Update on Landis Drug Scandal

[FishingFather]

Update on the Landis Drug Scandal:

This week's doping report (sigh) leads off with the revelation that dozens of riders in this year's Tour de France were legally racing on drugs that are on the list of banned performance-enhancing substances.

How's that possible? They had notes from their doctors saying they need the drugs to treat medical conditions.

Thirteen of these riders tested positive in the Tour but 12 were let off because they had a "therapeutic use exemption." The one who didn't? Floyd Landis, who won the race but now is charged with testosterone doping.

Pierre Bordry, president of the French council for doping prevention, said that 105 cyclists that rode the Tour this year were tested at least once during the race. Sixteen urine samples came back positive from a total of 13 riders -- the lucky dozen plus Landis.

"Sixty percent of the 105 riders had [exemptions], which raises serious doubts and leaves one to think that they can be used to hide doping practices," Bordry said.

"I find it very surprising that among the number of riders in the Tour de France . . . there are so many who suffer from problems that necessitate authorization to take a banned substance."

It is a known fact that Landis has hip issues and at some point will have surgery. Now I don't know anything on how exemptions are handed out and why others received them but Landis apparantly didn't. From this news we can tell Landis is far from the only one using some type of banned substance, legitimate or not.