Celebrations end prematurely for Landis (The Sports Summit)

Title: Celebrations end prematurely for Landis

slidejob - August 5, 2006 11:28 AM (GMT)

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/f...5995526,00.html

PARIS, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Tour de France celebrations have not lasted long for Floyd Landis, who was found guilty of doping on Saturday.
The 30-year-old American will now probably lose his title after a B sample on Saturday confirmed excessive amounts of the male sex hormone testosterone.
No winner had never failed a doping test in the 92 previous editions of the world's most famous road race.
It is all a long way from the community of Mennonites, a branch of the Christian Anabaptist church in Pennsylvania into which the American was born.
The Landis home had phones and electricity but no television and the young Floyd longed to escape, discover the world and fulfil his passion for cycling.
He bought his first mountain bike at 15, started to train after nightfall, won the first mountain bike race he entered and was crowned junior national champion in 1993.
At 20, he decided to move to southern California to become a full time rider, switched to road racing and promptly joined seven-times Tour champion Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal team.
The split between Armstrong and his lieutenant came in 2005 when Landis joined the Swiss team Phonak.
"My parents have taught me the value of work, courage and patience," Landis said during the Tour.
"I wished and hoped I would have the opportunity to become a leader and to wear the yellow jersey."
On Saturday Landis again denied ever taking drugs.
"I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone. I was the strongest man in the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion," Landis said in a statement on his Web site.
"I will fight these charges with the same determination and intensity that I bring to my training and racing. It is now my goal to clear my name and restore what I worked so hard to achieve

CoolJesture20 - August 5, 2006 07:04 PM (GMT)

First winner to fail the doping test. What an idiot.

slidejob - August 6, 2006 01:35 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (CoolJesture20 @ Aug 5 2006, 03:04 PM)

First winner to fail the doping test. What an idiot.

Agreed... :slap:

BrownsFan9 - August 6, 2006 03:09 AM (GMT)

seriously and he tried to play it off in his interviews like he didnt do anything wrong......well in the end he got :owned and i laugh in his face hahahaha :D

hsmall111 - August 7, 2006 05:19 AM (GMT)

Just read this article on ESPN.com about how Landis now thinks UCI(Union Cycliste Internationale) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) have an agenda against him. He also blames UCI and WADA for the criticism he is getting in the press about making different excuses every day. He says it's unfair he has to defend himself in the media.

I'm pretty torn which way to go on this story; while the evidence appears to be damning of Landis, I've also read that in most situations like this, the cyclist gets the appeal upheld because of a mistake in the test. Also, this guy grew up in in the middle of Amish country near Lancaster PA, it seems hard to believe the Amish are now cheating...

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=2541883

QUOTE

The Stage 17 comeback in the Alps was nothing compared to the uphill climb Floyd Landis has been on since he tested positive after his Tour de France victory.

In his first interview since his "B" sample came back positive for unnatural testosterone on Saturday, Landis offered no new evidence to USA Today that he is innocent but said that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency have not been following their own guidelines regarding his case.

Landis said that information leaked to the media and missing reports about his test results are making it nearly impossible to defend himself.

"I just got the information on the 'A' sample a day and half ago," Landis told USA Today for a story posted Sunday on the newspaper's Web site. "I had to find out about the 'B' from reading it in the media."

The results of his "A" test, which showed an imbalance in his testosterone to epitestosterone ratio, were made public July 27.

Landis said that sprinter Justin Gatlin's "A" test showing the same imbalance was not announced for three months, "while I had only two days to react to mine. [UCI head] Pat McQuaid said he had to release mine before the lab leaked it."

In more desperate straits than when everyone counted him out of the Tour before Stage 17, Landis has been fired by his Phonak team and the Tour de France no longer considers him its champion. Landis said his biggest mistake has been offering daily excuses for his positive test.

"I've been catching a lot of grief in the press: 'Floyd has a new excuse, a new reason for what happened,' " he said. "This is a situation where I'm forced to defend myself in the media. It would never have happened if UCI and WADA had followed their own rules."

Landis said there's "zero chance" someone on the Phonak team gave him testosterone -- either by accident or on purpose. But he didn't discount some kind of conspiracy by the UCI or WADA.

"There's some kind of agenda there," he told USA Today. "I just don't know what it is."

After he has hip replacement surgery in about two weeks, Landis will have to start preparing for his appearance before the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency sometime next month, where he will try to explain why his test results came back positive.

slidejob - August 10, 2006 06:28 PM (GMT)

Blame someone else.. Sounds like a defense we have heard before.

BrownsFan9 - August 10, 2006 07:53 PM (GMT)

well this officially shows he used enhacements, and i think he got what was coming

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