Tuesday Roundup

News
Cyclingpost.com publishes the results of a Landis poll in which just over half the respondents think he should hang it up.

Blogs
Dugard posts a piece that starts with no relation to Landis ("ASTRONAUT LOVE TRIANGLE!"), but contains potentially important tidbits:

Landis, by the way, told me the other night that he'd definitely be in the car with Austin and I for at least a few days at the Tour. I'm still wrapping my mind around this Tour de France/Amazing Race documentary the Legend wants to film. Not sure how we're going to pull it off, but it sure doesn't hurt to have Floyd in the car. If nothing else, we're guaranteed the best insider commentary of anyone at the Tour. On that note, I was poking around a little, and there's a quiet battle shaping up between the UCI/Pro Tour and ASO, the company that owns the Tour de France. The conflict is well known, but the doping aspect of it is not. There's every indication that the French and the Tour are softening their position on Floyd Landis (it's killing them with sponsors not to have a champion), while the UCI is cheek by jowl with WADA and USADA. In a nutshell, the battle for Floyd's future runs a whole lot deeper than we've been led to believe.

Comment: This is consistent with our belief, expanded by Rant, that time is moving towards Landis if he can keep the finances together. The question is what the ASO can get done to force a resolution if UCI, USADA and WADA don't want to play along. What angle does the AFLD have on the situation if they are putting a stay on their proceeding?

Steroid Nation posts a detailed response from Howard Jacobs (one of Landis's attorneys) in which he responds to an accusation that lawyers are bleeding Landis dry. The Nation leans to the view that USADA is being intransigent, and the lawyers on Landis' side are just doing their jobs.

Comment: It's easy to imagine the ASO feeling time and financial pressure because USADA was playing games with support from the UCI and WADA. The UCI certainly has no love lost for ASO and the other grand tour organizers. The UCI would be only too happy to have the ASO's throat slit by angy Tour sponsors. "If our ProTour runs Le Tour, we would not have this mess, tsk, tsk."

Recovox News gives a succinct summary of last week's suggested WADA reforms.

Cycling through Crime applauds last week's DP PR piece on Travis Tygart. It's a student blog for a PR course, and we drop some background on the Professor's course blog in this post.

Rant posts that yesterday's statement by Landis was aimed at a specific target:

Then, in a message that seems to be squarely aimed at Wiggins, Landis offers him this advice:

Instead of repeatedly seeking media coverage to point out that he is racing clean, he should worry about the anti-doping organizations’ current ineffective and unfair systems, which ‘catch’ clean riders like him right along with the cheaters.

Wiggins should definitely be worrying about that. As should all professional cyclists. Floyd Landis’ trials and tribulations should serve as a cautionary tale for those who believe that just living clean and racing clean is enough to avoid the anti-doping cops. It’s not.

But later, el-Ranto think that not naming a Who was intentional, and for good reason.

Go Faster Jim still wants to know who's getting the bird?

Roadkill Dream thinks FL had the most expensive bike in the peloton, and now has the most expensive titanium hip to match.

Man in the Moon wonders where Floyd is when you need him? He's in Brooklyn tommorow, we know that.

Doucheblog Cycling (beware the photo) takes note of the fact that all too many people think that all cyclists are dopers. He also laments the cold, it's -6F at this very moment here, BBBBRRRR!

Kissena, the NYC Cycling club, has some pix of Landis in their kit with a member who went to the Power Camp. Lenny looks like the wrong buy to pick a fight with.

The Kissena jacketed spectator in our picture at the top of the page is identified as Rufus Pichler in the comments to the FFF/Brooklyn announcement at NYVeloCity for the Weds Feb 7 appearance.

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