A Masters cyclist is Floyd Landis' unlikely defender

Arnie Baker, M.D., a world record-setting Masters cyclist, appeared on the cover of GeezerJock last year. Also a coach, Baker has worked with a number of elite riders, Floyd Landis among them. Baker coached Landis shortly after the Mennonite kid came to California with the dream of being a mountain biking star.

Baker found Landis a place to stay with road cyclist David Witt, and the pair became close enough that they married a mother and daughter. Landis married Amber, and Witt married her mother, Rose. Baker, who in addition to being a retired physician is an ordained minister, presided at the wedding of the Witts.

After finding his true calling on road bikes, Landis became a key cog on Lance Armstrong's team. In 2006 Landis won the Tour de France, riding on a bum hip. His victory was keyed by a stirring comeback the day after an incredible bonk. The win became forever tainted when it was revealed that he had apparently tested positive for using performance-enhancing drugs.

A few weeks later Witt, Landis' friend and stepfather-in-law, killed himself. Baker reconnected with Landis at Witt's funeral. He offered to help Landis, perhaps by looking at the test results. Landis couldn't have found anyone better for the job. When he was a practicing physician, Baker had conducted medical peer reviews. The man is also as logical as Mr. Spock. "I find I don't believe it when people say they have given 110 percent," Baker said wryly.

When Landis forwarded the 370-page report, Baker put his experience and his logic to work. He quickly found many errors from the lab that handled Landis' sample, Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (LNDD). Baker has posted a presentation arguing that Landis' specimen was mishandled. The Power Point slides can be found at www.arniebakercycling.com.

Among the issues are mislabeled and contaminated samples; wide variations in results, calling into question the validity of the test; and improperly used equipment. Most damning of all, testing of Landis' purported specimen did not yield a positive test. By most accepted standards, all four testosterone breakdown products, or metabolites, must be abnormal for a test result to be positive. In LNDD's analysis of Landis' specimen, only one metabolite was abnormal.

Baker will be a key part of Landis' defense when he has a public hearing on May 14 before a U.S. Anti-Doping Association panel. A growing number of people believe Baker and others on Landis' defense team will clear the cyclist's name. But what if you, as a Masters athlete, happen to test positive for some reason, maybe because the testing, as it seems to be in this case, was flawed? Will you have an Arnie Baker on your side? You may need one.