[ire]

After two years we will have the final verdict, talk about taking a long time. I'll be watching Velonews for the outcome, anyone wanna take bets on the outcome


http://www.velonews.com/article/78938/floyd-landis-cas-decision-expected-monday

Floyd Landis CAS decision expected Monday
By VeloNews.com

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will publish its decision on Floyd Landis' appeal on Monday, June 30 at 7 am EST.

CAS held a closed-door hearing in New York in April.

Landis hopes the CAS appeal board — David Williams of New Zealand, Paris attorney Jan Paulsson and New York lawyer David Rivkin — will overturn the ruling against him by a US arbitration panel last September.

Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title after standing atop the podium following the final stage, undone when he tested positive for synthetic testosterone after the 17th stage of the race.

The American had fallen back in stage 16 but rallied in stage 17 to reclaim almost eight minutes on his way to a the victory.

Landis denied any wrongdoing and appealed to the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in an open hearing last May. But the USADA panel ruled 2-1 against him, resulting in a two-year ban through January 29, 2009.

The International Cycling Union stripped Landis of his 2006 crown after that verdict, awarding the title to Spain's Oscar Pereiro.

Landis presented the case anew to the global panel, again attacking the credibility of the French laboratory which handled his doping samples.

The USADA arbitration panel acknowledged several areas in which the French lab's handling of the test sample was improper but said the carbon ratio isotope test that showed Landis testing positive outweighed those issues.

Check VeloNews.com eaarly Monday for a complete report on the CAS decision.

 

[Westy]

So if he wins he would have spent 2 years off the bike, had his name smeared and spent millions of dollars. If he just fessed up?

 

[ire]

So if he wins he would have spent 2 years off the bike, had his name smeared and spent millions of dollars. If he just fessed up?

If he wins I bet there will be lawsuits across the board. A friend and I were talking about this case, and really Landis is a fool; he could have taken his suspension from the end of the Tour, lost the title, kept the millions he earned, and be back to racing this year. Sure he is older now, and probably not a big contender, but he could have played a mentor role on a team

 

[dhmike]

If he wins I bet there will be lawsuits across the board. A friend and I were talking about this case, and really Landis is a fool; he could have taken his suspension from the end of the Tour, lost the title, kept the millions he earned, and be back to racing this year. Sure he is older now, and probably not a big contender, but he could have played a mentor role on a team

i agree ire, your a pretty smart mofo.

 

[OGRipper]

If he wins I bet there will be lawsuits across the board. A friend and I were talking about this case, and really Landis is a fool; he could have taken his suspension from the end of the Tour, lost the title, kept the millions he earned, and be back to racing this year. Sure he is older now, and probably not a big contender, but he could have played a mentor role on a team

EXCEPT that if he really didn't do it, I can totally understand his desire to fight, regardless of the cost. We will probably never know for sure. I can say, however, that if I was innocent and people all over the world were calling me a cheater, I would do whatever it took to clear my name. Plus, he stands to make a lot more money in the future if he is proven innocent. (Endorsements, book deals, appearance fees, coach/sporting director, etc.)

As for my prediction: The ruling will stand.

 

[Westy]

EXCEPT that if he really didn't do it, I can totally understand his desire to fight, regardless of the cost. We will probably never know for sure. I can say, however, that if I was innocent and people all over the world were calling me a cheater, I would do whatever it took to clear my name. Plus, he stands to make a lot more money in the future if he is proven innocent. (Endorsements, book deals, appearance fees, coach/sporting director, etc.)

As for my prediction: The ruling will stand.

I could understand it all if he was innocent but it seems a lot of the neutral experts claim that although their were a long line of **** ups the science is still solid. I can't help but to think Floyd thought he might get off for a procedural technicality, like getting caught red handed but never receiving your Miranda Rights.

 

[ire]

I could understand it all if he was innocent but it seems a lot of the neutral experts claim that although their were a long line of **** ups the science is still solid. I can't help but to think Floyd thought he might get off for a procedural technicality, like getting caught red handed but never receiving your Miranda Rights.

I agree, he probably thought the technicalities would get him off; I think he should have gotten off because the labs need to have a message sent to them: get your sh!t together and follow procedure! The entire system is based on the integrity of the labs and making amateur mistakes, like failing to follow procedure when there is a mistake, doesn't inspire confidence.

