Floyd Landis; Additional Problems

Floyd Landis is an interesting person. Stricken by grief and remorse, Floyd Landis sent intimidating e-mails to anti-doping crusaders threatening blackmail if immediate action was not taken to investigate his allegations of doping by former teammates and the facilitation of doping by former team officials.

As a result of several interviews of Floyd Landis by United States law enforcement; president of the UCI Pat McQuaid announced, according to the New York Times via the Associated Press, that a UCI investigation of the following people will ensue; Matthew White, Johan Bruyneel, Michael Barry, and John Lelangue.

An investigation of Johan Bruyneel is understandable; rumors surfaced. There were suggestions that a culture of doping existed on Johan Bruyneel teams; that doping was tolerated under the justification that the ends justify the means. The ends were Tour de France titles, seven won by Lance Armstrong (United States Postal Service Professional Cycling Team) and one won by Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel). Roberto Heras also won the Tour of Spain while riding for US Postal Service.

US Postal Service riders present and past did some amazing things on the bike. So amazing were these feats that most cycling fans wondered if such miracles could be accomplished without some form of performance enhancement. Doubts began to escalate when former teammates of Lance Armstrong began to test positive for performance enhancement use. Eyebrows were raised when former teammates of Lance Armstrong began to admit to performance enhancement drug use.

Teammates:

Floyd Landis; former winner of the 2006 Tour de France; tested positive for synthetic testosterone use; stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title; suspended; admitted to human growth hormone use; blood manipulation.
Tyler Hamilton; winner of the Olympic time trial gold medal. During the Olympics Tyler Hamilton tested positive for a double red blood cell population due to an illegal blood transfusion: only a blunder by the Olympic testing lab saved his Olympic gold medal time trial title. Tested positive at the Tour of Spain for a double cell population; suspended. Implicated in Operation Puerto. Banned from cycling for life for a second doping violation caused by ingestion of a homeopathic depression treatment that contained a prohibited substance.
Roberto Heras; former winner of the Tour of Spain; tested positive for rEPO use during the Tour of Spain; Tour of Spain title stripped; suspended.
Frankie Andreu; super domestic; 1999 Tour de France. Admitted to rEPO use during the 1999 Tour de France.

Quite an impressive list! What adds ammunition to the Johan Bruyneel "clean" era doubters is the competition that Lance Armstrong faced during his impressive seven year Tour de France title run; competition that Lance Armstrong seemed to beat with ease.

Competitive Riders:

Ivan Basso; guilty of blood doping manipulation. Proven participant in Operation Puerto; suspended.
Iban Mayo; tested positive for rEPO use; suspended.
Jan Ullrich; admitted to involvement in Operation Puerto; suspended, retired. Jan Ullrich admitted to rEPO and other performance enhancement substance use during the 1997 Tour de France. Jan Ullrich won the 1997 Tour de France. Jan Ullrich was never stripped of his 1997 Tour de France title.
Alex Zulle; Festina Affair; admitted using rEPO. Lance Armstrong defeated Alex Zulle in the 1999 Tour de France by seven minutes.

Quite an impressive list! The list could, in theory continue forever, ever expanding in all directions like a matrix. But there is no need, the point has been made. People wonder, how could a man defeat such a list of miscreants riding clean, with such large margins, for seven straight years?

Conclusion:

Fact is nobody can figure out Lance Armstrong and his incredible run. The information that Floyd Landis provided the anti-doping establishment may provide some answers about Johan Bruyneel. Maybe. It is difficult not to be skeptical though. Because except for former Phonak sport director John Lelangue who may have aided Floyd Landis in his 2006 Tour de France "victory" and who is included in the UCI investigation, very few people are being investigated by the UCI, in spite of the voluminous amount of detailed incriminating "evidence" provided in the Floyd Landis testimony.

Don't laugh! This is serious business. Floyd Landis may want to mislead the "fools" with false information in an attempt to force the anti-doping crusade into conducting mountains of re-tests for past races where he makes allegations of doping by other people. Expensive tests; the UCI and WADA will scramble to find something on Lance Armstrong et al., while Floyd Landis is snickering at Pat McQuaid, Travis Tygart, and all of the other people who "wronged" him.

