Thursday Roundup

News
In a lighter mood, SNEWS reports Landis will participate in a team relay at the Teva Mountain games in Vail on June 2-3. Must be for yuks -- how can he have time to do any serious training?

Landis issued a statement about B sample testing, demanding the B's get split and also tested at UCLA, and saying USADA has denied that request.

AP via SuperCycling says that UCLA can't do any testing, citing Catlin as saying "the machine is down."
SportsIllustrated/CNN runs pretty much the same story.

We also received a copy of the April 3 document request by USADA's outside counsel, from which DeSimone and Hiltzik made their earlier reports; Landis issued a public response to the document request.

The AFP also prints the Landis statement which is picked up by The Raw Story, Fox Sports as well as The Turkish Press .

ESPN.com contributor Bonnie DeSimone writes about yesterday's arbitration ruling stating that among other things it allows USADA/WADA to test Floyd Landis "B" samples from previously tested, though negative, "A" samples from last summer's Tour de France:

Landis and his legal and public relations team are vehemently protesting the B sample testing, saying it violates his rights and standard laboratory and anti-doping procedures, and contending that the French lab is unfit to conduct the tests.In a statement released through his legal defense fund, Landis said USADA's tactic is a legal red herring designed to prop up a shaky case and further sap his side of time and money. His hearing begins May 14 in Malibu, Calif., at the Pepperdine University School of Law. Landis recently told ESPN.com he is not sure he has the financial resources to appeal the case if the panel rules against him."USADA is on a fishing expedition, trying to elicit a result that confuses the clear scientific evidence that refutes the allegations against me ; by having these samples tested at a compromised and conflicted lab,"

ABC12 carries the same piece which also points out that Christopher Campbell , the arbitrator on the panel selected by the Landis team, opposed the majority ruling made public yesterday:

Christopher Campbell, a former U.S. Olympic wrestler who was selected for the panel by Landis and has been a consistent advocate for athletes' rights in past cases, wrote a strongly-worded dissent citing the "absurdity" of the testing and the lab's conflict of interest. The Laboratoire National de Depistage du Dopage (LNDD) has been under constant fire by the Landis camp which cites sloppy technical and bureaucratic procedures and errors in past cases, creating LNDD's obvious vested interest in having the 'B' samples somehow corroborate the lone positive 'A' result, Campbell wrote. Campbell added that sample testing is supposed to be anonymous and called his fellow arbitrators' ruling "inappropriate.""The admission of evidence obtained in clear violation of the WADA code smacks of an uneven application of the rules," Campbell wrote. "To allow such conduct strips this adjudication of the appearance of fairness."

Also made public was a USADA request from April 3 for some of Landis' private medical records, contacts with any politicians he may have spoken with about his case, messages Landis may have posted on public forums about the case, and financial documents related to certain FFF contributions:

USADA also upped the ante earlier this month in a request through its outside law firm, Holme Roberts & Owen, for documents that include medical records and bills dating back to January 2005; Landis' posts on Internet message boards, including discussions of his case on the dailypeloton.com forum; and a list of contributors to the Floyd Fairness Fund, his legal defense fund.

In a letter dated April 3, attorney Matthew Barnett also asked for "documents submitted" by the Landis camp "to any government official in connection with Mr. Landis' efforts to influence, pressure or coerce governmental officials to instigate investigations of USADA or otherwise interfere in this adjudication process.

The CyclingNews also takes note of yesterday's ruling release by the Landis case arbitrators, as does VeloNews.


AP via Yahoo! runs a report on the aftermath of the Duke Lacrosse non-case, and thinks the ex-DA may be a justified target of a law suit for non-privleged comments made by Nifong outside the context of the court.


Blogs
Le Societe Des DemonCats thinks that Floyd Landis, is clean, but IF they find out he is not Floyd had better watch out!

Dugard writes a post about hope, which he has been praying for, and how discouraged he is by yesterday's arbitration ruling in the Landis case:

But news of the yesterday's ruling against Floyd Landis was extremely disheartening. He's being railroaded, and USADA is going to make damn sure that he gets stripped of his Tour title and suffers a two-year suspension. It's a done deal. The fact that they want to re-test B samples, even though the A has been proven clean, tells me that they will not be satisfied until he goes down. I love that USADA also wants to be provided with a list of donors to Landis's legal fund, and a comprehensive list of the comments Landis has made against USADA. Landis is right to refer to all this as harassment, because that's what it is. They told him last summer that they would break him down and make him "poor like Tyler" and that's just what they're hoping to do.
In the face of all that, it's very hard to hope that Landis will be cleared. Very, very hard.

