Floyd Landis admits to doping and drops dime on others

[cantdrv55]

I've always suspected it but Landis had been adamant about his innocence. So he finally admits it but then turns in others including Lance. Sad for cycling.

Report: Landis admits doping and fingers Armstrong - Cycling - Yahoo! Sports

[greglepore]

I must admit that I lost respect for Floyd today. Never believed his defense. I'd be totally ok with him coming clean, but it was classless to out others, even tho aywe all knew more or less anyway

[Garp]

This is really bad. Headline news here.

[Dueller]

SPORTS MAY 20, 2010.

Cyclist Floyd Landis Admits Doping, Alleges Use by Armstrong and Others

Floyd Landis, the American cyclist whose 2006 Tour de France victory was nullified after a positive doping test, has sent a series of emails to cycling officials and sponsors admitting to, and detailing, his systematic use of performance enhancing drugs during his career. The emails also claim that other riders and cycling officials allegedly participated in doping, including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

It's unclear how many emails Mr. Landis sent. Three emails, which are dated between April 30 and May 6, have been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Landis copied seven people on these three emails, including officials with USA Cycling and the International Cycling Union. Three people who have seen the emails and spoken to Mr. Landis about them say they are authentic.

Mr. Armstrong did not respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday evening. Mr. Armstrong has faced a number of doping accusations during his career, which he has denied. He has never been sanctioned.

Mr. Landis's charges couldn't be independently verified. Mr. Landis did not respond to a request for comment.

In the emails, he expressed frustration about the inability of antidoping officials to clean up the sport.

After the Tour de France stripped Mr. Landis of his 2006 victory for testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone after one crucial stage of the race, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency gave him a two-year ban from the sport. From the moment the positive test was revealed, Mr. Landis has denied publicly ever using performance enhancing drugs.

The emails are particularly focused on American riders. Mr. Landis said in them that during his career, he and other American riders learned how to conduct blood transfusions, take the synthetic blood booster Erythropoietin, or EPO, and use steroids. Mr. Landis said he started using testosterone patches, then progressed to blood transfusions, EPO, and a liquid steroid taken orally.

In one of the emails, dated April 30 and addressed to Stephen Johnson, the president of USA Cycling, Mr. Landis said that Mr. Armstrong's longtime coach, Johan Bruyneel, introduced Mr. Landis to the use of steroid patches, blood doping and human growth hormone in 2002 and 2003, his first two years on the U.S. Postal Service team. He alleged Mr. Armstrong helped him understand the way the drugs worked. "He and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test," Mr. Landis claimed in the email. He claimed he was instructed by Mr. Bruyneel how to use synthetic EPO and steroids and how to carry out blood transfusions that doping officials wouldn't be able to detect. Mr. Bruyneel and Mr. Johnson could not be reached for comment.

In the same email, Mr. Landis wrote that after breaking his hip in 2003, he flew to Girona, Spain—a training hub for American riders—and had two half-liter units of blood extracted from his body in three-week intervals to be used later during the Tour de France. The extraction, Mr. Landis claimed, took place in Mr. Armstrong's apartment, where blood bags belonging to Mr. Armstrong and his then-teammate George Hincapie were kept in a refrigerator in Mr. Armstrong's closet. Mr. Landis said he was asked to check the temperature of the blood daily. According to Mr. Landis, Mr. Armstrong left for a few weeks and asked Mr. Landis to make sure the electricity didn't go off and ruin the blood. George Hincapie, through a spokesman, denied the allegations.

In the email sent on April 30 to Mr. Johnson, Mr. Landis said that in 2006, after leaving the U.S. Postal Service team for a team sponsored by Swiss hearing aide manufacturer Phonak, he said he told Andy Rihs, the team's owner, that he had been involved in a blood doping program in the past with his old team and wanted to continue doing so with Phonak. He said Mr. Rihs, who is the chairman of Sonova Holding AG, the Switzerland-based parent company for Phonak, agreed to pay for the same doping operations at Phonak. After Mr. Landis's positive test—which was for testosterone and not blood doping—the team disbanded in 2006.

Mr. Rihs, through a spokesperson, declined to be interviewed. He said Thursday in a written statement that neither he nor the management of the team "knew that Floyd Landis was doped," and described the email statements by Mr. Landis as "lies" representing "a last tragic attempt of Landis to once again gain public recognition" that he has lost.