In this instance, even though Floyd Landis claimed that he confessed his drug use so as to not be part of the problem, he continues to be a problem. Floyd Landis you are an additional problem and maybe the anti-doping establishment will figure you out before a disaster and major lawsuit occurs. If only the anti-doping establishment could prove that they had some sense for once and dismiss Floyd Landis as the vindictive liar that he is and move on to more constructive tasks that don't require so much expense. Pat McQuaid; end the folly! Don't be a dupe!

Floyd Landis Is A Creative Enabler

The New York Times did a first rate job of investigative reporting on the new revelations of Floyd Landis; who now demands of USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson an immediate investigation into his numerous allegations of prohibited substance use by his old teammates at US Postal Service. Floyd Landis basically told Steve Johnson to make a choice; investigate his allegations or claim loyalty to the doper establishment. Steve Johnson has no choice but to comply with Floyd Landis because such an important witness can not be ignored. John Fahey is in the same position as WADA president; he must order re-testing of old samples for possible prohibited substance use by old teammates of Floyd Landis; even though these samples will provide very little evidence of blood tampering; frozen blood samples render red blood cells useless; ask Tyler Hamilton who still has a Olympic time trial gold medal because the laboratory froze his confirmation 'B' sample.

Exactly, so many tests from so many riders will probably prove expensive, though worthless; and my even generate false positive results. As everyone knows with the current draconian WADA laws concerning prohibited substance use; mere existence of a substance constitutes a crime for which there is no defense!

Stored Samples Create Problems

rEPO samples stored in vaults that have a tendency to degrade over time; six year old samples that generate 100% pure rEPO isoforms are suspect in a scientific sense; hint: the 1999 Tour de France prologue results of one Lance Armstrong.

Christiane Ayotte warned that 100% rEPO isoforms are very unlikely in urine samples tested six years later; the scientific basis of her argument that rEPO is a biological agent and therefore prone to degrade with time; was never addressed by David Walsh, Micheal Ashenden, Jacques DeCeaurriz, the French Sports Ministry, or WADA. The UCI did ask questions though and the Vrijman report was the result. In the Vrijman report LNDD was accused of poor laboratory practice, lack of acceptable chain-of-custody, and poor security measures that would prevent sabotage of rider samples.

Damien Ressiot; obtained the 1999 Tour de France doping control form numbers of Lance Armstrong from the UCI. These numbers were assigned to the 1999 Tour de France rider samples that were being tested for "scientific" reasons by LNDD. LNDD did have the sample numbers included on the sample bottles and the date the samples were given...so no great deductive logic would have been needed to solve the puzzle of whom the samples belonged to. If Ressiot had some contact at LNDD.

Bingo! Damien Ressiot published the results of the LNDD research test results in L'Equipe before the results were known to WADA, the UCI, or the French Sports Ministry! The results were provided by someone at LNDD.

What are we to make of all this nonsense? Were the Lance Armstrong samples "sabotaged" after Ressiot received the doping control numbers from the UCI? Is Lance Armstrong a doper and do these prologue results of 100% synthetic isoforms prove it? There are no confirmation tests that are required by WADA; the sample must be collected and divided in half; one half of the sample will be designated 'a' and one 'b'; if the 'a' sample is deemed positive then the athlete has the right to test the 'b' saple in the presence of a representative selected by the rider.

Will WADA abandon the confirmation tests? Will USADA file an adverse analytical finding (AAF) based on an old sample result that has no confirmation test? Will the athlete be able to defend him or herself from these "new" rules?

Because even though 'Roid Floyd' did dope, he was still correct when he stated in Positively False; the anti-doping agencies will take liberties with the rules; if the rules are not written in stone in WADA code. And that is a very scary proposition.

To think after fighting WADA for two years, Floyd Landis may be the clown that enables the anti-doping agencies to hang an innocent person. That is a damn shame.