 

[ire]

Damn, I thought we were going to have a decision by 9:00 am EST, I guess it's 11:00 EST now. I'm honestly glued to velonews.com for the verdict.....I'm a drama junky

 

[Westy]

I'm betting they put it off until about noon on Saturday.

 

[ire]

I'm betting they put it off until about noon on Saturday.

Well, it has been two years...

 

[Westy]

Your drama:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25412055/site/21683474/

Bannage

 

[ire]

thanks for the link

Court upholds Landis' doping ban
3-person CAS panel rules against cyclist in bid to reclaim 2006 title

BREAKING NEWS


LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Floyd Landis has lost his final chance to retain his 2006 Tour de France title.

Monday’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the last step of a multimillion-dollar process that poked holes in the anti-doping establishment but ultimately left the American cyclist as just another convicted cheater.

A three-person CAS panel upheld a previous panel’s decision, ruling his positive doping test during the Tour two years ago was, indeed, valid.

Landis also must pay $100,000 toward the legal fees of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

 

[sanjuro]

Not so breaking.

 

[OGRipper]

As for my prediction: The ruling will stand.

I am so awesome.



Getting bitch-slapped for the hundred grand has got to sting.

There is more info over on Velonews.

 

[ire]

Not so breaking.

whats breaking to you? watching it live on tv?

 

[loco-gringo]

It makes me sad that it ended this way. I never have liked Floyd so much, but it left an ugly scar on something I care about.

On the other hand, it opened some eyes, so there may be a greater good. It would make for a great "made for TV" movie.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

It makes me sad that it ended this way. I never have liked Floyd so much, but it left an ugly scar on something I care about.

On the other hand, it opened some eyes, so there may be a greater good. It would make for a great "made for TV" movie.

Only if Floyd is played by Jan Michael Vincent with his hair and beard dyed...

Maybe they could do it as sort of a rebirth of Airwolf...

Airwolf: The French Chronicles

Floyd Landis (Jan Michael Vincent) and Dom (Powers Booth), pilot the most technically advanced 1980's helicopter over the French countryside. They strike fear into the hearts of many but most notably Italian and German cyclists, as they've been accused of jamming the SAM sites that should've, blessedly, shot them down 20 years ago. A comeback special not to be missed.

 

[maddog17]

kinda expected this to happen. in a sport where doping is taken very seriously, i really didn't think his verdict would be overturned. i think he was the sacrificial goat. if i remember his case correctly, i thought his law team had found some serious flaws in the testing method and test center. if it is/was true then some dealings were done in a backroom to brush them under the carpet. i wouldn't put it past ASO to do this. i'm sure they were tired of LA winning and were frothing at the mouth to catch him doping and when they didn't, and Floyd won, well here was another chance to find a doper, and an American one at that. with all the recent crap ASO has pulled, i think Floyds case was the starting point for them to get their own thing going against the Pro Tour and UCI. a sort of... look at what we do to keep our races clean, we disqualify cheeters and such, join with us and race clean. which is a bunch of bs. i think there will always be dopers, period. and as medicine and technology gets better, so will the drugs they use. so like i've been saying all along.. let them dope all they want, just put ***'s on their records or a PD for pre dope and AD after dope. i think that would get some of them to stop since they know people will look at their win as not such an achievement since they had help with drugs. it would be looked upon as... hey congrats on winning Alpe duHuez in such a fast time, what did you do get towed by a car?

 

[ire]

I agree with maddog that the cards were stacked against him, but I don't think it was ASO specifically, WADA/UCI/ASO/USADA all came out criticizing him and no one was willing to go to bat for him. The fact is, that these tests aren't always accurate....no test has a 100% success rate. There should be a willingness within these organizations to scrutinize the science instead of blindly taking their word

 

[maddog17]

i see your point Ire, but i still think there may be some type of sacrificial lamb type thing going on with Floyd being the lamb. it seemed that he had some very valid facts about the testing and those doing the tests and it was ignored. the Tour is a monster of a race, and i imagine that the money it generates is enormous. and since doping has become the battlecry the last few years with people being caught (big names at that), plus past winners and big names, i think they all got on a similar wavelength to say it stops here. or it will be attempted to stop here. so Floyd got picked to be the poster boy of punishment. it just sucks all around in the end.

