Thursday Roundup

News
The Mountain Echo posts a story largely about Cleveland Indian Paul Byrd who admitted to using HGH, but manages to besmirch Floyd Landis in the process anyway.

The CyclingNews reports that Patrik Sinkewitz testified before the German Cycling Federation yesterday and told all, but named no names. Still he hopes for a lighter suspension due to his cooperation. In other news Victor Cordero of the Vuelta approves of the bio passports, and thinks they will benefit riders like Floyd Landis who've tested positive and left others wondering who won, though how this benefits Floyd is up for speculation. In a CyclingNews update the 2008 Tour de France route is revealed with no prologue and shorter time trials. Also there will be no guaranteed place for any team according to Christian Prudhomme, though talks continue with the Pro Tour.

The VeloNews reports that Andrey Kashechkin is taking a novel approach by looking to the European Court of Human Rights to clear his name based on
Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Luc Mission, Kashechkin's lawyer, Article 8 states:

Article 8 states that only the public authorities can interfere in people's private lives, and Misson added: "... and the sports authorities are not the public authorities."

Misson will argue that even the principle of collecting blood samples runs contrary to the international charter on human rights, and is thus forbidden.

The Herald echoes hopes from Tour de France organizers that no more "nasty videos" should accompany the launch of future Tours. Last year's launch featured Floyd Landis splintering in a cracked mirror, this year thunder was the soundtrack for the portion of the review of the 2007 Tour de France which concerned doping controversies.

Blogs
The Fredcast Podcast has been posted with comments on the Landis appeal to the CAS among many other things.

Erik's Ironman Site has no sports heroes anymore. No wonder, look how fast Floyd Landis went from a hero to a pariah.

Colby and Sarah finished reading "Positively False" and that, along with the evidence amassed, convinces them that Floyd is innocent, though he is probably screwed anyway.

Liz Oakes posts lots of great pictures of the LA Triathlon Club event with Floyd Landis mentioned below.

From an emailer

The following report is also posted in the Wednesday Roundup comments and comes from someone who attended the Floyd Landis appearance at the LA Triathlon Club last night. Thanks for sharing:

So I went to the LA Tri Club meeting last nigh where Floyd Landis spoke. He appeared to be fairly happy while taking pictures, and signing copies of his book, while enjoying a couple of cold beers. There were hundreds of people at the meeting and the resounding applause when he was introduced was longer than any other professional athlete that the club has brought in previously. It was a Q/A session with written questions submitted in advance (during the cocktail hour). Floyd is not what you would call a cult of personality, but gave a memorable prologue and answered every question far beyond the highlights that I have summarized.

+ Being a pro cyclist for so long he had forgotten about how much he used to love getting swag at races. The Tri-Club was giving out Visors, Bio-tene (sp?) mouth wash -which Floyd joked that it was not such a subtle hint that he had bad breath. A Toyota United cowbell. And most importantly, an LA-Tri Club swim cap, which is bright yellow and branded with the team logo. To which, Floyd said "You know, they can take my yellow jersey, but they can never take my yellow condom!" (Holding the swim cap high above his head). This brought the house down in laughter.

+ Overall, he seemed just like the guy next door (That happens to be one of the greatest cyclists)

+ He thinks that Triathletes are a special breed as he is pretty sure that he can't swim well and knows that he sucks at running. But felt that he could find some common ground with the bike portion.

+ He further thinks that Ironman athletes are beyond crazy and he is not able to wrap his head around how they can ride 112 miles in a TT position WITHOUT a Chamois between their legs. He has never raced a TT or ridden in a TT position longer than 40 miles and can't understand why people would. (More laughter)

+ States that besides winning the TDF that many of the days of racing he cherishes most were not victories, but when he rode in support of someone that did win. (IMO-that is a measure of a true champion)

+ Contrary to popular belief, Jack Daniels is not his favorite alcohol. When pressed for a favorite he responded that he prefers his drinks to be 'free ones' and 'hopefully in a Costco sized bottle'. (Raucous laughter)

I went into the meeting with open expectations and a firm belief that an injustice of staggering proportions had been committed. And walked away with some melancholy knowing that it was happening to what seemed like a genuinely good person who was taking it far better than I would be able to.

Oh, yeah. I got a Toyota United Cowbell, but not the mouthwash. Maybe there was something to it..