Saturday Roundup

News
The CyclingNews is chock full of interesting stuff this morning, none of it is directly about Floyd Landis. Perhaps most notable are the statements from the Association of Professional Cyclists (CPA) about the treatment of Cristian Moreni and Pat McQuaid at the Tour de France this year. CN also reports that John Eustices' Univest Grand Prix race in September through southeastern Pennsylvania will be broadcast in part on NBC with individual affiliates picking up the coverage on their own.

Blogs
Digital Influence Mapping likes the Authors@Google program and feels it introduces the employees to alternative viewpoints and styles of leadership. Floyd Landis' talk in July there is cited.


Cyril's Gleans goes far and wide to pick from what is out there to read and ponder, and uses a snarky phrase to link "The Outcast".


2point8 praises the restraint shown by photographer Larry Sultan in the Floyd Landis shots used in the NYT Magazine piece "The Outcast":

Can’t think of a better photographer to address the strange psychological purgatory where accused-doper Floyd Landis lives; that cinched space between personally right and publicly wrong. And Landis just so happens to live in Southern California. There’s nothing street about these images (save for the whirling dogs by Landis’ wife); Sultan accomplishes so much with stillness, he needn’t the flash of motion or slice of a moment to pull you in.

Racejunkie read "The Outcast" and it is indeed "The Land(is) of Confusion", with all due apologies to Genesis fans everywhere. RJ is surprised and impressed that Floyd has "maintained an even strain" over the past year, many would not have and that's a fact.

The Outdoor Journey bemoans the "turd smoking purgatory" in which Floyd Landis finds himself more than a year after his disputed 2006 Tour de France win and subsequent USADA hearings whose resolution seems interminable:

Whether or not Landis is guilty is beside the point to me. What’s troubling is the shitty evidentiary process and the relative lack of appeals available to the defendants. Presuming Landis is innocent, he is still fucked by the Stazi, er, I mean the United States Anti Doping Agency and the aptly named Dick Pound. Once you piss in a bottle and turn it over to the authorities, your life and your future as a professional athlete is out of your control. If they determine your sample tests positive, it’s game over for you baby.

Robinson Crusoe's Island talks about steroids being a controlled substance in the US and only legally obtainable through a prescription making the distinction between them and steroid precursors. He then cites Floyd Landis as an example of someone who used nandrolone.

Full Post with Comments...

Friday Roundup

News
The Idaho Mountain Express is still catching up with last weekend's Leadville 100 .

CyclingNews announces that Discovery Channel's swan song will be at the inaugural Tour of Missouri in September where they will send their "A" team. In an update of today's news the person who hacked into Michael Rasmussen's email has made a partial confession to his crime.

CyclingNews also has a fresh batch of letter for August 17, one addressed to the UCI stands out:

I believe that the fans support cycle racing. We do not like the doping but we certainly understand how riders could be moved to try anything in their dedication.

I believe that the doping regulations must not only be based on science but handled fairly and indiscriminately. Doping regulations are supposed to protect the long term health of riders who can lose perspective simply because they're young and ambitious.

They are also to maintain a standard of performance based strictly on the limits of the human body and mind. Those that are dedicated train the hardest and are naturally the most gifted should be the winners and not someone with the best doctor.

But based on these standards UCI, WADA and ASO are desperately wanting.

Perhaps it is time for racing to fall back to strictly national levels.

Americans don't need European racing managed by those who are so willing to spoil their own bedding. And European cycling fans certainly don't need bias for or against their riders which has plainly been the case.

Perhaps if we simply turn our backs on UCI, ASO and their silly bickering and all of the money falls out of pro racing we can come back again in a decade and build an organization based on love of the sport and not love of who knows what?

Tom Kunich

Telluride Daily Planet tells local Daniel Murray's Leadville story.

An added challenge was the fierce field of competitors including Floyd Landis — banned from professional cycling for alleged doping in the 2006 Tour de France. With Landis on the entrant list, this year’s race included a stacked field.

“Landis set a really strong pace and everyone rode faster,” Murray said of the favorite. “He also attracted a lot of hoopla.”

This year, the Leadville race reached its capacity with 200 more riders than last year. Of the 1,000-person field, roughly 650 finished. The top three finishers, including Landis, who placed second overall, blazed through the finish line in downtown Leadville, all breaking the 10-year-old course record of 7:05:45

The WSJ.com's Daily Fix makes note of "The Outcast" in rival publication The New York Times.

UPI News Sports Track notes that Floyd Landis eats protien pudding and has gained wieght. One thinks they may have missed several other cogent points from the NYT piece "The Outcast".

Blogs
Environmental Chemistry ponders the fact that we are still waiting for a verdict to be announced from the Landis/USADA hearings held in May. Three articles have been written by the folks at EC explaining the ins and outs of chain of custody issues with the case as well as the flawed lab work done at the LNDD, yet still we wait. Sara Corbett's fine piece "The Outcast" is referenced as is Rant's almost daily writings on the subject of all things Floyd, and there is still no verdict and may be little final justice:

At this rate, once all of the appeals have been exhausted and there is every reason to believe the verdict will be appealed regardless of outcome, the final adjudicating of this case and Floyd Landis' ineligibility to compete while his case is being heard will be as long or longer than if he had just rolled over and accepted a suspension from the get go. This is not justice. Athletes should have a right to thorough, fair and speedy hearings if they decide to contest doping allegations. It should not take longer than a year simply to get through the primary arbitration process and athletes should not need to spend over two million dollars (as Floyd Landis has done) to mount a defense. If an athlete is guilty of doping, they need to be exposed and suspended from their sport with their sporting records stripped (this includes baseball by the way). Any system, however, that is designed to catch athletes who dope will on an occasion wrongly accuse innocent athletes and innocent athletes deserve the right to speedy hearings which clear their names. In the quest to rid sports of doping, innocent athletes should not have their lives destroyed by a system designed to railroad athletes or be left in purgatory for an eternity when they contest their cases.

Rant read Sara Corbett's NYT Times Magazine piece on Floyd Landis and considers it a masterpiece of sports writing.It gives a true glimpse of the person Floyd is, not just the public person, but the real person and Rant is grateful it was written.

bicycle.NET read yesterday's New West Boise article with interest, and excerpted Corbett's "Outcast"

Cycling Fans Anonymous also read "The Outcast", and calls it an all-too-true title.

[A] heart-breaking, revealing, must-read portrait of the enigma that is Floyd Landis. After reading this, my ambivalence toward him is only stronger than ever. I can't figure out what his deal is, I just can't.

Family and Twist posts excerpts from "The Outcast", but it looks like a wierd automated mashup site.

ABCDmindedness read and appreciated the thoughtful writing in the Sara Corbett piece.