 

[OGRipper]

Maybe I am just bitter and jaded, but I think Floyd did it, got caught, and tried to weasel his way out of it on a technicality. I want to believe he was clean and naturally good enough to pull off that ride, but I just don't. And if that is what happened, I'm glad they didn't overturn the ruling.

Having said that, I'm bummed that my attitude is so crappy and pessimistic about what was an amazing performance (stage 17) and what could have been a great sporting achievement had it stood as legit.

 

[sanjuro]

Maybe I am just bitter and jaded, but I think Floyd did it, got caught, and tried to weasel his way out of it on a technicality. I want to believe he was clean and naturally good enough to pull off that ride, but I just don't. And if that is what happened, I'm glad they didn't overturn the ruling.

Having said that, I'm bummed that my attitude is so crappy and pessimistic about what was an amazing performance (stage 17) and what could have been a great sporting achievement had it stood as legit.

I was explaining this to my barber yesterday, who is a big SF Giants fan, so it was expedient to compare Landis with Barry Bonds.

I pointed out that Bonds had his best years after the age of 35. Compare what Ken Griffey Jr looks like at 38, and you have to wonder.

So Floyd Landis, who won a total of 5 races before 2006, proceeds to win 4 tours, you wonder about what he did to win.

Unfortunately, he took several more drug tests after his failed testosterone sample, and passed them all, there will always be a question mark about this failure.

 

[Westy]

Maybe I'm really jaded and think that Floyd was guilty but probably so was everyone else, they just didn't get caught. I think that a large percentage of pro cyclists migh still be cheating.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/sports/olympics/26doping.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=epo&st=nyt&oref=slogin

I've flipped by the olympic trials a few times over the past few days and I don't think I have caught a race (swimming/running) where a world record hasn't been broken. I have to wonder how the hell those record keep getting smashed. I'm sure better science makes better athletes but it still takes a perfect storm to break a record and it seems it is happening all too often.

 

[Wumpus]

I've flipped by the olympic trials a few times over the past few days and I don't think I have caught a race (swimming/running) where a world record hasn't been broken. I have to wonder how the hell those record keep getting smashed. I'm sure better science makes better athletes but it still takes a perfect storm to break a record and it seems it is happening all too often.

I think some of the swimming records are falling due to the turns and the dolphin kick. Phelps went into one turn a head behind and came out half a body length in front.

 

[Wumpus]

I think some of the swimming records are falling due to the turns and the dolphin kick. Phelps went into one turn a head behind and came out half a body length in front.

'technological doping'???

Speedo's LZR (pronounced “laser”) swimsuit is all the rage here at the Olympic trials. It's so tight that it can take 20 minutes – and help from a couple of assistants – to wriggle into.

But once it's on, it's something. More than 40 world records have been broken by swimmers wearing the suit this year.

Kind of reminds me of Graeme Obree:

 

[ire]

That is clearly cheating, his hands are touching his chest :biggrin:

 

[OGRipper]

That is clearly cheating, his hands are touching his chest :biggrin:

No, it was cheating because he built his own bike using a bunch of random crap, including washing machine parts, and that scared those who get to decide that sort of thing.

 

[Westy]

I think some of the swimming records are falling due to the turns and the dolphin kick. Phelps went into one turn a head behind and came out half a body length in front.

Phelps and others have been using the dolphin kick since the last olympics.

 

[ire]

No, it was cheating because he built his own bike using a bunch of random crap, including washing machine parts, and that scared those who get to decide that sort of thing.

Whats funny is that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.....I wouldn't have thought some guy could build his own bike from a bunch of crap, with a weird position, and then go on to break the hour record, twice, and win 2 world championships

 

[sanjuro]

Talking about technical doping, there is some talk, probably not serious, to banning high-altitude sleeping tents.

 

[ire]

Talking about technical doping, there is some talk, probably not serious, to banning high-altitude sleeping tents.

I would think that would be impossible. How would you know someone was using one? You might live at 9,000ft The rules about technology are getting ridiculous. The Tour will still be following the UCI rules for bikes despite being under the French Federation
http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/79153/the-french-federation-has-its-own-bike-tech-rules-for-the

 

[Wumpus]

Phelps and others have been using the dolphin kick since the last olympics.

So they've had four years to perfect it plus they picked up a new suit...