The samples contained synthetic testosterone, indicating that it came from an outside source.

"Ordinarily, after a stage, I don't do any kind of intravenous anything. That day, I was extremely dehydrated. Doctors thought, OK, give him saline solution with a little bit of glucose in it. Other than that, no, nothing," Landis told CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

Landis said on CBS News' The Early Show he does not know how to explain why testosterone levels reportedly three times higher than what is permissible in the Tour de France and allegedly synthetic testosterone in his urine.

"Listen, I've learned about this at the same time everyone else did. And I've not become an expert on this test yet, but I've found some people who are working on that. There are multiple explanations as to why this could have happened," Landis said.

Responding to criticism that Landis has offered a wide-range of explanations for his negative test results — ranging from naturally high testosterone levels, dehydration, alcohol, or possibly thyroid medication — Landis told Keteyian "that was a mistake on my part."

"I felt like I had to defend myself. My friends and my family were being harassed. So, you know, I said whatever I could say that came to mind that I thought may be a possible explanation," Landis said.

But Landis said he's going to fight the charges. "Whatever it takes, whatever I have to put into this, that's what I'm going to do because there is a solution. There is an explanation for this, and I need to find out what it is," Landis said.

Dr. John Sonzogni, a sports medicine specialist and former medical director for the World Cup told The Early Show there's "certainly" a chance the test was tampered with. "Anything's possible. We don't have the whole story yet. Tampering is a potential problem, the lab error is a potential issue, contamination, whether it be purposeful or nonpurposeful," Dr. Sonzogni said.

Amber Landis, Floyd's wife, told Keteyian it's been the long week and a half of her life. "It was hard to even realize that he had won the tour. It was still trying to sink in, and then this is thrown at us," Amber said.

In the meantime, Landis said he's holding on to his yellow jersey. "I spent my life working for that and I earned it the same way everyone else who raced that race, and I deserve to keep it," he said.

Nevertheless, Landis likely has a long way to go to prove his innocence. "This could go on for a long time. I don't know what his plans are or what his counsel's plans are, but he's got a long road ahead of him," Dr. Sonzogni said.

It's an issue that is not likely to go away any time soon in professional sports. Landis is just the latest elite athlete wrapped in a web of drug allegations, Keteyian reports, from Barry Bonds to steroid hearings on Capitol Hill to the cadre of top cyclists banned on the eve of this year's Tour.

"Doping has been epidemic in sports for decades in a number of elite sports," Dr. Charles Yesalis, author of "Anabolic Steroids In Sport And Exercise" told CBS News. "It's not a few bad apples in the barrel. In a number of sports there are only a few good apples in the barrel."

[hogpilot1]

Having a medical condition of low testosterone for more than 15 years I take under a doctors perscription testosterone shots once a week. The effects of this take nearly 48 hours to notice and then it is only an effect on moods, emotions, and tiredness. What everyone is completely missing is this is not some magical wonder drug that immediately converts a person into a superman. To abuse this drug and have any lasting impact it must be used in above natural levels and over a period of time to produce more muscle mass. This would certainly not be my drug of choice if I needed a big boost in endurance the next day. This smells of a set-up and cover-up.

[stip6hb]

From our side of the channel Engilsh that is (not the pas de calias)Floyd did a good job - nobody is questioning the other guy who regained 30 mins to get second place. The french are a law unto themselves and they appear to dislike any sucess in cycling from the US or UK and austrailia for that matter. I think it is likely the samples from Floyd were tampered with, whyhaven't they asked for more and i think that Floyds team are disreputable sacking him with out checing his story - good luck floyd

[vonrasta]

It's pretty obvious the french hate americans for many reasons but crushing their National sport the last 8 years has driven them insane to get the USA out. Their team was tossed out for doping. or was it 7 team members I forgett. But using thier secert service to sabotage an american rider and disgracing him. Or putting the fix in so his urine was tainted etc. Not so far fetched. Some avid american hater inside just one of the testing facilities pretty easy the way it is set up.

Wake up Landis was set up , and the Tour de France is just another worthless European sport that doesn't deserve our patronage. Why, just let them do steriods and be done with it, Lance kicked their *** for 7 years and you know the field was not 100 % clean behind him that is a statistical impossibility.

when you see a frenchman just ball up your fist put it front of your mouth and cough Lance Armstrong. Drives them more insane.

[vonarchy]

That's crazy !
Landis said he havn't cheated so everybody beleives him ! Lance had also cheated but we've discovered it too late%u2026

Don't forget that a lot of sportsmen who cheated contested their tests. Every cheater contest...

It is time to truly punish the faulty actors of sport, with the risk to have worse performances in competitions. Our children have to learn to become clean sportsmen.

[athenagrl]

I am very saddened by this news. I thought someone enduring such terrible pain for a hip surgery refusing medication (or was he unable to for race rules) but nevertheless endured tremendous pain and rallyed to win. I question the methods used to test the samples. It all does smell fishy. They kept giving Lance a lot of grief too. Are the French poor losers was it a conspiracy or did Floyd mess up. Who administered the syringe which he used to rehydrate? This is a most unfortunate scandal I really hope he can have his name cleared and we learn it was a mix up who knows

[yoo_hoo_budd]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought testosterone was not strictly a performance enhancing drug, or at least not short term. Maybe Landis has erectile dysfunction from too many hours on the bike, and took testosterone for this...

[tomadeimy]

I beleve this guy. He doesn't act guilty. One test out of all the tests shows the ratio is up.
Who knows how this test was administered,secured, and subsequently tested by who knows who? If he was doping, it would have shown up in the past.
I would challenge this result just like he is doing. Keep it up!!! Good luck. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Tom Adeimy [e-mail]

[jdw_caw]

The only other possibility is that Landis was doped by someone else during the race. That would be a real nice "dirty" trick...

[george6153]

WAS LANDIS TESTED AT OTHER STAGES OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE? IF SO, WHAT WERE THE RESULTS? CAN HE BE PLACED IN A LABORATORY AND PLACED ON A BYCYCLE TREADMILL TO RECREATE THE STRESS OF "THE TOUR" AND THEN TEST TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS? THIS RACE IS TO PRESTEGIOUS OF AN EVENT TO ALLOW THIS SITUATION TO GO ON AND ON WITHOUT CONCLUSION.
END

[postiebear]

You don't produce a synthetic drug in your system unless you put it there be a man admit you cheated and give the yellow shirt to someone who deserves it.