Elvis Kennedy, who went way out of his way to get a signed copy, slams Positively False, citing passages he finds evasive and disingenuous. The man can hold a grudge.

Bob Mahew read Positively False, and liked it. He sees no reason to believe anything other than Floyd Landis is innocent.

Drunkcyclist ruminates over the Sara Corbett piece and thinks no matter what, Floyd Landis is well screwed. Landis will never regain what financial losses he has suffered, and who knows where he will end up?:

What’s next for our boy Floyd? Fall on you sword and sign with Vaughter’s squad? Race various ultra-endurance events around the US for a pittance? Motivational speaker? Home Depot’s tile department?

Chad's Bike and Tri Blog also references the NYT Magazine article about Floyd Landis, "The Outcast" by Sara Corbett.


Believe the Lie seems to think that "The Outcast" was a very pro Landis piece , and you knew where it was headed in the first few lines. Just as one might know where they were headed when the read the blog name "believe the lie".

Energetich20 has been following things and wants to know when they're going to let him ride again. Gives us a plug too.

UltraRob is putting up scads of more Leadville pictures. In his earlier pix post of Landis and Wiens, the comments reveal some more technical details. It appears Landis wore road shoes with Speedplay X1 pedals, and his bike was a last-minute throw-together:

Daniel said...

I built Floyd's race bike and originally he had xtr pedals but he must have switched them at the race. Some other technical nuggets for this bike are the LX front der, generic Easton aluminum stem with no grade such as ea50 or ea70 leading me to believe it is probably an ea30, and the Bontrager Select aluminum riser bar. Why did Floyd ride these parts? That was all we had in stock at the shop I work at that we could get on zero notice. Something happened to his original bike and we had to put this together and overnight it to him just a couple of days before the race.

Wonder wha' happened?



Forums
James Koh anecdotally proves you can ride better the day after a bonk, so USADA, UCI, ASO, et. al. should call off the dogs on Landis.

LA Scene says the answer is to shut pro cycling down, then praises "Be My Girl", a song by The Police in praise of an inflatable love doll. Uh, OK...

Thought for the Day

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

-Buddha-

Full Post with Comments...

Thursday Roundup

News
Times (UK) returns to a story that has been submerged for a while: Ian Thorpe, the Australian swimmer has a case before CAS after his national ADA declined to pursue him. FINA, the international swimming federation, thought he was let off too easily, and took it to CAS. The story says Thorpe has just submitted his evidence. As far as we understand, it's a T/E ratio case only, where the longitudinal study didn't support prosecution according to the ASADA. Probably his evidence is an analysis of the longitudinal, if we're guessing. (Tip from eightzero in a comment).

PPOL News advertises Ergon grips which Dave Wiens used at Leadville last weekend to come in first ahead of Floyd Landis.

Mountain Flyer has a story pointed to by the PPOL ad above, giving details of the race as Wiens saw it. The winner had problems of his own, including a soft rear for the last 20 miles that he had to fiddle with. Now we can really play the what-if game, 'cause if Landis hadn't tried to run him down so hard after his own flat, then he might have had more left at the end, and with Dave slogging with a soft tire... And that's why they run the race.

New West Boise thinks that there must be a huge backstory to the abandonment by Tailwind of its' Discovery cycling team, how else can it be explained that a sponsor was almost on board and then, nothing? The author has an interesting solution to the problem of finding sponsorship for an American cycling team. It is also noted in the piece that the Women's Tour de France was just completed and an American, Amber Neben, came in second.

CyclingNews Letters go over the usual ground of doping.

Sunday NY Times "PLAY" magazine insert will be running a profile on Landis, and it's warmed up here in a chat with the author, Sara Corbett.

If Landis was wrongly accused, then it’s an unbelievable tragedy for the sport and for him personally. If he cheated to win and has spent the last year getting people to donate more than a million dollars to his defense fund, well, that’s a remarkable act of hubris. I don’t know which scenario is true. Nobody seems to know. But all this puts Landis at the center of a pretty interesting paradox, and that’s what I most wanted to write about.

The full article is a long, detailed, and somewhat painful read, but well worth the time.

Blogs
CFA recommends the above NYT Magazine piece about Floyd Landis titled "The Outcast", and feels even more conflicted about Floyd than before. Read it and weep.

Online Sports News posts the NYT Floyd Landis profile.

Fatty writes what he swears is the last, well one of the last, in his entertaining Leadville chronicles from last weekend. Fatty wanted to break 9 hours, and almost did it and while he was at the finish line cooling off there was time for pictures with family, friends, and the cowboy below.

"Cowboy Floyd" and Fatty at the finish area after the Leadville 100. Landis' right hand still seems to be holding on the grips.

Did Floyd have to come back to the finish line and hang around with a bunch of stinky guys more than two hours after he had finished the race? No. Was he acting like a diva? Nope. Would he talk with and take pictures with anyone who wanted? Yes.

Floyd’s cool.

Golf Punk says that golf is now the number one sport, and cycling is merely a pharmacy on wheels. Everyone in cycling is dirty, including super fan Robin Williams. Actually it's just a bad time in sports altogether. Golf had better watch out, it could be next.

Rabbit Ramblings gives a good overview of the current doping situation in cycling with even a little history thrown in. When all is said and done, Boo thinks that Lance Armstrong did dope for all of his TdF wins, it's easy to pass those tests and still be a doper. Conversely he thinks that Floyd Landis did NOT use testosterone in winning the 2006 TdF. He feels cycling needs less money not more, and that it will come through better than ever after some tough times.

Triple Crankset reviews some of the latest cycling news, and thinks Landis second at Leadville was a "showcase" for any future employers -- depending on how the arbitration might be decided.

Full Post with Comments...

Wednesday Roundup

News
The Aspen Times writes about a relatively unknown rider, Max Taam, who had a spectacular race at Leadville which was lost in the "hoopla" surrounding the Wiens Landis duel.

ESPN posts an AP story about Italian pole vaulter Giuseppe Gibilisco who requested the CAS hear his request to lift his suspension until his appeal is completed, they refused due to jurisdictional factors . No Landis content, but the implications are interesting considering that never tested positive for doping.

An emailer encourages us to note that Unibet is folding, at ESPN and better at VeloNews. It appears to be a proxy-target in the ASO/UCI pissing contest.

Blogs
If there is a common theme in most of the Leadville stories, it's that nutrition left a lot of folks short.

Fatty posts part 3 of his Leadville saga with what he feels would be answers to FAQs.

Drunk Cyclist re-gifts a picture we borrowed first, shot by McCusker and originally put up by Glendora, of the Leadville start. Just trying here to get the credits right, because if we don't then nobody else will.

Striker raced the Leadville 100 last Saturday too, and gives an entertaining account of his quest for a personal best time and a finish under 10 hours.