In addition to these allegations, Mr. Landis's emails called current anti-doping efforts "a charade," detailed how to use EPO without getting caught and claimed he helped former teammates Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie take EPO before one Tour of California race. Mr. Leipheimer and Mr. Zabriskie could not be reached for comment

[nostatic]

Not so sure that the words of someone who:

1. cheated
2. repeatedly denied cheating
3. then admits but says, "they did it too..."

have that much weight. If Armstrong doped, at least he has had positive impact on society in other ways (via Livestrong, etc). Not clear what Landis has done for the world...

[Seahawk]

All sports are a parliament of whores (tip to PJ)...so thinking that the stench of the caught doesn't extend to the yet named is a fools errand.

[TechnoViking]

Landis' word aint worth much. He admitted he cheated after he got caught cheating.

If Armstrong is a cheater he is the greatest cheater in the history of sports because people have been trying to catch him cheating for years and they have jack squat for proof. This is just a he-said-she-said argument between one fairly credible person and one less than credible person.

[BGCarrera32]

Landis is an idiot. Armstrong won the world championship road race when he was 19...and was a force long before he got cancer and won the tour.

[Joeaksa]

And where is his proof? Has to be something there behind the words to prove this if he is going to be believed.

[jyl]

My thought process -

Lance came back to cycling. He was retired, reputation and commercial value intact, no reason to risk that by doping on the comeback. So, assuming he has a brain, I think he's not doping at present.

Now, I don't follow the sport closely, but would be interesting to compare his performance now w/ his performance pre-retirement. I assume it would be normal for him to be slower/weaker now - age, team, training, etc. But is he so much slower/weaker than pre-retirement? If not, then does that suggest the pre-retirement performance was not doped.

[BGCarrera32]

Lance finished 3rd in the '09 Tour. So I'd have to say no, not all that much slower.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

I've always suspected it but Landis had been adamant about his innocence. So he finally admits it but then turns in others including Lance. Sad for cycling.

Report: Landis admits doping and fingers Armstrong - Cycling - Yahoo! Sports

Lance was on dope?

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

[Jeff Higgins]

So let me get this straight - Lance was such a rare and phenomenal physical specimen that he could ride clean and beat all the very best in the world, all of whom are riding doped?

Folks who continue to believe this clearly have no idea just what a huge advantage modern doping is. There is no way in hell Lance could ride with that peleton, much less in front of that peleton, if he was not doing exactly what the rest of them are doing. No one is that "gifted".

Cycling, like bodybuilding, is an absolute joke when it comes to testing. Both sports do a disservice to aspiring young competitors with their "wink, wink, we test and all our top guys are clean" b.s. They lead young competitors into believing they can achieve the results they see at the top levels through good ol' hard work and smart training. Yes, it takes all of that, but the dirty little not so secret is that no one achieves that level of performance cleanly. No one.

[m21sniper]

As usual, i am in total agreement with Jeff. (i swear we were separated at birth and you got all the coothe and diplomacy that i lack, lol)

If they ever did steroid testing in Hollywood at least half of today's actors would get suspended.

[island911]

good write-up, Jeff.

Originally Posted by nostatic

Not so sure that the words of someone who:

1. cheated
2. repeatedly denied cheating
3. then admits but says, "they did it too..."

have that much weight. If Armstrong doped, at least he has had positive impact on society in other ways (via Livestrong, etc). Not clear what Landis has done for the world...

I really don't follow Armstrong. What exactly has he done for the world? ... I mean, certainly a lot of people got to advertise that they 'gave' a dollar for that stupid yellow bracelet (and if that's not caring, what is?) But did Livestrong become bigger than the United Way? (lil' gold pin) ...did they cure cancer, or something? --I really don't know.

[nostatic]

Lance Armstrong Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charity Navigator Rating - Lance Armstrong Foundation

[jorian]

Chicken$h!t thing to do. He probably needed the money....

[nota]

they need a stock and modified classes
just like most other forms of racing

[TechnoViking]

Originally Posted by island911

good write-up, Jeff.

I really don't follow Armstrong. What exactly has he done for the world? ... I mean, certainly a lot of people got to advertise that they 'gave' a dollar for that stupid yellow bracelet (and if that's not caring, what is?) But did Livestrong become bigger than the United Way? (lil' gold pin) ...did they cure cancer, or something? --I really don't know.

Lance Armstrong gives a lot of people with cancer hope. Hope that they, like Armstrong, can beat the odds and prosper cancer-free.

[m21sniper]

By doping?

They ought to just let these must win morons drug themselves to high heavens. IMO i could safely guarantee that if doping was legal 95% of all athletes would do it.