Offensive Tactics

Throughout the Tour de France controversy, experts have noted that taking testosterone the night before a competition would not lead to a power surge the next day. Even Floyd Landis, who rode into Paris wearing the yellow jersey on July 24, has stated that the male hormone "doesn't work that way." Based on the results of his eagerly awaited B sample, no sane person would question Landis's familiarity with the substance. But however all that illegal stuff invaded his system, it may have finally kicked in on Monday when Landis, tying a record set by American Idol judge Simon Cowell, made a whirlwind tour of all four network morning shows. He insisted that he is innocent and said that he wants to remain in cycling, "the most beautiful sport in the world." As for the question of why his B sample confirmed the finding of a testosterone flood, he has no answers. He is not about answers now; he is about strategy.

Long gone are the days of late July when he was fumbling before the microphones and offering the Jack Daniels defense and saying, when asked if he had ever used performance enhancers, "I will say no." Landis has hired a new lawyer, and he now brings his wife, Amber, on appearances and makes heavy use of the word protocols, as in (to Matt Lauer), "The people doing the testing didn't follow their own protocols." But he is talking only about the schedules on which his test failures were announced, not their validity. Landis, who is expected to be stripped of his Tour title soon, is envious of sprinter Justin Gatlin, who was told that he had tested positive for excess testosterone three months before the public knew, "while I had only two days to react to mine."

Still, the Gatlin camp's response is not exactly redolent of extra prep time. Gatlin's coach, Trevor Graham, who seems to specialize in controversial athletes such as Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones, last week could suggest only that the track community is out to get Gatlin and repeat that a masseur, Christopher Whetstine, had smeared the runner with testosterone cream. (Two months after the alleged rubdown--which Whetstine denies--the masseur was assaulted in Indianapolis. The prime suspect is Llewellyn Starks, a Nike employee who has worked as an adviser to Montgomery and Jones.) The plot sickens, but the denouement may be at hand. Last Thursday the USOC barred Graham from its facilities, and North Carolina Central University, where Graham has been training athletes, followed suit. Graham's sponsor, Nike, when asked if he was still employed there, said, "He is today."