Gettin Better/Mike turned a 10:27.

E-Doc-Davidson was going to do Leadville, but on a pre-ride, broke his clavicle -- and had to get back to town with it. Later, he shows admirable perspective.

Jeff Kerkove takes this opportunity to give credit to Ergon grips for Wiens' win, complete with quotes from Dave himself. That is sponsor friendly!

What I Think expresses the opinion that those who mourn the loss of Disco have the wrong impression. There was sponsor money, but not enough to please those at Tailwind. It's also suggested that with its' history of having employed riders who got caught doping Postal/Disco was just better at cheating than all the other teams, and Lance Armstrong is the rottenest apple at the bottom of that barrel.

Simon Martin has been getting personal training advice from Floyd Landis, well at least from reading "Positively False". He came in third in a race and that was not only Floyd's fault but it HURT as well, and that's good.

Kevin's Thoughts on Life made his very first race a Leadville. He very aptly describes the true pain and effort most riders must feel when they ride it -- he dug deeply into his suitcase of courage to be sure.

Late, Rant looks at Joe Papp, wondering what kind of advice he has been getting. The comment by Morgan is also insightful.

The Boston Bachelor talks about coming through when it ain't easy, and typographically snarks Landis:

Because only by always accepting responsibility for the outcome will you ever obtain the strength and perseverance necessary for greatness. Think of MJ’s flu game against Utah, Larry Legend willing the Celtics to an OT victory in Game 4 of the ’84 NBA Finals, or Floyd Landis’ miraculous comeback in the 2006 Tour de France. Against all external odds, the greatest still find a way.

Well, it's an honor to be considered part of that company. The final verdict is still not in.

Full Post with Comments...

Tuesday Roundup

The full story of Ibrahaim Wafula's one-legged attempt at Leadville is told. He seems to have been undone by a fragile chain, and missed the Twin Lakes time cutoff, but thinks he can do it with a little better luck.

News
Pez Cycling reviews the weekend's cycling news including Floyd Landis' second place finish at the Leadville 100 Saturday.

VeloNews posts a few letters from readers and an editorial comment about the demise of Disco. One reader, among many, writes in response to the Foaming Rant posted last week and says that no matter what happens in the sport of cycling, no one can take away his memory of seeing Floyd Landis at last year's Tour.

The Guardian Unlimited writes of the loss to cycling of the Discovery team, and places some of the blame for their disappearance from cycling on former riders who have been tested positive for doping, including Floyd Landis. The GU insists as well that the often shuttered secrecy shown by Postal/Discovery is not something that will be missed.


The Palm Beach Post.com writes that former cyclist Joe Papp, who testified for USADA at the Landis hearings in May, was at the Gaining the Competitive Edge - Strengthening Athletes' Mental and Physical Skills convention last night in West Palm Beach, FLA. He spoke about his drug abuse while pursuing a career as a professional cyclist and showed a video tape of a doping deal being made as well as a photo of himself in the hospital after being admitted due to EPO use:

"I was following this path of deceit and lies and just horrible behavior," Papp said. "I couldn't think of a more appropriate way to end my career than what you see right here."
At the time, Papp was preparing for his post-cycling life.

"I was interviewing with pharmaceutical companies to be a field salesman - ironically enough, right?" he said. "You couldn't write a script for Hollywood."

But as soon as Papp admitted using drugs at Landis' hearing, those companies stopped talking with him.
"Rightly so, because what drug company would hire a guy who admitted to being a drug cheat? Thankfully, none. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, basically," he said.

15 more minutes -- Papp also takes on some critics at DPF.

ASAP had a John Marshall podcast interview done with Floyd Landis after his second placer finish in last weekend's Leadville 100.


Blogs

Cycling 4 All pulls it's own plug in frustration. Cheers to Wim van Rossum for keeping it up for so long.

Rant points to Cristian Moreni's complaint that he was punished too severely for testosterone use at this year's TdF and doesn't think he had one coming.

Electric Bike posts various news about cycling including articles about Floyd Landis' exploits in Colorado this past weekend.

Racejunkie deserves points for restraint in his comments about Cristian Moreni's "enhancement". Later in the piece he riffs on Floyd Landis being a "renegade nefarious criminal" who was responsible for everything that happened at Phonak and by his former teammates. Simple answers are so...simple.

Simon loves the quote from "Positively False" ,"There's no such thing as over training".

Fatty writes close but no cigar part2, and he revisits his ride last weekend at Leadville. Among many interesting revelations is that it's hard to eat salty stuff at altitude with low humidity while riding. BTW Happy Anniversary.

The Windermere Roadies got suckered into trying Leadville by a "friend" they are now calling "F'ing Ralph" who didn't adequately warn them how tough it was going to be. Speaking of tough, here's how they heard the Landis/Wiens duel went down through the gossip net on the scene:

Floyd lost the race by 10 seconds to the local hero who has won the race 5 years in a row. Reports are that Floyd sucked this guy's wheel for almost the entire last 40 miles, and still was unable to beat him to the finish line.

I think this turns 100 secs into 10 for dramatic effect -- what's a zero between friends? It also seems like a novel translation of Wiens' comment, "having Floyd Landis behind you sucks."

Probably the other side of the coin of creative retelling is that Landis faked his flat and smoked a cigar out there to let Wiens win because it wouldn't do to show up the local hero. There were people who suggested he faked his hip injury too.

Phantom Reflections feels that winning the Tour de France may be a career killer, at this point few would argue that statement in light of Floyd Landis' year:

Let’s look at the career carnage over just the past year. First, Floyd Landis wins and is almost immediately accused of doping. A year later with evidence mounting in his defense, we still have no verdict. For his hard work in winning the Tour, Floyd has lost his reputation, his chance to race in the sport he loves, and all his money in defending both his innocence and his honor.

Cyclists, beware the Tour de France.

Partmule snarks a few choice "titles" at Floyd Landis for daring to compete this past weekend at Leadville.Mountain Bike Blog notes Floyd Landis' fine showing at Leadville.

Pinch Flat News thinks he knows why Lance Armstrong stayed in Colorado Springs this past weekend, he also feels there may be fluctuations in Floyd Landis' testosterone levels in the future, depending on his choice of belt buckle that is.

Mountain Bike Riders also posts a review of Floyd Landis' second place at Leadville this past weekend.


Wigging out in Arizona mourns the loss of Disco.


Yore Blog notes the passing of yet another Leadville 100, made better this year by the participation of Floyd Landis.


Far and Wide describes HOW John Marshall tracked Floyd Landis and got the interview he did with an injured Floyd after the Leadville 100 last Saturday.

Shirley Today got a new job, and had to pee in a cup...

