The arbitration panel released their decision in the Floyd Landis doping case today. It ruled 2-1 against Landis. He can appeal the decision to Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
He will lose his Tour de France title and be banned from racing through January 29, 2009. USADA had wanted the 2 year suspension to start today. Landis had wanted it to start from when he was fired by Phonak last year. The arbitration panel ruled he had voluntarily agreed to not compete internationally on January 30, 2007 and used that as the start of the 2 years.
USADA has posted the decision. It’s 84 pages and full of legalese and technical details of the testing. Although they agreed that the T/E testing was sloppy and didn’t prove Landis doped, they ruled the more complicated IRMS was reliable. Christopher Campbell, the desenting arbitrator disagreed. Even the 2 arbitrators that ruled against Landis issued a warning that they had concerns about the French lab that did the testing. Trust but Verify has a few posts with more details of the ruling.
I’m not surprised by the ruling. Although I think doping is common in cycling and other sports, I think the anti-doping establishment is corrupt. They have rules that make it hard for one lab directory to point out errors made by another lab. The French lab leaked Landis’s positive tests and have leaked other results. In the US you have to agree to arbitration to race. USADA chooses the acceptable arbitrators. Not surprisingly this case makes USADA 35-0 in cases brought to arbitration .
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Tags: cycling, Floyd Landis, Tour de France
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Landis does seem to be fighting this really hard…. Kinna like a bulldog. I’m incinled to belive him…
Maybe he well start showing up at underground enduro mtb races =)
“USADA chooses the acceptable arbitrators. Not surprisingly this case makes USADA 35-0 in cases brought to arbitration .”
Right there, that tells you how corrupt the system is. It’s completely stacked in the prosecution’s favor, for every single case. How does any athlete stand a chance?
I believe that most of these guys are doing SOMETHING (other than hill intervals).
I also believe the testing system is BROKE and McQuaid is BAD for the sport.
It appears all of your posts are about results of other races/doping allegations instead of your own training. Has UltraRob retired? Any plans for future races? Your blog used to be fun and inspiring to read, I know find it quite boring. Get off your butt and start training!
A concerned fellow ultra
anonymous, I haven’t retired but have been forced into a hiatus by my job. I working to fix it so I can ride more again. Trust me I’ll be back training when I can.
Even if I started training hard now I wouldn’t be in shape for RAAM or the GDR next year but I still plan to do them in the future. Next year I hope to do some long distane MTB events and probably a RAAM qualifier type race.
Glad to hear it
[…] In an interview with ESPN, Floyd Landis confirmed that emails the WSJ obtained to cycling officials and sponsors admitting to doping during his cycling career were his. He was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. He still says that he didn’t take synthetic testosterone in the 2006 Tour de France. There was sloppy lab work but after spending $2 million he still lost his doping case. […]