Wednesday Podium Girls!

News
SI Columnist Pete McEntegart says about the release:

Disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis plans to post his defense against Tour de France doping charges on his personal Web site this week. It turns out Landis is very Internet-savvy. For instance, in order to goose the number of hits, he'll surround each dry recitation of testing protocols with pictures of the Tour's "Podium Girls."

Good idea, Pete! Thanks! I'm sure TBV readers approve! (apologies to Pez).

Lemond backpedals a little, saying charge hasn't been proven, but the only defense is if someone confesses to sample tampering.

NYT covers release; Macur says it's uphill and Tygart preens.

Jim Litke of the AP's column pours scorn on Landis' plan to release. Says it will be warmed over excuses, silly paperwork complaints, and that the reading of "metabolites(s)" is obvious, and not the way Jacobs says. Gets laughed at in DPF forum, and then this letter is posted on a blog in response. The letter reveals his email as jlitke@ap.org if you want to send your own note of agreement, or otherwise.

Now it's official. Press release from Michael Henson:

LANDIS TO POST CASE INFORMATION ON PERSONAL WEBSITE

Los Angeles, October 11, 2006 ­ Floyd Landis, 2006 Tour de France winner, will make public documents that use fact-based science to support his innocence in the alleged positive doping test of July 20, 2006. The documents will be released on Landis' personal website at 5:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, October 12. The following documents will be available on
www.floydlandis.com:

• Attorney Howard Jacobs' motion for dismissal, submitted to the Anti-Doping Review Board (ADRB) on September 11, 2006.

• The complete World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) document package, inclusive of the testing information from Landis' A¹ and B' samples.

• A PowerPoint presentation created by Arnie Baker, M.D. with specific reference to:

1. The details of the carbon isotope ratio test (CIR), demonstrating that the CIR conducted on Landis' urine sample does not meet the WADA criteria for a positive doping test;
2. Demonstration of an unacceptable variation in sample testing results;
3. Errors in fundamental testing procedure and protocol
   

Landis received notice on September 18 that the ADRB has recommended that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) move forward in the disciplinary process related to the cyclist¹s alleged positive drug test. Howard Jacobs, attorney for Landis, has requested an open hearing by the American Arbitration Association to contest potential sanctions against the
athlete.

Landis, who underwent the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing procedure on September 27, is fourteen days into a physical rehabilitation program and is steadily increasing strength and range of movement in his right hip. Doctors anticipate that he will be able to begin training in two weeks for the 2007 season, when he hopes to return to France to defend his Tour de France
title.

Forums
Back at DPF last night, Landis explains the facts of life to those up after TBV went to bed:

Because cycling is an Olympic sport, while the Olympics does very little for cycling, we are subject to WADA. The problem comes from the fact that mutualy, cycling and the olympics do very little for each other. Therefore it is the perfect whipping boy for Dick Pound who makes it clear that he cares very little about the reputation of the sport and because it is big enough to get publicity but not wealthy enough to make him go away, he makes it one of a few which he would destroy for his agenda.

Furthermore to that end, he and WADA have no financial interest in the sport progressing, so why be reasonable, since the more positive tests they can produce (at any cost) the more credibility they gain. The sport needs to leave the Olympics if it will ever become self governed and make wise business decisions from every aspect, not doping alone.

...Furthermore, I was invited to the Olympics and declined. I am not speaking out of spite. There is no value in the Olympics for a road racer.

...Check out the statistics on the USADA home page, I have had more out of competition tests at home for the year than all of basketball last time I checked. An example of a rich Olympic sport.

...My real point was that the problem is that the testers have no financial stake in the sport and therefore have no reason to be objective. It's called capitalism and it works.

...Whatever happens next, we should stop people from finishing ahead of others while looking angry.

Q:Are you for a standardized test for "normalcy" for each rider, to be used as a baseline for doping control?

FL: It sounds like a much more constructive idea at this point, clearly at this point OP seems to have accomplished very little.

[on different thread]
We have asked for quite a few things other than the results of the A and B sample but have been ignored. Things, I might add, that we suspect exist and are being kept from us.
So on Thursday, all you will get is the lab docs for A and B. Sorry it's all we have.

...That was my logic too but what if they used multiple reference compounds and failed to find synthetic cortisone. Would that call the test into question when they had the TUE at the lab?

Later in the day, it seemed like people were getting punchy and silly, especially in the evening marking time until the release. I haven't picked much more out of the discussion, except some suggestions that contamination might be important, but maybe not for CIR.

rec.bicycles.racing on Pee Wee Herman's Slide show.

At topix, Rant wades in and takes on Litke.

Blogs

Bicycling's Boulder Report applauds the release, and favorably compares Landis' openness to Hamilton's refusal to return calls.

Dugard says, "it's only right that he puts it out there. WADA has tried him in the media, despite a series of inconsistencies in the testing process which cast considerable doubt on his guilt. It's only right that he fight back in the same manner."

PJ is afraid 2007 is going to be a meltdown for cycling with Messers. Pound and McQuaid going insane because of failed cases, and Grand Tour organizers telling the ProTour to stuff it.

Rant is optimistic about what docs will show, down on Pound, McQuaid, and OP.

FLITM shows off his cake, no not George.


Frank Giradot's Landis stories. He's a one-time sportswriter who happens to be Floyd's neighbor. I'd linked some of his articles earlier, but the links went dead. They're archived here.

Drifting Son notes release, plugs TBV; we reciprocate.


Hincapie for Cheryl,
by request in the
comments

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