The latest issue of the scientific journal Nature strongly rebukes the science, and the scientists, behind anti-doping testing. Donald Berry contributed a scathing quantitative commentary that specifically addresses the Landis case:

In my opinion, close scrutiny of quantitative evidence used in Landis's case show it to be non-informative. This says nothing about Landis's guilt or innocence. It rather reveals that the evidence and inferential procedures used to judge guilt in such cases don't address the question correctly. The situation in drug-testing labs worldwide must be remedied. Cheaters evade detection, innocents are falsely accused and sport is ultimately suffering.

And in a separate article on the editorial page, Nature echoed that sentiment:

Nature believes that accepting 'legal limits' of specific metabolites without such rigorous verification goes against the foundational standards of modern science, and results in an arbitrary test for which the rate of false positives and false negatives can never be known. By leaving these rates unknown, and by not publishing and opening to broader scientific scrutiny the methods by which testing labs engage in study, it is Nature's view that the anti-doping authorities have fostered a sporting culture of suspicion, secrecy and fear.

"Oh, but they're all doing it!" is not a fair or scientific premise, people.

I've been lurking here for weeks, but unable to log in and post, since upgrading to Firefox 3. Finally today, hoping SBNation had fixed the problems, I tried again, and encountered a new message, with instructions for FF3 users.

If you're out there unable to log in using FF3: the problem is your third party cookies. Go to Preferences/Privacy, under Cookies press "Exceptions", enter "sbnation.com" and press "Allow".

Extra  words to allow posting. I see they've kept some "quaint" features around from the old days.

An anonymous group, InvestigateLance.org , is trying to get Congress to investigate Lance for doping!

We are an anonymous anti-doping group of cyclists based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, CA who are concerned with the future of cycling in America... We are a here to make sure that the truth is delivered to the deserving fans of Lance Armstrong.  We will accept interviews, but unfortunately the current state in the Lance Armstrong controlled industry side of cycling does not allow for us to reveal our true identities in fear of us losing our jobs and hurting our families.  The situation is that critical that if you ask a question about Lance Armstrong doping it will certainly result in termination.  Please Investigate Lance Armstrong and put this controversy to end once and for all.  

The timing is auspicious since Trek recently severed its relationship with Greg Lemond. A comment in the guest book -- not an official statement, mind, but fwiw, reads:

Name: ILO
Date: 04/15/08
Message: Greg Lemond is not affiliated with InvestigateLance.org. This website was created by a group of anti-doping activists that work deep within the cycling industry and at USA Cycling. We are tired of the lies, and the future generations need us to do something about it. Investigating Lance is the first step...

Still, it kind of stinks. Whoever's behind this is REALLY pissed. A Congressional investigation? That cure would be worse than the disease.

I don't see any reason to waste tomorrow's stage. I could see Cadel, Horner , and friends out front in a break by 10 or 15 seconds on the Champs. I can't believe any "gentlemen's agreement" to not contest the final stage would cover a situation where it's close. The race is not over yet -- simple as that.

Poll attached -- let us hear the people.

Rasmussen is sticking to his story that he was in Mexico in June. He says Davide Cassani is just mistaken and saw someone else.

What if he's telling the truth?

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Eight years and 30 pounds ago I brought my bike with me to Grenoble and caught some stages of the '99 Tour. I rode up l'Alpe d'Huez on the day Guerini got knocked off his bike by some guy named Eric. I rode all the cols around Bourg d'Oisans. But the most memorable climb -- climbs -- I did was Col du Galibier. Since they're going over Galibier today I'll tell you the story.

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I did it. I rode with Floyd. I am now a huge fanboy. He gave a lot of personal attention to anyone he spoke to.. never seemed distant, or false, or like the monument of cycling they make you when you win the TdF. Maybe that's because they're not letting him win the TdF.

Notice I plugged the Podium Cafe.

Just a notice to Austin area Cafe society: You can ride with Floyd Sunday afternoon, 4 pm  at Bicycle Sport Shop on S. Lamar. $50 to ride for a bit with the Tour de France Champion? I think so! (Someone told me Lance charges $10K).

If you're showing up -- look for me: 6'5", short beard, Merlin. Wearing black Free Floyd T-shirt probably!

Chris points to the Eurosport article where Floyd says:

...If they suspend me for two or four years - a humiliation which I hope doesn't happen - it's over for me....I've never taken testosterone, I would have been stupid to because you just can't get away with it [in doping tests]...Even if I'm proved innocent, my reputation is ruined.

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I'm really enjoying the countdown ticker to Het Volk Chris has posted on the lhs. It gets my grits up to go and see it again next year. In Feb 2003 Kaila and I honeymooned in Paris. I swear I did not plan our honeymoon around any bicycle race. But while we were in Paris it became clear that it would be very easy to drive up to Ghent and see a Belgian semi-classic. [Updated: fixed broken links to photos]

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The L.A. Times has published this critique of the slanted proceedings athletes can expect in arbitration. I had formerly held high hopes that Floyd could win his case if he could demonstrate errors in the lab procedures. Now, I doubt it. Snippets:

"It's not serving the purpose it was meant to -- to give the athlete a real opportunity to be heard," says one long-term doping arbitrator who did not want to be named so as to avoid internal controversy.

The most powerful element tilting the process toward the prosecution is the presumption that the agencies' scientific tests are valid and that the work of WADA's accredited laboratories, which perform all the blood and urine tests, always meet international standards. The presumption is written into the WADA Code....The presumption shifts the burden to the athlete to prove that the lab's work fell short of scientific standards and that its failures affected the outcome.

