Floyd Cheated said:Think about it. EVEN IF Floyd beats this rap (probably on a lawyer
loophole), EVERYONE thinks he's guilty. And a liar.
His PR people should consider this wise strategy. Confess, even if he
is innocent. Floyd could say he was desperate, and did cheat. I think
many people WOULD understand. He would be suspended for a year (UCI has
a leniency clause). With his hip replacement surgery scheduled the week
after next, he will need many months of recovery anyway.
This is much better than taking a four year ban, and everyone thinking
you are pond scum.
What do you guys (and gals) think? Even if Floyd didn't cheat, the
potential upside to confessing far outweighs any possible resolution to
DopeGate'06.
I really believ in my heart that Floyd could pull this off. And he
would be a national hero IF he won the 2008 Tour de France. (clean-of
course).
kl
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/10724/C41/L41
SPORT SET BACK TWENTY YEARS
Landis Affair Sucking the Life Out of Cycling
By Bill Schneider, 8-11-06
Hollywood could not have come up with a better storyline. A regular
guy, a relative unknown in cycling with a badly deteriorated hip
requiring immediate replacement, gradually cranking his way through
fifteen grueling stages to finally lead the greatest cycling event in
the world, the Tour de France. Then disaster. He bonked badly on a
Stage 16 and fell way behind, so far back that expert commentators no
longer included him on lists of potential winners. But on the very next
day, Stage 17, he bounced back with a miraculous performance to claw
his way back into contention. Finally, he reclaimed the maillot
jaune,the Yellow Jersey, on the final time trial and won the Great
Race.
It doesn't get any better than this. Many fans, myself included, were
worried that cycling might not maintain its highest-ever level of
popularity, primarily due to the "Lance affect" sweeping the country
after seven straight wins in Le Tour by arguably the greatest cyclist
ever, an American no less, Lance Armstrong. A self-described "ordinary
guy" named Floyd Landis came along and erased those concerns and won
the hearts of cycling fans.
For five whole days, euphoria reigned. Landis, an American rider on the
Swiss Phonak team, had won the Tour de France in the most dramatic
fashion. Cycling commentators Phil Liggett and Bob Roll gushed over
Landis's performance in Stage 17 when he rode away from the entire
peloton, a superhuman feat, and caught a thirteen-man breakaway,
dropped them, too, and went on to finish six minutes ahead of the
current leaders of the race. Both Roll and Liggett boasted that this it
was the best single-day race they'd ever seen, and that comes from guys
who have seen many thousands of them.
I concur with Liggett and Roll. That morning I'd planned to tape that
stage and watch it later, but as I started the tape rolling at 5:30 am,
I was quickly captivated by the unfolding drama and spent the next four
hours glued to the tube--even blasting out a few cheers for nobody to
hear.
Suddenly, we had a new hero, and you know how badly we need them
nowadays. On club rides everywhere, people were all-Landis and saying,
"Lance who?" And Landis was looking at a platinum future--a
seven-figure contract renewal with Phonak and iShares (his team
sponsors) many millions worth of endorsements, book deals, his own
brand of bicycle gear, a visit to the Oval Office, chats with Larry
King and Jay Leno, and more--almost too much for an "ordinary guy" to
fathom.
Then, just as suddenly, it was all gone.
We know the rest of the story. On July 27, five days after yellow-clad,
champagne-sipping Landis pedaled into the Champs-Élysées and kissed
the podium girls, his team announced he had failed his drug test after
that amazing Stage 17. This has to be the biggest and fastest falling
from grace in the history of sports.
I'll spare you the complications of the drug-testing process, but in
brief, Landis is accused of having an oversupply of testosterone in his
body. The allowable limit is a 4:1 ratio between testosterone and
epitestosterone. The body produces both substances, and the normal
ratio ranges from 2:1 to 3:1. When elevated, it indicates that the
athlete has taken in extra testosterone, the granddaddy of all
steroids. Landis tested 11:1 in his A sample. Two weeks later, tests on
his B sample confirmed an extra-high level.
As claims by Landis that he naturally produces a lot of testosterone
echoed across the globe, the New York Times revealed that he had
exogenous (contained within, but originating from outside the body)
testosterone in his system, which must be externally introduced with
the use of a patch, injection or lotion. Current tests can
differentiate between natural and synthetic testosterone. Landis had
both in his system.
In this country, thankfully, we have the presumption of innocence.
Landis maintains his innocence and has hired high-profile lawyer Howard
Jacobs to represent him in upcoming appeals and court appearances.
Meanwhile, and ever-so-sadly, the affair is sucking the life out of
cycling.
Fans everywhere are retreating to the "they're all doping" attitude.
Excitement for the sport among both diehards and the newly converted is
vanishing. Sponsors are bailing out (possibly the true death knell),
and race promoters who were trumpeting their good fortune of having the
Tour de France winner sign up for their race "un-invited" Landis. Oh
yes, and his team fired him.
The death toll is mounting. Landis's team title sponsor Phonak, a Swiss
manufacturer of hearing aids, rocked by this and earlier doping
scandals on its team, decided to leave the sport of cycling. A Phonak
team doctor defended Landis but admitted that "the damage to his image
is gigantic." Co-sponsor of the Phonak team, iShares, the world's
largest seller of Exchange Traded Funds, also quit the sport because of
the Landis affair, even though the California-based company had already
signed a three-year sponsorship deal going to 2009. Germany television
officials are considering not covering Le Tour in the future because of
doping scandals. Skoda, a Czech car manufacturer, canceled its
sponsorship for next year's Tour de France. Back in the USA, Tour of
Georgia sponsor Ford decided not to renew its sponsorship of the
biggest cycling event in this country, although not specifically
attributing it to the Landis affair.
And nobody believes they have heard the last of the giant sucking sound
currently siphoning the energy, enthusiasm and money out of cycling.
Patrick Lefevere, president of an organization of all professional
cycling teams, has taken the issue one step further. He considers
Landis personally and financially liable for the losses the sport is
suffering.
"Actually, we should take him to court for what he is now doing to
cycling," said Lefevere, team manager of Belgium's Quick Step team.
"Why not? Why not take the American approach of dealing with things and
apply it here? As long as Landis continues to maintain that he knows
nothing, this sort of scenario becomes more likely. I feel like
throwing up when I hear him. Landis has turned the clock back 20
years."
The cycling media, like Velonews.com and Cyclingnews.com, are
desperately trying to re-focus attention on positive cycling news such
as the results of other races and new gear innovations, but the Landis
affair hangs over their efforts like a black cloud.
As cycling fans, teams, sponsors and race promoters continue to assess
the devastation, 30-year-old Landis prepares for his hip replacement
surgery on August 21. I hope the surgery goes well, but I already know
he will never be the same person he was on July 26. I just hope cycling
will be the same someday in the future.
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By Bill Schneider, 8-11-06
