Why would Landis be drinking beer and whiskey during the Tour de France?

Answer 1

He needed something to slow him down!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Most Tour de France athletes drink during the competition. Lance Armstrong often spoke of having beer and wine with dinner during the Tour.
The Tour athletes are also trying to replace as many carbs and calories as possible. Carbs and protein have 4 calories/gram whereas alcohol is a special type of carbohydrate because of the fermentation process and has 7 calories/gram.
So basically, the fact that he was drinking during the tour is not something unique to Landis, but something that all tour athletes do.

Answer 3

I appreciate the astute medical answers given, but here's a few very simple reasons:

1. Beer (especially good, thick European beer) is FULL of B vitamins, which help you metabolize fat and food into energy.

2. Whisky, while full of congeners (which cause hangovers with excessive drinking), also has a surprising amount of antioxidants. Taking antioxidants helps prevent cellular damage from all the toxins and free radicals flowing through your body after a hard effort.

3. Alcohol acts as a blood thinner, which would aid in recovery. Thinner blood + good massage = flush more lactic acid out and recover better.

4. Let's face it; having a drink is relaxing. Sleeping well is also very critical to Tour riders, so why not kick back every stage and take it easy?

Remember, Landis didn't say he got f-ing BLITZED after every stage, he just said he drank SOME. The media did the rest.

Answer 4

Well, after losing 8 minutes on stage 16, I would be pretty freaking depressed too. And some people drink when they are depressed. Simple as that.

Answer 5

I wasn't going to reply to your question because I liked Sk8nBIKE's answer and her perspective on this topic. However, your question provoked me to do some quick research and I found this:

Alcohol. Alcohol blocks the release of acetylcholine, resulting in decreased serotonin turnover and increased noradrenergic activity. The result of these neurotransmitter alterations is euphoria followed by depression (8). Alcohol has long been used as a prerace stimulant (sometimes laced with strychnine), and its prominence in sports promotion and marketing is obvious. College athletes express more negative attitudes about alcohol use than nonathletes do, but this may reflect only socially acceptable responses on questionnaires, since they show the same drinking behaviors, particularly binge drinking, as nonathletes (13).

Controlled studies of alcohol's effect on athletic performance are difficult to blind because of the easily recognizable taste of alcoholic beverages (7). To blind participants to the presence of alcohol, most researchers use vodka, at an insignificant concentration but sufficient for taste, or noseclips and anesthetic throat lozenges. Limited evidence suggests increased isometric muscle strength at low doses of alcohol because of CNS disinhibition of neuromuscular impulses. Other significant effects include impaired gluconeogenesis, lowered resting muscle glycogen levels, poor temperature regulation, diuresis, and direct cardiotoxicity, all of which impair athletic performance. For unclear reasons, alcohol produces an increase in VO2 at submaximal exercise intensity but has no effect on VO2 max, resulting in decreased exercise time to exhaustion and decreased performance in middle-distance running events (7,14).

Athletes engaged in activities that require precise fine motor control, such as archery and shooting, have a perception of reduced tension and increased relaxation as a result of alcohol, but the actual effect is decreased hand-eye coordination and impaired judgment and tracking; this results in a less smooth release in archery, increased reaction time, and confusion. Alcohol is banned by the NCAA for riflery and by the international federations that govern the modern pentathlon, fencing, and shooting.--Thomas L. Schwenk, MD
THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE - VOL 25 - NO. 1 - JANUARY 97

I provided a link below to the full article. I don't drink alcohol so I don't condone Landis' use of it. But he wasn't drinking and riding, and to my knowledge he didn't get smashed after Stage 16; he had a couple of beers and a drink or two. I don't believe his drinking contributed to his positive test result nor do I suspect it helped him win Stage 17.

Answer 6

He's a party animal! (whose trying to cover up traces of forbidden substances)

Answer 7

I ALSO THOUGHT THAT STRANGE BUT I REALLY DON'T THINK HE DID IT AFTER ALL THE HORMONE THAT THEY FOUND ALREADY IS PART OF YOUR BODY MAYBE HE HAS A TUMOUR THAT SECRETES THAT STUFF STAY TUNED

Answer 8

Because he was thirsty

Answer 9

hes full of crap and his lies are catching up to him