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The LA Times reports an hour ago:

Synthetic testosterone found in Landis’ “B” samples
by Philip Hersh, Special to The Times
9:45 AM PDT, April 23, 2007

Evidence of synthetic testosterone has been found in “several” of the other urine samples Floyd Landis gave while winning the 2006 Tour de France, the French newspaper L’Equipe reported on its website Monday.

The arbitration panel hearing Landis’ case approved in March a request by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to allow testing of the other samples. The tests were done in the same Paris laboratory that found Landis positive on the sample given after the dramatic mountain stage victory that wiped out a substantial time deficit and put him in the race lead for good.

According to L’Equipe, which did not cite the sources of its information, two representatives each of both Landis and USADA witnessed the retests on the “B” portions of the urine samples.

Landis was tested eight times during the Tour de France; seven of the eight, on which only the “A” portion was analyzed, originally were declared negative. Those seven had not been analyzed with the more sophisticated carbon-isotope ratio testing until last week.

A spokesman for Landis did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

Philip Hersh covers Olympic sports for The Times and the Chicago Tribune

Same. French. Lab. Bicycle.net noted that Landis wanted to be tested at UCLA

Forbes notes:

Landis spokesman Michael Henson said Monday the head of the French lab prevented the cyclist’s expert, Paul Smith, from entering the lab Sunday to witness the testing.

“Such behavior constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis’ rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process,” Henson said in a statement
…
Landis lashed out at USADA in a statement Monday, saying the incident in which his expert was barred from the French lab was “yet another in a series of malicious actions.”

“I’m infuriated by the behavior of USADA” and the French lab, Landis said. “Together, they have turned this proceeding into a full-scale attack on my civil rights and a mockery of justice.”

The 31-year-old cyclist has an arbitration hearing May 14 in California, where he is expected to question the practices of the French lab. Landis wanted the follow-up tests on the backup samples conducted at the UCLA lab that handles much of USADA’s testing, but the machine it uses is under repair.

If doping accusations against Landis are upheld, he faces a two-year ban from competition. He also would be the first rider in the 104-year history of the Tour to be stripped of the title. He already has agreed not to compete in this year’s event while the case is pending.

Related:

• BREAKING: French Lab Errors Admitted in Cyclist Floyd Landis Case
• BREAKING: Floyd Landis Wants Retests at UCLA
• Floyd Landis Urine to be Retested — Arbitrators
• Monday April 23 Roundup - Trust But Verify

UPDATE: The Floyd Fairness Fund today writes that Landis’ representatives were denied access to the testing.

USADA ORDERS LNDD TO DENY FLOYD LANDIS’ OBSERVER
ACCESS TO “B” SAMPLE RETESTING
Retesting Conducted Without Independent Observer Oversight New York / Paris, April 23, 2007 – Under the order of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Paul Scott, expert consultant to 2006 Tour de France champion Floyd Landis and observer at the illegal retesting of Landis’ already cleared Tour de France samples, was yesterday denied entry to the Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (LNDD) at Chatenay-Malabry. As such, the analysis of two samples was conducted without a Landis representative as witness. Such behavior constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis’ rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process.

This latest incident comes on the heels of a week in which Landis’ observers have been repeatedly and improperly restricted from accessing key phases of data processing and analysis while USADA’s expert and lawyer were able to have free lab access and directed the retesting process of LNDD.

Per the pre-arbitration process, there was to be an independent expert appointed by the arbitration panel whose role was to determine if the testing methodologies are flawed and to provide an additional degree of protection for Landis. USADA knowingly directed that the testing begin April 16 despite the fact that no such expert had been named.

According to Scott, LNDD lab director Jacques de Ceaurriz did not allow him to enter the facility Sunday morning. Ceaurriz cited direct orders from USADA to prohibit any further observation of the ongoing retesting.

During the analysis, USADA observers regularly provided specific direction to the LNDD, over-ruling the Landis observers’ objections and conferring with LNDD staff in private during sample processing. Landis and his team find this behavior to be particularly troubling as these deliberate actions confirm their position that the samples have been subject to mishandling, further malfeasance and potential results falsification.

Scott, former director of client services at the UCLA Olympic Laboratory, left UCLA last October and shortly thereafter was added as a consultant to the Landis defense team. Early on, Scott cited the poor handling of Landis’ Stage 17 sample as the primary example of the deep problems in scientific method and fact finding in this case.

Scott said, “In my years at the UCLA lab, I’ve never seen anything like what I experienced at the LNDD yesterday. The limitation placed on me and Simon [Davis – an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry expert also selected by Landis to observe the retesting] demonstrates the lack of objectivity in this process, USADA’s interest in controlling and limiting our observation of the retesting is an example of one of the most egregious problems in the fundamental science of anti-doping that I have experienced.“

Given the indisputable conflicts and documented incompetence at the LNDD, testing Landis’ “B” samples there without witness or Panel appointed independent expert highlights USADA’s out-ofcontrol prosecution. The outrageous and improper limitations placed on Landis’ observers reinforce the injustice inherent to this entire process. This is particularly evident in the case of this unprecedented retesting, where both USADA and the

LNDD have a vested interest in colluding to corroborate the flawed results of Landis’ Stage 17 sample.

Scott added, ““Good science does not fear being an open book. Any science that is not neutral and objective is not science at all. Labs acting under the direction of prosecuting Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) are, by definition, not independent. As service providers hired by ADOs, they have a vested interest in the results desired by their client. In this case, the client is USADA and the lab is the LNDD. From what I have witnessed so far, I have significant concerns that their analysis will render results that are scientifically invalid.”

By exhausting sample material during the retesting without providing the checks and balances necessary to protect the interests of the athlete, USADA has willfully destroyed evidence that can be used to independently verify whatever results come out of the conflicted LNDD facility.

“This is yet another in a series of malicious actions by USADA that tramples my right to have my case heard in fair and just way,” said Landis. “How can I be expected to prove my innocence while USADA endeavors to break their own rules at every turn? I’m infuriated by the behavior of USADA and the LNDD. Together, they have turned this proceeding into a full-scale attack on my civil rights and a mockery of justice.”