Monday Mashup

Quote of the Day

None of this matters. Dick Pound will find experts to reinterpret any inconsistencies to make Floyd look even more guilty. Once Dick has made up his mind, nothing else matters. link

CURRENT STATUS page has updates.

News
Announcement that Filing has been made at FloydLandis.com blog, at 5:15 PT, I think. The gist is, "the lab screwed up and misreported their results - when you look close, they're negative." No specific details have been provided, neither the full filing nor the lab report. If true, the substance of the defense may be plausible, but there is a lot more to show before anyone believes it. Comments are open, but none have made it through moderation at 22:54 PT as I head to bed.

Covered by AP via WashingtonPost, replicated elsewhere. Nuance of the chain of custody discussion is lost. It's presented as if there were a problem and Buxeda should have complained when the 'B' was done, not now.
Reuters has good quotes from the summary,

The one metabolite that has been identified by WADA-accredited laboratories as the best, and longest-term indicator, of exogenous testosterone usage was reported as negative in Landis's urine samples," the statement said.

and

The only testosterone metabolite that can be argued as positive under the WADA Positivity Criteria resulted from an unknown laboratory error and is not the result of testosterone usage, the statement added.

No AFP report yet.

Floyd in Pennsylvania reported in PhillyBurbs.com, with real interview. Floyd is directly quoted as saying, “On Monday we'll submit a request for the case to be dropped because, based on the "A' and the "B' sample, there are too many contradictions for the two to be the same sample." He speaks to Lance maybe once a week, commiserating over the lab. He says, "I said from the beginning there was some kind of agenda or problem with the tests, and it's clear now the lab is the source of the problem.”

It took me several readings to get the substance out of the last quoted sentence, because I locked onto "agenda" and short-circuited. There's got to be a better way of wording that, maybe starting with the punch point first -- It's clear now the lab is the source of the problem, it isn't cloak-and-dagger tampering

Covered by Philly Inquirer, "I do feel confident," he said. "Things are going to be fine, for sure. First of all, I'm confident because I know I'm innocent. Secondly, if, like I've been told, they're going to give me a fair hearing, then things will be cleared up." If there's a hearing, expected in December or January.

He also says they've been unable to get results of other tests at the tour.

Covered by Lancaster Online, local paper with good interview. Says he's going to see ex-Teammates at a the Vuelta in Madrid on Wednesday, riding a little every other day. He says he needs to win the Tour again to make everything come out right.

Eurosport covers current status. AFP picks up, via VeloNews; spreading around.

Other News

NY Times Reports Andreu confession to EPO in '99 Tour, supporting Lance, along with another unidentified teammate still in cycling. Long piece full of dirty laundry airing. Yes, this is getting very political. Why would they spill now? Also carried in Huffington Post. The 1999 Postal team was:

Lance Armstrong
Frankie Andreu
Pascal Derame
Tyler Hamilton
George Hincapie
Kevin Livingston
Peter Meinert-Nielsen
Christian Vandevelde
Jonathan Vaughters

Correction made by the National Ledger. They now admit he hasn't been stripped of his title, only fired by Phonak.

Bruyneel speaks to VeloNews, says they wanted to keep Floyd, and wanted to get him back, but didn't push because iShares sponsorship was dependant on Landis. Scandal is a big surprise to him, Floyd was the strongest, deserved to win. Sounds like he'd hire him if he gets cleared.

Blogs
Rant likes what he sees of the defense, already figuring payback.
Bad Boy Floyd resurfaces, gave me pointer to Inq. story.
Recent rollup in TdFBlog, mocks breathless caps in PR headline, links to Crit appearance plugs TBV.
FLITM laments missing him at Univest, picks out the good shirts.
Four, er Two years ago it was... Blogger reposts story of Floyd and Tyler in Madrid.
Brief comment by Dugard, thinks it's horribly politicised, and a simple investigation is unlikely to turn public opinion.

A comment at Floyd's blog says,

Sorry, not sure I can buy any of this. The problems with process would need to flagrant and not the nit-picking of lawyers to convince me. Conspiracy theories went out of style after Kennedy and captured aliens. I had loved your spirit before the Tour and your comeback at the Tour was amazing. However, Your comeback from this, would be even more amazing.

Forums
Topix discussion continues skepticism, thinks Landis won't reveal anything because it's to his legal advantage somehow to keep the public in the dark. Post announcement, hunger to read the full filing.

Rec.bicycles.racing is taking this more positively, because they for the most part don't trust the labs and Dick in the first place. In fact, they find it hard to stay on Landis what with the chance to pound Pound.

Daily Peloton forums are reacting positively.

[updated 22:54]