[S]ince I'm not concerned about the drug test (although maybe that's what Floyd Landis said), everything should be a go!

Let's Snook 'Em thinks pins are still falling over from the Tour '07 scandals, and we're still waiting for the Landis decision.


Bicycle Multi Sport reviews all the recent cases, and concludes the Tour podium was clean, and Ras must have been on something.

Full Post with Comments...

Monday Roundup

News
Sportingo writes about the death of the Discovery team and the Alberto Contador controversy saying that they would not be surprised if he winds up like Floyd Landis did after his Tour win.

The CyclingNews this morning has no real Landis content but prints Pat McQuaid's response to the demise of Disco which he sees as a wake up call to all riders on all teams that they not take their positions for granted. The replacement of Discovery in the pro tour is also discussed with Slipstream seemingly a long shot at this time. Meanwhile Cristian Moreni is disappointed at the severity of his two year ban for testing positive for testosterone at this year's Tour de France:

Cristian Moreni (Cofidis), who was handed a two-year suspension following his positive test for testosterone, declared to French paper Journal du Dimanche that he had a hard time accepting the ban. "It is like giving the same sentence to someone who stole an apple and to someone who robbed a bank," the Italian declared in light of the fact that riders caught for blood doping got the same suspension.
"I did not want to dope," the former Cofidis rider declared and emphasized that to him, riding at l'eau claire (clean water) is taking illegal substances such as EPO, growth hormones or testosterone. "I have bought a plant-based paste over the internet to stimulate the natural production of testosterone. I wasn't aware that I could have a problem with the doping control. For me, it was like taking amino acids or protein. I know many riders who take it."

Does he click through every pop-up ad on his computer too?

Pez Letters chew over a recent proposal made there.


Blogs
Every Turning Leaf read Positively False, and found the defense not irrefutably convincing.

Team Velveeta tells his Leadville story: 1000 riders and a shotgun blast to start. Glad that Wiens won, glad that he broke 11:00, and thankful to the folks who put the event on. But it is just a bike race, after all.

Racejunkie give mostly jeers to a number of folks, but concludes with:

[F]inally, congrats to Floyd Landis for coming in second in Leadville despite a craptastically ill-timed flat tire and the distinct disadvantage of being likely grossly preoccupied by such trivialities as, say, the loss of his '06 Tour de France and de facto end of his career. Welcome back Floyd, and couldn't you simps over at Vs. have managed half an hour of coverage without enraging the rawhide-whip-wielding rodeo crowd?

Oh yeah, there's a jeer in there too.

Steroids Blog links a whole bunch of stories about Barry Bonds and one with a mention of Floyd Landis for good measure.

Sarah Abbott blogs about the experience she had watching all the competitors, including her husband, at the Leadville 100 Saturday. Here she provides a slide show of the event.

Noodlestatic tells his Leadville story, bummed about missing the first time cut because of a chain that got messed up he couldn't fix on course.

For the next 10 miles, I would ride anywhere from 50 feet to a quarter mile, lose the chain, stop, put it back on the rings, get back on, ride until it came off, then do it all over again. I was passed by at least 150 riders, most of whom asked if i was alright, but none of whom had a chain tool or would loan it to me. Along that stretch came Dave Wiens, who shouted out encouragement as he cranked by. About two minutes behind was Floyd Landis, who did not shout out encouragement but looked in pain.

Lazerow passes on a friend's Leadville story, with a great description of the course.

Gail Bernhardt took 48 minutes off her time from last year, and tries to figure out how and why. It looks to us like luck (equipment and weather) was most of it, but she also went out harder.

Left Hand Blogging considers profiling and reduced sanctions as an approach to doping, and doesn't know that it'll work -- he identifies some problems. He's not happy with the current state, involving Hamilton/Landis-style "epic legal battles."

First 100 Mioles/Sara Best is happy about cycling again, and Leadville is a big reason. She wants to give up the death watch on cycling, and is especially happy for Dave Wiens.

Bike Daily gives our Leadville coverage a plug, and links some pix with misleading credits -- we tried to give the shooters their due, but that seems to have been lost in, um, translation.

J'adore le vélo!! also points folks this way.

Bob explains his Leadville as a bonk complicated by Adult-Onset Speed-Slowness-Syndrome. Finally we have a name for going up hills at 215w while chiseled young men dancing on their pedals blow by us as we grind away.

At the start of the climb up Columbine, I was on pace for an 11-hour finish. Perfect. I dropped into the valley and saw the turn to the road of the mountain. While I was choking down an energy bar, I noticed two riders flying down the hill. It was Floyd Landis followed by Dave Wiens, who'd won the last four times. This rattled me a bit. I've never seen the lead riders in previous years until I was halfway up the mountain, so either they were flying or I was dragging ass, or maybe a combination of both. I started to climb. I climbed and climbed and climbed up over the switchbacks, just as I'd drawn up on the shower door.

Then I bonked.

It didn't get better.

Peregrinate Press/Will Byrne writes with nuance about "Dopes" -- He doesn't think Landis is one, even though he "flunked" a test; Ras might be even though he didn't fail a test; and Contador has to be respected as the winner. We also get a plug.

Somebody at MySpace gives an "Attaboy, Floyd!", but we can't open it.

Forums
As if to compensate for the "Attaboys!", a rider sent some mail that his wife posted taking the other angle:

After finishing I learned that Dave Weins whooped up on Floyd Landis and that just brought a big smile to my face. Floyd might have been too humiliated to show his face today at the awards ceremony (or his people claimed he had an event in Vail right after the race that went late)...

Elsewhere, another rider writes:

Saw both Floyd Landis and David Weins tearing down through Twin Lakes as I was heading up Columbine-- despite Landis' crash and flat tire he was RIGHT ON Weins tail-- he said afterwards he had worked too hard to catch back up to Dave after his setbacks. I wish I could tear down the downhills like those two-- they were movin!

Quote of the Day, Historical Division

"Let General de Pellieux allow me respectfully to point out that a piece of evidence, whatever it may be, cannot have any value and cannot constitute scientific proof before it has been subjected to cross-examination..." -- Fernand Labori, defense attorney at the trial of Emile Zola. Paris, February 17, 1898

Full Post with Comments...

Sunday Roundup

For detailed coverage of yesterday's Leadville 100 see "LEADVILLE".

Quote of the Day

"Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience."

News
It doesn't appear the one-legged Kenyan, Ibrahim Wafula, finished at Leadville, according to the official results. We haven't seen a word what happened to him. Landis will not take consolation in winning the Mens 30-year old class. Bruce Murray won the Men's 70-year-old class in 12:29:49, Dennis Kaiser the Men's 60-year old in 9:27:25, and Ann Gonzales the Female 40-year old in 9:09, just missing a belt buckle. Alison Watt, Female-50, was the last woman at 11:57, beating three younger guys who snuck in at 11:58.

