Monday Roundup

News
The Rocky Mountain News' Bernie Lincicome writes that despite the "stain" of doping allegations on his accomplishment, Floyd Landis' amazing ride on Stage 17 of last year's Tour de France was till something to see and not forget.

The CyclingNews reckons that partly because of Floyd Landis' absence from the TdF this year Christophe Moreau may have a chance at winning the big race.


VeloNews Monday EuroFile notes that Oscar Pereiro has had one hell of a year not knowing IF he will be declared winner of last summer's Tour de France, not to mention having had all the fun a winner would experience taken from him due to various circumstances. But, he is not the only one with problems, the UCI called an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss abnormal readings from samples submitted by several top riders after the Giro D'Italia. The riders showed lower than normal readings of a hormone and thus their specimens were flagged. They include winner Danilo Di Luca:

Officials from Italy's national Olympic Committee requested an emergency meeting with UCI president Pat McQuaid in an effort to secure data from the governing body's on-going longitudinal medical monitoring of the riders in question.

A CONI spokesman said the agency wants to compare those values to the results of the Giro samples.

"The results are of concern, because all four show hormone levels that are not normal for adult males," the spokesman said. "These results would be more likely to have come from a child rather than a fully mature adult. The fact that four men all produce such results on the same day is extremely bizarre."

The Guardian (UK) headlines Landis as saying, "What people think of me is meaningless" in a fair article that make him sound like he's considering retirement.

"Before all of this happened I used to put more energy and time into caring what people thought about me but the truth is I'm not going to convince everybody," he says. "What people think of me personally is meaningless at this stage. They can think what they like. All I care about now is that the next guy who comes along gets the chance to defend himself. As the system stands, an accused person has no chance of proving he is innocent."

Bicycle Retailer via Daily Spin notes

In Floyd Landis' new book, "Positively False," the embattled 2006 Tour de France winner saves his harshest words for the World Anti-Doping Agency and USADA, its U.S. counterpart, according to a recent USA Today story.

“USADA brought in LeMond because they couldn’t prove the case on scientific grounds,” said Landis, in an exclusive interview with USA Today. “It was like the weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq]. If you look behind what they said, there is no evidence. They just had to make something up.”

“Positively False” goes on sale tomorrow.

Blogs
Dugard tells us how he plans to blog during his coverage of the Tour de France this year, and he notes that Floyd Landis, 2006 TdF champion, will be somewhere between here and there promoting his book "Positively False".

Rant had his patience tested recently by incompetent airlines, but at the same time he had a great vacation. Now that he's back in the loop he sees all sorts of disturbing things have occurred since he left. Among them are, the Walsh book about Lance Armstrong, the UCI "pledge", and the "dopey" Men in Black allegations against riders who do not train in their usual team kits. All of this may make Rant want to go back on vacation, soon. In an update Rant wonders exactly what book Edward Wyatt of the NY Times read when he commented on alleged contradictions found in "Positively False".

Finger Food writes a lot about the Philles and whether they will be buying or selling this year. He also comments on his current obsession, Floyd Landis, who will be on the CBS Early Show tomorrow AM and Wednesday, and on Letterman tomorrow night. Now what's this about Led Zeppelin and Lancaster?

There is a reason Led Zeppelin never came to Lancaster and it has nothing to do with the fact there wasn’t a venue big enough to accommodate them…

Could it be... S A T A N ?

DBowen still doesn't know what to think, but has ordered both Positively False and Walsh's book.

WCSN's Greg Ruckman promises to talk about Landis in his next blog post. He's worried about doping at the Beijing Olympics, and likes orange Dutch recumbents in this one.

The Cyclist Blog has a couple of things wrong in this entry, one of which is that Oscar Pereiro has been given the TdF title, he has not.

Ransom Rides 100 will get to reviewing new books by Floyd Landis and David Walsh when he has time, he also intends to talk to another author who has even more to say about Lance Armstrong and doping.

Cycling Fans Anonymous points us to the Guardian piece above.

Guardian Blogs has the same story, with comments that are on the fence, and frustrated.

Ransom Rides 100 promises book reviews next week, and an interview with David Walsh.

Mistress Electrica (not safe for work)in "Love Pumping" talks about "supersaturating blood with oxygen (sort of like Floyd Landis)" as a way of addressing impotence in clients. On this occasion, we'll pass the opportunity to post a corrective comment.

Absolutely Alex runs over the Guardian article.