Floyd Landis is a Compulsive Liar

Floyd Landis is cooked.  After four years of denial of performance enhancing drug use, Floyd Landis admitted in a surprise interview with ESPN writer Bonnie Ford, that he used human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone throughout his entire cycling career. Even worse, Floyd Landis admitted that he used human growth hormone and testosterone during the 2006 Tour de France!

Unbelievable!  Floyd Landis claims that he tossed and turned all night wrestling with the deception that he perpetrated on the cycling community. Overwhelmed with the pangs of consciousness, poor Floyd finally decided it was time to come clean and confess.

Bother Floyd.  You could have saved me and other people who supported you through thick and thin the pain we suffered from insidious attacks from the doubters, if you would have admitted to your crime, at once, without reservations. Floyd, you were supposedly offered a deal by USADA CEO Travis Tygart with the shortest suspension in history if you would have implicated Lance Armstrong in a doping allegation.  Why did not you accept this offer? Or was this deal that Travis Tygart offered you another fabrication of your demented mind?

What are we to make of your nonsense Floyd? You state that you took performance enhancing drugs without remorse because you reasoned that since others may have doped, why not you as well? That reasoning is similar to the logic you used on people whom you exploited with the Floyd Fairness Fund: a slick presentation, solicitation of money, accusations of wrong doing by the anti-doping-crusade. You were the innocent victim, you presented your case so convincingly that fools supported you based upon your word of honor.

Velo Vortmax respected your honor and maintained the position that you were speaking truthfully. This position is now forfeit. Floyd, from this moment, this blog will regard you as nothing more than a psychopath, a narcissist, a compulsive liar, and a skillful manipulator. You should retire from cycling immediately!

Because, Floyd, if you have the audacity to think of yourself as the new whistle blower of the peloton, if you think that you are destined to assume the role of the man who will convict Lance Armstrong of a doping allegation based upon unsubstantiated witness testimony, then quit riding and start writing. Use David Walsh, the author of From Lance to Landis, as you ghost writer.  But don't expect me to buy a copy of your book.  I expect you to spin yarns, and I have better fiction to read.

Note to ESPN Radio

Colin Cowherd is a complete moron and his evaluation of cycling fans was one of the most despicable accounts I have ever heard on radio. According to Cowherd, cyclists are nothing more than rich tri-athlete snobs who shave and wax their backs, ride four thousand dollar bicycles, have six figure incomes, and who are Francophile fairy fags. Cowherd thinks cycling fans are nothing more than drunken idiots who wear outrageous costumes during the Tour de France. Listen to this you xenophobic clown.  American people do care about cycling races, and these people are not the typical obese American slobs who endanger the lives of cyclists, slobs who text while driving four thousand pound vehicles, slobs who are lost in space while listening to morons like Colin Cowherd on the radio! Non cyclists eat sausages and drink beer on the couch all day in front of a television watching football games. These football fans are fat, lazy people who could not ride to the nearest corner. Obesity is at epidemic levels in America, these fools should be encouraged to get some exercise. Get out and ride! You might become a true red, white, and blue American cycling fan patriot with a body fat content of less than five percent. Get off the couch and get a life!

The Tour of California is an important race, we want more coverage! Enough of Tiger Woods and his alleged actovegin, human growth hormone, and platelet therapy already. Doping is not confined only to cyclists, by the way. Every sport is rife with drug use.  People caught doping is growing at an exponential rate. Awake! Colin Cowherd, you moron. Does Tiger Woods need a doping doctor to hit a drive five hundred yards, and do we need to be reminded of this fact on your crap radio show every five minutes?

To the Anti-Doping Agencies

Your labs suck. You have no harmony. Your behavior in the Floyd Landis case was beyond belief. Your draconian laws are as unfair as ever. You need to reform. You are not above the law.

Conclusion

Floyd, you have nothing left to prove. Quit. Your e-mails to the anti-doping agencies won't make you a pro-tour rider again. You have an outstanding warrant pending in France, do you not? Did you hack the computers at Chatenay-Malabry? Did you tell Martin Dugard that Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs? Did you orchestrate the drunken phone call to Greg LeMond? Liar! Why should we believe anything that you say ever again?