Summit Daily has a good article on Leadville with lots of new reporting and quotes.

Wiens, 42, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member and former World Cup winner from Gunnison, had come within six seconds of Volk's record three years ago, so you could understand why he considered the mark within reach. However, to break it by such a wide margin required a little help, and he got it from last year's embattled Tour de France winner.

"Nothing's unbreakable," said Wiens, who stepped up his training when he learned Landis and Lance Armstrong (who later backed out) could be in the field. "It seemed pretty far-fetched, but it wouldn't have happened if Floyd wasn't behind me."

As in right behind him. For basically the entire race.

Landis suffered an ugly crash about 25 miles in that shredded his spandex shorts and left his hip, knee and elbow bloody for the rest of the day. But he responded with grit - and strategy, as he elected to mash on the flat sections to make up for Wiens' advantage on the steep, technical climbs.

"It worked out fine but at the end he just had more than me," Landis, 31, said of Wiens. "He's tough, man."

Landis' own post-crash fortitude didn't go unnoticed by his competition.

"He could've easily just pulled the plug but he rode tough," said Vail's Mike Kloser, another MTB Hall of Famer, who took third (7:10:24) in his first Leadville 100. "I think he wanted to make a statement that he's still got the legs in him."

The News Tribune runs yesterday's AP story with some additional pictures.

Yahoo has all the AP news pictures, and Yahoo Eurosport UK has a short review of yesterday's competition in Leadville.

The Chicago Sun Times' Carol Slezak wants to get out of the cesspool of "grand theft cheaters" in sports, and finds it hard to trust any great sports achievement now. One of the problems is that the athletes are treated with inconsistently both in their particular sporting event, and also by the fans who accept cheating behavior in some and not in others. She feels it a must that trust be rebuilt:

So what should we do? How about demanding that our pro leagues -- and, while we're at it, college sports programs, too -- get serious about reform? They would like us to think they already are, but we know better. If the leagues were serious about steroid reform, one positive test would result in an automatic lifetime ban, name stricken from the record book.

The Chicago Sun Times also asked where have all the sports heroes gone, and answers its' own question with a list of those who do good from local sports teams.

The CyclingNews notes that Cristian Moreni got a two year suspension for a positive control for testosterone discovered at this year's Tour de France.

IHT/Sam Abt goes over the Disco folding in a somewhat dispirited piece.

NWI Times talks with Mike Straubel, who runs a sports law clinic, and wrote a key article on anti-doping law.

"There's disagreement between some of the labs on how some of the results should read and what kind of threshold should be met before it constitutes a positive test, and as long as there is that kind of inconsistency I don't think criminal liability should be attached," Straubel said. "There has to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and right now that standard cannot be met."

The CyclingNews, in a later update, notes the demise of Disco and all that entails, and gives a review of the courageous Landis ride at Leadville yesterday while naturally mentioning the doping case and the length of time the results from the May USADA hearings are taking.

The Denver Post writes about Team Slipstream and the big name riders, such as Davis Millar, that they are singing. Millar's advice for cyclists who have tested positive for PEDs,such as Floyd Landis, is to be honest with yourself and tell the truth, it's not that bad. What if you are telling the truth already?

Blogs
This Just In, Bicyling's blog, reviews the excitement and drama of yesterday's Leadville 100 mountain bike race in which winner Dave Weins says having Floyd Landis as a competitor was inspiring and in some ways unpleasant:

Maybe it was Floyd Landis, the 2006 Tour de France winner battled climb for climb with Wiens to finish in second place less than two-minutes back. Maybe it was the fans, out in force. Or maybe it's that Dave Wiens, whose won the Hundred for the last four years, owns this race. Whatever it was, Wiens rode the course in a record 6 hours, 58 minutes, and 46 seconds, smashing the old record, which he set, by more than 6 minutes. "That was the hardest and the best mountain bike race of my life," said Wiens at the finish. "Mentally, physically, it was brutal. And having Floyd Landis behind you sucks."

Brad "the talent" Mullen did Leadville in 10:02, in good shape for his age group.

Floyd Landis raced and came in 2nd less than 2 minutes behind the winner. He passed me coming down the fire road from the 12,600 aid station at 10:22 am and finished over 3 hours faster than me. So, I finally got to race a Tour de France winner and got toasted by 3 hours in just 100 miles! How’s that for humble pie.

That's nuthin'. TBV has lost an hour on Landis going up the 9 miles of Palomar from the store. [The route is described here, by someone who ran into Gero, Arnie Baker's wife!]

Ultra Rob updates his picture post of yesterday with more great shots of Wiens and Landis

Spinnin' Wheel says Amber has nothing to worry about, but she is so in love with Floyd Landis right now after his impressive showing at Leadville yesterday.

PJ thinks that USADA must really be struggling with the Landis decision and and is trying desperately to save face. He gives us the unattributed quote below, and more black smoke.

Yana Ivey from Google was inspired by Floyd Landis' talk at her company in July to go out and find as many books about the Tour de France as she could. Her signed bike helmet is also pictured.

Lamepersonwantingattention rambles on about a lot of sports doping problems and works Floyd Landis into the mix.

Steve Lavey is sad and disillusioned by the demise of Disco and cycling in general.

Khabar Bike runs a short rehash of Leadville.

The Lunatic Fringe asks when "will these athletes ever stop cheating?" after having done so in his own research by calling Landis an "EPO fraud"

Branden McNamee did some casual MTB riding yesterday, and managed to miss the leaders finish at Leadville, nevertheless,

We settled in on the last hill after a dejected walk around the finish line in search of a cold beer. Good thing we came prepare. We then provided our services for the next 2.5 hours cheering on the finishers as they worked so hard on their last mile. It was a good time, and I would like to think our positive outlook on life and bikes provided inspiration for some to carry on up that hill and meet their goals at the bottom of the other side.

Yup, beer on a nice day will do that.

Those Responsible feel that Floyd Landis didn't suffer the lack of French podium girls yesterday in Leadville.

Cycling Fans Anonymous cribs the AP report from yesterday.

Finger Food revisits some of the weekend's sporting events, including yesterday's great ride by Floyd Landis in Leadville. Yes indeed Floyd is "one tough bitch". Thanks for the plug btw.

A Cycling Life says Floyd Landis was gettin' it done yesterday.

Time Blog has the top ten sports moments from the past year, "Floyd's fall" is no. 5.

Afric Pepperbird thinks that even Lance Armstrong has bailed on cycling.

Aurora Colorado blurbs the Denver Post story on yesterday's moral victory for Floyd Landis at Leadville.

