"We will explain to the world why this is not a doping case but a natural occurrence"

Latest Landis Update

In his first public appearance since a positive test for high testosterone cast his title into doubt, the American cyclist said his body's natural metabolism - not doping of any kind - caused the result, and that he would soon have the test results to prove it.
"We will explain to the world why this is not a doping case but a natural occurrence," Landis said from the Spanish capital.

The day before, in a teleconference from a location in Europe he did not disclose, Landis said he didn't cheat but had no idea what might have caused his positive test on the Tour's 17th stage, where he staked his stirring comeback in the Alps.

During that Thursday call, Landis sounded downcast and heartbroken, saying he expected to clear his name but never his reputation. His demeanor was decidedly more fiery Friday, when he sat before a buzzing news conference and lashed out at the media for characterizing his plight as a drug scandal.

"I would like to make absolutely clear that I am not in any doping process," said Landis, wearing a baseball cap turned backward and a white shirt with the name of his Phonak team. "I ask not to be judged by anyone, much less sentenced by anyone."

Landis is still awaiting results from a backup sample, which would clear him immediately if found to be negative. But his lawyer, Luis Sanz, said he fully expected the backup test to come back with the same result, since the elevated testosterone was produced naturally by Landis's body.

And the 30-year-old cyclist said Friday that he would undergo additional testing to prove that "the levels that I've had during the Tour and all my career are natural and produced by my own organism."

Until those tests are conducted, Landis said, "I ask not to be judged, or much less to be sentenced by anyone."

But Landis saved his most aggressive tone for the defense of his title as Tour de France champion.

"I was the strongest guy. I deserved to win, and I'm proud of it," he said, wearing a red-and-black baseball cap turned backward and a white shirt with the name of his Phonak cycling team.

Landis appeared to lose any chance of victory during a disastrous 16th stage of the Tour, then broke out with one of the greatest performances in history the next day. After winning the 17th stage, he submitted to a drug test - standard for a stage winner - that showed an "unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone."

Phonak suspended Landis after the International Cycling Union notified it Wednesday of the result, and he could stripped of his title and fired from the team if he does not clear his name.

Landis, a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, said he was shocked when told of the initial positive result. He said he had been tested six other times during the tour, and many other times during the year.

A homecoming parade planned for Landis next week in Ephrata, Pa., has been put on hold pending more test results, organizer Rich Ruoff said Friday. As many as 10,000 people and 500 cyclists were expected at the event.

The news of Landis' test has rocked the cycling world, already under a cloud following a wide-ranging doping investigation in Spain that led to the barring of several of the world's leading cyclists from the Tour.

On the eve of the Tour's start, nine riders - including pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso - were ousted, implicated in a Spanish doping investigation. Their names turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who allegedly had contact with a Spanish doctor at the center of the probe. Landis was not implicated in that investigation.