Sports Doping: Analytical Chemistry is Not Magic

The world’s greatest sporting event is on at the moment; I’m sure you are all glued to the live feed from cyclingnews.com every morning (in the US, whatever time wherever you may be) [Go Vande Velde!!!!!]. You may possibly have missed the expected, i.e., the first doping positive- Beltrán was booted for suspicion of EPO doping. And you know we just love the doping stories around here. [Update 7/16/08: Another EPO positive non-negative “A” sample]
One of the larger ones of recent interest was the Landis debacle. The debacle in which the accused rider’s defense rested in no small part on the probity of the testing lab and the validity of the analyses which provided evidence of his testosterone doping.