Rant was impressed that Floyd Landis WAS trying hard enough yesterday to crash. Everyone racing against Floyd seemed pretty impressed too. Rant also speaks further about the demise of Disco.

Masterslacker seems to have had a pretty busy week running and walking, and even found the time to watch the end of the Leadville 100 yesterday seeing Dave Wiens come in first with a blood caked Floyd Landis taking second.

Glendora Mountain Road recaps yesterday's events at Leadville with colorful descriptions of what happened during the race itself and at the awards ceremony that evening. Floyd Landis skipped the awards, but was enthusiastically applauded when mentioned at them. Floyd did however return to the race finish line after getting cleaned up and signed autographs "incognito". Thanks so much to GMR for the great coverage of this year's Leadville 100.

YourRunning was inspired by bits of Positively False, and explains how he used it to will himself to an age group win in a running race. He also gives us a plug.

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LEADVILLE!

Landis and Dave Wiens chatting at the start of the 2007 Leadville 100. Wiens wins when Landis flats; both beat the old record. (photo: UltraRob)

LEADVILLE!

Phone reports say: Wiens breaks 7 hours in 6:58; Landis 2nd after a crash and flat, also breaks old record.

Rollout, Wiens immediately behind the left bumper, Landis just behind and right of him. (Photo: McCusker)

The official site has a timing/scoring page that is starting to get information.

Checking out the Raspberry early on. No scab yet! The bionic hip looks to have been tested as well as the knee. (Photo: McCusker)

At Pipeline pass going out, it's a group of five.

20 mile lead group (Photo: McCusker)

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	08:15:00/001:45:00
2	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	08:15:00/001:45:00
3	0795	Bryson Perry	M2	08:15:00/001:45:00
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	08:15:00/001:45:00
5	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	08:15:00/001:45:00

Wiens leads Max Taam (Photo: Ultra Rob)

At Columbine Mine, the turnaround, there's a group of three:

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	10:08:00/003:38:00
2	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	10:08:00/003:38:00
3	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	10:08:00/003:38:00
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	10:17:00/003:47:00
5	0004	Mike Hogan	M4	10:24:00/003:54:00
6	0016	Thomas Dooley	M4	10:24:00/003:54:00
7	0007	Ryan Hamilton	M3	10:25:00/003:55:00
8	1223	Thane Wright	M4	10:25:00/003:55:00
9	0002	Jake Rubelt	M3	10:26:00/003:56:00

Game face very on. (Photo: Ultra Rob)

At the Pipeline, the last station for a timecheck, it's down to Floyd and Dave:

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	11:25:00/004:55:00
2	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	11:25:00/004:55:00
3	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	11:30:00/005:00:00
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	11:38:00/005:08:00
5	0004	Mike Hogan	M4	11:46:00/005:16:00
6	0016	Thomas Dooley	M4	11:47:00/005:17:00
7	0007	Ryan Hamilton	M3	11:49:00/005:19:00
8	1223	Thane Wright	M4	11:49:00/005:19:00
9	0002	Jake Rubelt	M3	11:54:00/005:24:00

This is 5:00 faster than Wien's winning time last year to Pipeline two. Wiens is a four-time (in a row) Leadville winner - an old bio can be found in this MTB hall-of-fame nomination.

We got a phone call saying Landis went down after missing an obstacle because of sun, caught up to Wiens, then flatted and finished a couple of minutes behind, both breaking the old record. Great for Wiens, who was pressed hard, and a good outing for Landis, who was said to be pretty happy about it.

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	13:28:46/006:58:46
2	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	13:30:30/007:00:30
3	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	13:40:23/007:10:23
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	14:01:27/007:31:27
5	0002	Jake Rubelt	M3	14:04:51/007:34:51
6	1223	Thane Wright	M4	14:07:02/007:37:02
7	0004	Mike Hogan	M4	14:07:42/007:37:42
8	0007	Ryan Hamilton	M3	14:12:16/007:42:16

Landis rolls in 2nd. The scab is now good and formed.

The bike is a BMC, and looks to be a Fourstroke FS02 in polished aluminum, with a Fox suspension fork, disk brakes front and back. He said at one point he'd use a hard tail, but apparantly he's turned wimp. From one of Ultra Rob's pix, it's clear Landis has the full-suspension, and Wiens a hardtail. Landis has one bottle, Wiens two. That must have been the difference.

Fatty Dug crashed and abandoned. He is not worthy. He shows a picture of a section of Powerline/Pipeline with folks walking up, saying "it really is that steep".

Fatty says, "And they all have gears"
(Photo: Fatty)

Aside from training, another reason Landis may not have been answering his iPhone lately is that AT&T wireless had been down in Leadville, with a bunch of fumphering from the spokespeople. Supposedly now fixed.

Glendora Mtn Road is a good place to go, and UltraRob has great pictures from pre-start Leadville as well. Here's a pre-race sighting from GMR:

Pre-start. Looks chilly, but the kid is happy! (Photo: McCusker)

Startline report, and a 20 mile update has Landis in lead group of 5 at the 20 mile mark, sporting a bloody raspberry.

Ultra Rob a does a quick post-race report with some more great pictures.

AP story has quotes; see the Roundup; Velonews mixmasters AP.

5-Iron thinks that if Floyd can do so well at Leadville on a "bum hip" then he, 5-iron, should get off his duff and get going. Good plan. TBV has a 75 mile ride planned for Sunday, "flat" with only 5000' feet of climbing.

Biking Bis reports on Floyd Landis bloodied but second at Leadville today, and gives us a plug.

DrunkCyclist has a stand-in gives a quick-n-dirty report, waiting for the D-man to recover enough to take the keyboard himself.


GMR, it doesn't hurt to ask. We got credentialed for the hearing! Thanks for the reports and pix.

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Saturday Roundup

Leadville moved to a separate post.

News
While of limited interest to most here, a site that inspired TBV has announced the first probative ruling in the cases that it is following. Four years after the first shoe dropped in legal disputes over ownership of Linux, a US Federal Judge has ruled against SCO in favor of Novell, in a way that also helps IBM and Linux. Groklaw broke the news and provided the full ruling, and has been quoted in the other media, like Computerworld, and Wired.

We hope we don't run that long.

AP Report on Leadville has quotes. Seems like the crash was early, and catching Weins up after the flat was too much work. At least in public, Landis is saying Wiens would have won anyway, and vents a little frustration at the communication about the post-hearing decision making process:

“It’s been three months since the hearing and I haven’t heard a word — nothing at all,” Landis said. “If they’re going to do it right and they’re going to take their time, that’s fine, I don’t mind. I just don’t know what the time frame is. It would make it a lot more simple if they just said ’it’ll be next January.’ That’d be fine.”

later,

At least Landis has had some good news lately: his book is selling well.

