Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Wednesday Roundup

News
The AFP this morning reports that the AFLD has banned Floyd Landis from competing in France through January 2009:

American Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping, was on Wednesday banned from all competitions in France by the country's anti-doping agency AFLD.

American Landis tested positive for steroid testosterone on July 20 last year and was last September handed a two-year ban by the American Anti-Doping Agency USADA which runs till January 29 2009.

The USADA ban meant Landis was suspended for competitions organised by cycling's world governing body the UCI and affiliated national cycling federations.

This new AFLD ban, which also runs to January 29 2009, means Landis cannot now compete in France in events outside the jurisdication of the French cycling federation though he has the right to appeal to France's highest administration ruling body, the Conseil d'Etat.

The AP version of the Landis banned from cycling in France story provides a bit more detail:

Pierre Bordry, the head of the AFLD, said the French ban will be in place regardless of the CAS ruling.

Landis can appeal the AFLD's decision in France, but is unlikely to do so until after his CAS hearing is completed.

Bordry said Landis' legal team had presented its case in writing Nov. 29, and the AFLD's decision to bar the former Phonak rider was made the same day.


The VeloNews also reports on the AFLD ban of Landis noting that it is in large part due to ongoing disputes between the UCI and Amaury Sport which "owns" the Tour de France. They want all the bases covered:

The French case was re-opened in October and on Wednesday the AFLD voted to extend Landis's suspension to French events that are organized outside of the jurisdiction of the French cycling federation. Landis has the right to appeal the decision to France's highest administration ruling body, the Conseil d'Etat.


In more VeloNews it should surprise no one when it reports that L'Equipe has once again "leaked" results from the LNDD. This time it's Iban Mayo's, and his "B" sample, previously found "inconclusive" by a Belgian lab, has been found this time to be positive. Stay tuned.

The CyclingNews "year in review" continues and in part portrays Floyd Landis' fund raising for his USADA appeal in an unnecessarily unflattering way and then goes on to the USADA hearing itself ignoring the importance of the process completely in order to concentrate on Will Geoghegan. In other news the UCI's Pat McQuaid met with Cédric Vasseur, the new President of the Association of Professional Cyclists (CPA) to discuss the the publication of the names of the riders in the UCI's "target group". This list gives the names of riders obliged to disclose their whereabouts to allow out-of-competition testing. At the CPA's request, the UCI stated that this list would be removed and the whole peloton after January 1 will be published. And Michael Rasmussen is planning to sue his former Rabobank team for his dismissal from the Tour de France and subsequent firing earlier this year.

Greenville Online.com notes the unusual connection between baseball and the federal government and seems convinced that, compared to cycling and track where severe penalties for cheating are dealt, baseball will do nothing much in light of the Mitchell Report.

NPR's Morning Edition
today features a report on the use of HGH in baseball. Drs. Gary Wadler and Don Catlin are featured in the report. Catlin is currently developing a new more easily used test to detect HGH. The report can be accessed through the NPR website.

Blogs
Cycledog notes LaTasha Jenkins' win at USADA's expense and tries to relate it to the Floyd Landis case.

Broad Street Believer can't seem to make up his mind about Andy Pettitte, though his fiancee is clear on the issue. But, he does seem to have defintely made up his mind about Floyd Landis.

Triple Crankset reacts to today's AFLD Landis ban.

Cyclicio.us talks about the AFLD decision and Mayo, but really has an amusing other cycling news roundup.

Brainsnap reports the Hare has been DQed for doping, leaving the Tortoise the winner of the race, and Hare's career in question.



2 comments:

ZENmud productions said...

Hi TbV...

Am very glad to see that you had highlighted EXACTLY the sentence that makes me cringe:

"Bordry said Landis' legal team had presented its case in writing on Nov. 29, and the AFLD's decision to bar the former Phonak rider was made the same day."

The facts then, are that:
a- AFLD had its decision taken, prior to receipt of the Landis defense;
b- AFLD, which decided this 'case' on November 29th, still has not released its reasoned 'decision' for the public;
c- Somehow, the decision was taken far from L'Equipe reporters;
d- Given the expressly stated bias of AFLD, whose decision must have pre-dated the receipt of Landis' argument(s), how objective would an appeal be, within this French system?

Landis could request integration of this 'suspension' into his CAS case, arguing that, since multiple entities have rights to appeal when an athlete wins his original hearing decision, he should have a similar, counterveiling 'right' to streamline judicial procedings.

How would the French administrative "Conseil d'Etat" treat this case?

When will AFLD publish the decision?

hmmmmmmm ZENmud

strbuk said...

Thanks Zen, I thought that indeed was the money sentence and needed highlighting.

str