I'm still puzzled over why Floyd Landis might have taken testosterone. After all, bicyclists are supposed to be svelte, and injecting yourself with a little hormone the night after a tough ride probably wouldn't lead to increased muscle recovery in time for the next day's race. So why do bicylists (like this guy) do it? Well, it seems that the only immediate effect testosterone has is psychological. The former cyclist Jesús Manzano put it bluntly: "Testosterone gives you a euphoria." Lab experiments with hamsters seem to confirm this. As researchers at USC note, "Testosterone overdose resembles opiate intoxication."
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One only has to turn on a TV, or browse through any news site, to read the story of disgraced Tour de France winner Flloyd Landis.
A man on TV is selling me a miracle cure that will keep me young forever. It’s called Androgel…for treating something called Low T, a pharmaceutical company–recognized condition affecting millions of men with low testosterone, previously known as getting older.
As some of you may have noticed, I have been keeping up with the science of Floyd Landis's failed drug test in a rather long post here.
What do you think a group of women would do if they were given a dose of testosterone before playing a game? Our folk wisdom tells us that they would probably become more aggressive, selfish or antisocial. Well, that's true... but only if they think they've been given testosterone.
Several curious things about the case:
1] Reports of the test were a ratio of 11:1 [test:epitest], with up to 4:1 being normal. What were his results after Alpe d'Huez and the other stages where he had the yellow jersey?
2] If he took testosterone before the stage, why did he win it, knowing that he would be tested?
3] One could easily mask the ratio by taking some epitest with the testosterone. Why didn't he do that?
4] Landis claims his abnormal ratio may be the result of a hypothyroid condition. It's hard to believe that someone who is hypothyroid could perform any endurance athletic event well [symptoms include weight gain, sloowed metabolism, diminished cardiac output, loss of muscle tone].