Facing potential financial problems just a few months ago, Landis was able to pay attorney fees with advance money from the book and hasn’t yet started looking at life after racing. Of course, he’s still waiting for that decision that could change everything.

The Sentinel Online has a short report on Leadville.


The Gazette also reports on an injured Landis finishing second today at Leadville with Floyd happy to have had something to focus on other than his pending arbitration decision:

“This race was good because it was something to train for and I could focus on that,” Landis said. “I couldn’t completely forget about the other stuff, but at least was something to focus on.”

The NY Times reviews yesterday's announcement that Tailwind is getting out of cycling and could secure no new sponsor for the cycling team formerly known as US Postal and then Discovery Channel. The many recent doping scandals, including that which Floyd Landis is still embroiled in, were cited as contributing factors to the demise of Lance Armstrong's former team:

Armstrong agreed. “There are too many questions in the sport,” he said, citing, in addition to the doping scandals, the poor relationship that was evident last month between the company that organizes the Tour de France and the International Cycling Union, the sport’s governing body, which oversees competition but does not control most of the sport’s top events

The CyclingNews also provides a comprehensive report on yesterday's Disco announcement, and notes possible troubles for Astana.

VeloNews' Patrick O'Grady is starting to feel like an advance man for a criminal carnival rather than a cycling journalist, and even though he's been playing the piano in the whorehouse for years now he guesses that with things the way they are now instead of quitting he'll have to start playing a little louder.

Bicycling says "adios Discovery".

Blogs
Ungewiss is a harmless voyeur, and among other things, wishes he knew for sure whether or not Floyd Landis was guilty of doping to win the 2006 Tour de France.

Tammie is a youth worker whose very first "google alert" was Floyd Landis. She believes Floyd Landis is innocent and found real meaning for those who work with confused kids in the first few chapters of "Positively False".

Run to Win got married this week, but planned ahead for his blog on shoes and how to choose and maintain them. He provides links to the Landis case and states the obvious, the jury is still out.

Absolutely Alex's Adventures talks about cycling's uphill struggles and the demise of Discovery. He also notes that the Floyd Landis affair didn't exactly help.

Rant celebrates the first anniversary of his "epistles" on Floyd Landis and the current situation in cycling. He links his first rant ever. Happy Anniversary Rant, who'd have thought we'd all still be here today?

It Glitters likes "Positively False" but is not exactly a fan of Greg LeMond.

Cycling Under the Influence gives us a sidebar link as he launches his site, demonstrating the lack of work ethic that he admits explains his cat-4 pack fodder status.

Oaktown Girl discusses Bonds, mostly, but TBV gets dragged in late to the comments.

DaBearz rants about ESPN, and says of their coverage of Landis:

Floyd Landis, from the United States, which is purportedly a nation built on the philosophy that a man is innocent of a crime/wrongdoing until proven guilty, was essentially dealt the guilty verdict when ESPN covered his steroid scandal during the 2006 Tour de France. Of course, ESPN had someone in mind for the job to tout the guilt of Mr. Landis in the form of the ultimate ex-patriot, Greg Lemond, who for the past several years had been trying to start a forest fire in the hopes that his legacy would be revamped by destroying the reputation of Lance Armstrong. And what did ESPN, with Greg Lemond, use as their bait to catch the fish with? Why, of course, that very thing which is the current hemorrhoid in the side of all professional sports these days: steroids. And while Lemond and ESPN didn't manage to create much in the way of credible evidence to point the finger at Armstrong so he would have to give a major mea culpa to the American public, the two subverters of goodwill did destroy Floyd Landis' credibility. To this day, no one really knows whether Landis truly juiced himself due to some contradicting test results, but because all of these results were founded in France, the biggest backstabbers in the world, it's automatically assumed by the American public that ESPN is accurate and dependable.

Back in the Day
While looking around the site that had the 20 mile picture above, we came upon this shot of Landis doing some announcing at the Tour of California.

(Photo: McCusker)

The story goes that though without Official Credentials, wearing a suit gave access to many areas, including the announcing podium, as shown. We know from personal experience that carrying a clipboard, perhaps enhanced with a hardhat, also works for those purposes.

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Friday Roundup

News
The IHT reports Alberto Contador's statement to the press this morning, asserting his innocence of any doping offense and his intention to fight anyone who makes those allegations against him.

The CyclingNews writes about the Contador press conference, and adds the Discovery Channel team may disband since no new sponsor has been found.

LA Times says Disco is disbanding (thanks to Cam for the pointer). Bloomberg Germany also writes about the disbanding of Disco and works Floyd Landis into the story.

The Denver Post writes a short preview of the Leadville 100 which starts tomorrow at 6:30 AM Mountain Time.

The Colorado Springs Gazette in an op-ed piece, thinks that Lance Armstrong needs to "rescue" cycling due to incidents such as the Landis saga. The Brandon Sun Online writes of the speech Armstrong gave last night at the Broadmoor.

Pez/Edward Hood makes some proposals, including a review of testing procedures, "to render errors and consequent 'Landis' type affairs less likely."

VeloNews has letters about the demise of Discovery.


Blogs
Velogal carries the press release saying Discovery/Tailwind is giving up the search for a sponsor. It's vaguely worded, suggesting some parts of the organization will remain, but without a "venture back into cycling" for a while.

Phantom Reflections notes Bruyneel is retiring too.

Plus Rapide ran into Floyd Landis on the road in Colorado and asked for a picture, Floyd gladly agreed but asked for a favor first:

He gladly agreed and we chatted for a minute, shook his hand and then asked if I could get a picture of us together. Ironically that morning before I went to work I grabbed my Dopers Suck t shirt was still wearing it. Before he agreed to a photo he politely asked if I would take it off, or cover it. "I really, really hate to ask, but could you please do me a favor Colin? Could you maybe change or cover your shirt first, I totally agree with the message, it's just the guy who makes them" he said. Doper or not, you can not refuse a favor of someone so nice.

Floyd, Colin, and the offending shirt, covered up.

(The guy would be Brandon Dwight; you can look it up.)

Rant is up early this morning with comments and questions about Alberto Contador's statements to the press in Spain earlier today:

“I have passed all controls … surprise and scheduled, in my house and at competitions, during racing and when not, of blood and urine,” Contador said. “I find it impossible to understand the personal attacks against me, putting in doubt my honor as a sportsman, from people who don’t know me. … We have to make an effort to move forward in believing in cycling and in me.”

So the statement is a hybrid with Lance's traditional "I've passed every test..." and Ras's "Trust Me." It wasn't a press conference, and no questions were allowed.

Rant returns with a nod to Tailwind's tailspin.

