Landis witness speaks against Tour testing

After testifying as the first witness on behalf of Floyd Landis earlier this year during the racer's hearing before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in May 2007, Bruce Goldberger was under a gag order not to speak publicly about the case.

With the case now closed in the eyes of the American Arbitration Association and on its way to appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Goldberger spoke critically about the work of the French labs. "I've kind of stayed silent for a long time, but it's time to make some noise," he said to the Gainesville Sun. He used words like "inexcusable" and "garbage" in describing some of the evidence used to determine Landis had doped.

Goldberger, who works as a University of Florida forensic toxicologist and is president of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, cited poor methodology and record keeping in the testing of Landis' urine samples. He claimed he found instances of errors in sample-tracking paperwork and of the use of White-Out, a practice not generally accepted in testing circles, to correct mislabeled paperwork.

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Goldberger's testimony only addressed the first test run on Landis' samples and he said he only reluctantly became involved in the case. "I looked at the data and I couldn't believe what I saw," he said. "So I called [Landis' lawyer] Howard [Jacobs] and said, 'I'm in.'"

The AAA panel ultimately agreed with Goldberger's analysis that the on the first test, a testosterone-to-epitestosterone test, was not conducted according to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules; however, the AAA considered the results of a second test, that was more precise and more expensive, to be accurate and ruled against Landis.

Goldberger does not expect to be involved in the appeal which is tied to the second test; however, he supported Landis' expenditures to make the appeal. He lamented what he considered the effects of poorly conducted testing on the case. "In this case, bad science has ruined the career of Floyd Landis," he said. "The damage has been done.