A WADA rule prohibits members of its 34 accredited laboratories from testifying in defense of an athlete in a doping case....it reserves the expertise of most of the top doping scientists in the world for use exclusively by the prosecuting agency.

Athletes' attorneys also face obstacles obtaining technical documents from the agencies. Under USADA rules, the agency is required to produce only records concerning the specific test performed on the athlete's own sample....Not included are documents that might shed light on a WADA lab's general proficiency or its treatment of other similar cases, arguably pertinent to defense questions about lab consistency or reliability.

I just posted this video of the finale of stage 17 of the 2004 Tour de France, into le Grand Bornand. It's the one where Lance tells Floyd to "ride like you stole something." Floyd can't shake Ulle; Klöden attacks, and Phil pronounces him the winner with 1 km to go. Ah well.

Here's another paragraph to get around the extremely annoying, pointless, and counter-productive diary length minimum.

[editor's note, by chris] OK, this will be fun -- let's have a YouTube link contest -- find your favorite cycling video clip, either on youtube, google, yahoo or whatever, and post a link. Here's my entry: Tommeke wins the Rainbow. Oh, and what annoying minimum? Sorry bout that...

Inspired by the discussion  about Hincapie's stem in Paris-Roubaix: What are your "best" mechanical failures? Here are mine:

a) Stomping it over an overpass, broke a crank arm off. Yup. That sucked. Yup. Racked 'em. Brand: Stronglight.

b) Peugeot Super Vitus KOM: early attempt at a light, thin steel frame, before the metallurgy was all there. You know how those Pillsbury biscuits come in this cylinder that corkscrews open? Did that to my head tube climbing a hill.

c) Hey, is my front wheel always that far out front? Nope. Broken fork -- Marin Treviso.

d) 1987 Rock Hopper: that twisty feeling is the chainstay separating from the rear dropout.

[editor's note, by chris] Two related posts, from the "news of the weird" genre

Some crank sent out fake emails to UCI, IOC, and WADA, and a bunch of not too bright people are very exercised about it.

First, for anyone who may not know: It is simplicity itself to send a fake email, having fake sender return address. If you want me to send you an email from "george.bush@whitehouse.gov", just let me know.

The CN report above reports that the French police are investigating whether the LNDD server was compromised. Now I suppose that is possible, but I will bet you a dollar to a doughnut it's just an ordinary fake email, sent the same way millions of spams are every day.

"According to L'Equipe, a person with close ties to Floyd Landis has been identified as the author of the e-mails by French investigators." OK. That should be easy enough to verify, right? Prediction: check back in a week, or a month, or a year, and that person will still not have been named. l'Equipe will have accomplished their goal, though: Slander Landis.

Really: please post here the minute this malefactor's name is released. It'll never happen.

And finally, this piteous plaint from the abused director of the Montreal lab: "'Before, these kind of strategies occurred within North America,' said Ayotte, who deplored a number of manoeuvres trying to destabilize WADA-accredited anti-doping laboratories. 'Now, personal attacks of this kind increase. With the Armstrong affair, the Landis file, the LNDD has had its share. It's a shame.'"

The evil Landis and his henchmen, destabilizing WADA! That is rich.

Just cracked open my new Graham Watson 2007 cycling calendar. Leafing through the months... hey.. no Floyd Landis photos. That's pretty hard. Paris Nice, California, Georgia, and the disputed Tour de France... seems like the guy is worth maybe snapshot?

It's like Kremlin photos from the last century, where they airbrush out the Politburo members who've fallen from favor.

I don't like Grahammie deciding for me, what I get to see and what I don't.

Dallas Morning News published an expose today, based on the Armstrong v. SCA lawsuit.

The Dallas Morning News obtained virtually all of the documents and other records presented in the case, such as transcripts of depositions and testimony given by key participants, including Mr. Armstrong. The material was provided to The News by a source who asked to remain unnamed because the proceedings were supposed to remain confidential.

There are some new revelations that shed a little light we haven't seen in earlier reports.

more...

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Procycling went to press a tad early after the TDF.

Not a mention in the print issue of any taint to Floyd's victory. It's worth buying an issue just to bring back those memories, now so distant, of how it felt for a few days, having witnessed unblemished perfection in the sport.                                                    

[editor's note, by chris] Good recommendation here...

If you didn't read Martin's blog during TDF, shame on me for not linking it here earlier. There's plenty of deep reading, and the archives are well worth a couple of hours browsing. He got it right again yesterday:

So then Landis goes and tests positive ... I don't feel betrayed or let down, because I now know enough about testosterone to know that Landis didn't decimate the competition on the road into Morzine by using a drug. If it had been EPO or some sort of blood doping, that would be different. But testosterone doesn't enhance performance in that fashion. I think the sadness I feel (in addition to being a little appalled at how quickly he's been crucified, and the fact that self-serving individuals and organizations are using him to further their own agendas -- I'm talking to you Dick Pound and Greg Lemond, and even, to a lesser extent, Bill Plaschke), is an almost childlike sense of innocence lost.

After the famous Stage 17, I went out and burned my 17 mile loop faster than I have done in a couple of years. Same day, Dugard blogged "Blame it on the Landis effect, but I was overcome by the urge to push out of the comfort zone this morning." Same here.