HTML FIXIT.com went to the T-Mobile web site this AM and found something interesting, and asks what happened to Floyd Landis and why did we rarely hear his name mentioned in Tour coverage this year?

Potholes and Roadapples also takes note of the disbandment of Floyd Landis' former team, Postal when Floyd was there, then Discovery.

Stories from the front range asterisks about his Tour pick-'em scoring,

(* denoting that Floyd Landis' arbitration hearing could potentially take a win away from me. Isn't it great that over a year after a race you still don't know who legally won due to all the cheating? Ugh.)

More is Less, while calling Landis a "winner" in quotes, correctly says he "is still waiting on a ruling to see whether he’ll lose the title because of a positive test for steroids."

Scott is disappointed that there will probably not be a Lance vs Landis showdown tomorrow in Leadville. He also provides the route profile seen below. Floyd will have his work cut out for him-- as will everybody else.

Angry Fan still doesn't like Bonds, and others he considers cheats, including:

In cycling, Lance Armstrong - the poster boy for overcoming adversity - is constantly fighting allegations of doping, even into retirement. Some of the allegations coming from former teammates with nothing to gain by coming forward. I won't even go into Floyd Landis.

Glendora Mountain Road made an "Orange and Grey" sighting this afternoon during a historical tour of Leadville. We expect first person reports tomorrow GMR.

Eric's Blog kinda says it all.

EMail

Emailer PotBelge tells us about an Ironman winner who fought a charge and eventually won, who now has a book out:

Hello,

Just to let you know!

Have you ever heard of Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke, second at the 2003 Ironman Hawaii?

Rugter Beke had a EPO conviction overturned after nearly a year-long fight to prove his innocence, due to doubts over the accuracy of his EPO test.

WADA did everything they could to fight against him. They knew that if he proved the test was wrong, they'd have problems with everyone else. So they did everything they could. They knew that Beke was innocent but still they wanted to convict him, just to protect their own tests.

Yesterday he presented his book "Ik niet" ("not me") with all the details.

Beke is suing the World Anti-Doping Agency and two drug labs for $155,000. Damages are for both the material and moral damages the athlete suffered during his suspension.

Just to tell you there's hope for Floyd, even a brave little belgian stands up against WADA and fights for justice.

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Thursday Roundup

News
The VeloNews reports that a sponsor is actually staying in the sport of cycling, T-Mobile.

Bicycling recently did an interview with Floyd Landis as he prepares for the Leadville 100 on Saturday. Floyd comments on watching a bit of the 2007 Tour de France until all hell broke loose and he had to turn off his phone and "check out". He feels that no one handled the doping situation in the Tour this year well:

"Once that information is leaked, the damage is done," said Landis. "The bottom line is that the guys enforcing the rules make them up as they go along, so the cyclists and the public have no respect for them. You can't leak information on a test until the B-sample confirms it."

"It was a totally different experience watching it form the outside," said Floyd. "It wasn't handled well by the UCI, WADA, the Lab, the ASO. No one came out of that looking good. They seemed interested in airing all their problems with one another through the press, which I don't think is the way to do it."

He also is inevitably asked about his own hearing and why it's taking so long for a decision to come down:

"I'm still really hopeful about the outcome of the case," said Landis. "I don't know what is taking so long, but I'm glad they are studying the facts and looking at the science and trying to understand all of it."

CBS5 says that Google is working on a way for people mentioned in news stories to provide their own prominently featured comments and responses.

ABC12.com says that the athletes we support and are suspicious of at the same time deceive is, and we love them anyway. Sounds like a show theme for Dr. Phil.

The Amherst Bulletin establishes new sports awards for a new age, and Floyd Landis is the lucky recipient of one of them:

Fastest Tour de France by a Rider Enhanced by Testosterone, Blood Transfusions, or Other Performance Enhancers (not including sex, margaritas, or Jack Daniels.) - Floyd Landis, USA.

The IHT has breaking news, a sponsor actually stays in the sport of cycling.

Washington Post has no Landis, but some excellent observations about Barry Bonds.

ESPN/Forde equates Landis with Palmiero, putting words into his mouth saying has no idea how he tested positive.

Sacramento Bee snarkily writes:

Congratulations to Barry Bonds. He has broken Hank Aaron's home run record. An enormous weight has been lifted from his unusually large shoulders. His name will now stand forever in the record books, along with champions such as cyclist Floyd Landis and track star Marian Jones.

Blogs
The Guardian Unlimited Sports Blog says that American have a long history of loathing fallen sports heroes, and Floyd Landis among many others gets a mention.

Comment here by Michael passes a rumour that Lance will do Leadville.

Noogler in Paradise is putting an end to daily blogging unless something really interesting happens. He works for Google and got to see Floyd Landis there, but really has had it with the everyday "grind" that bloggers face, and blogging about meals is getting old.

Racejunkie is waiting to see exactly what Alberto Contador will say tomorrow in his announcement. RJ is also delighted that Floyd Landis did not "bail" on Leadville as some have done, and will still participate, but those arbitrators:

There Was No Joy in Leadville/Mighty Armstrong Has Bailed Out: but far better, Floyd Landis *will* be riding, and I must confess to mad jealousy of anyone who has the good luck and close proximity to see him back in action on a bike where he belongs. While we're at it, can the arbitrators please cough up a decision soon, so long as it excoriates the horrid incompetent lab monkeys and repugnant pitchfork-wielding leak-freaks at UCI and WADA and, if nothing better, at least let you off the hook on technical grounds? On the other hand, if they're just going to fry you anyway out of sheer embarrassment at having to admit the depth of this farce, they can wait. Either way, Allez Floyd!

Adam Wakefield of Activate is pissed that cheaters and dopers get all the headlines and attention while honest athlete are somewhat forgotten.

The Daily Spin gives us cycling headlines on Alberto Contador and Floyd Landis among others.

IcelandElf has stories of the strange and weird which of course must include a mention of Floyd Landis and how stupid he must think the American public is.

Vert provides today's "doper update".

Rant feels level heads have prevailed and wonders what Alberto will tell us tomorrow.

War on Drugs 1 wants hypnosis to replace PEDs in sports.

Nobodysmiling.com thinks that the main lesson we teach our children thorough sports at this time is how to cheat. I always thought the lesson was that officials can be arbitrary, wrong, and there's not much point arguing about it.

Integral Options thinks Landis has been stripped of his titles, and that drugs are the rule, not the exception in sports.

Garvey's Ghost thinks criticism of Bonds is racist, and that Landis has gotten a free pass.

It's the Blog defends Bonds, and kinda defends Landis.

Harry's Beef Trust equates Lab Error with theft, hallucination and other excuses.

It Glitters read Positively False and thinks Lance and Floyd can both be assholes.

GlendoraMtnRoad is in Leadville looking forward to Saturday.

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