Rant has read the ruling. He doesn't see much good news for Landis, and very little in the nature of the procedings from USADA that looks like fair play. Then again in Part 2 Rant thinks there MAY be some good news after all.

Ashevilleallan just wants the Landis case to be "over with" already!

Unholy Rouleur finds Wendy's use of the Violent Femmes "Blister in the Sun" disturbing, and then gets around to cycling. Comparing to the Duke Lacrosse case, he thinks that those who rushed to judgment early on in the Landis case look pretty dumb.

Being a grownup means that sometimes you have to admit you just don't know, and until you do, you'll keep your mouth more or less shut about the question. The reason this is the grownup way is because reputations can be damaged, men and women destroyed, by loose lips. It's hard to keep our mouths shut and just shrug, because we all want to seem in control all the time. But we aren't, and we shouldn't be ashamed to admit that the knowledge of some things is beyond us, at least some of the time.

Pommi thinks that yesterday's arbitration ruling proves one thing more than any other, that USADA/WADA are trying to bleed Floyd Landis dry. Later, he goes over the documents and statements of the day, under the headline "USADA's Fishing Expedition."

Biking Bis also notes yesterday's arbitration ruling, and gives TbV a plug along the way.

Hernando go lightly feels it's completely inappropriate that USADA is going ahead with the testing of Floyd Lanids' "B" samples from last summer's Tour.

ArchPundit has sworn off politics today to comment on the state of the Landis case, and he laments that due to circumstances beyond all control we may never know the real truth.

Throwing Smoke is starting to think that the Landis saga will NEVER end -- but that Landis never quits.

O'Kelley's Reality Check picks up the earlier Network World discussion of the "wiki defense".

Forums

The USADA Digs Deeper thread over at the DPF is exploring the request by USADA to obtain from Landis an FFF contributor list as well as posts on message boards, and contacts with politicians.

The discussion on the First Arbitration Ruling also continues over at DPF, along with new threads about the USADA Doc requests, and Landis' request for split B testing at UCLA, Landis' accusation USADA's tactics are "un-American",

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First Arbitration Decision

The first final decision by the arbiters has been made, titled "Interlocutory Award, Case No: 30 190 00847 06"; we've uploaded it to the archive.org repository.

In quick summary:

• USADA was told on Feb 2 to produce all documents responsive to Landis's Oct 23 and Jan 22nd document requests, or say why they could not be produced. We've seen the first request, but not the latter, and don't know what has been produced so far and what has not.
  
• USADA asked to test the other B's.
• Landis asked for depositions or testimony.

Rulings on B sample testing:

• No AAF could result from testing of the other B's.
• There is no rule prohibiting testing the B's, but doing so must be for purposes other than confirming an AAF.
• Landis' expert should be able to see if the process is flawed;
• They don't have the power to preclude testing;
• While unusual, they can make a preliminary ruling on admissibility;
• They can find some reasons other than confirming an A sample AAF.

Rulings on depositions:

• USADA will be calling technicians as witnesses. Those not called will be available if required at the hearing.
• Since they will be appearing, there is no need for depositions before an expedited procedure.

There is a concurrence and partial dissent from Christopher Campbell. He agrees they don't have the power to order depositions, but believes the Lab witnesses should go on first, so Landis's experts can have time to prepare for cross-examination.

On the testing of the other samples, he thinks it should be prohibited. He doesn't find the USADA arguments convincing, and doesn't think any results should be admissible.

The absurdity of allowing the testing of a B Sample with no corresponding A sample confirmation is demonstrated by taking the analysis of the LNDD's obligation to its natural conclusion.

He also sees a clear conflict of interest in LNDD's testing those samples, in violation of the ISL.

For the reasons stated above, it is inappropriate for USADA to direct further testing of the B Samples. To produce reports from those B Samples, the LNDD would have to violate the WADA Code. I would order USADA to cease and desist from pursuing further testing of those samples. I would also rule that any reports from those B Samples would not be admissible as evidence in this case. The admission of evidence obtained in clear violation of the WADA Code smacks of an uneven application of the rules. To allow such conduct strips this adjudication of the appearance of fairness.

Other stories and reactions are covered in Today's Roundup. There are lots of comments to this post as well.

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Wednesday Roundup

News
LA Times/Hiltzik report on the arbitration rulings first made public here. He paints a distressing picture of the wisdom of the decision, as do the comments to our posting. Hiltzik also says USADA has asked Landis for a large number of invasive materials that would seem to have little to do with the substance of the case, including donor lists and media and political contacts. The article also says,

Landis' attorneys said Wednesday they were considering whether to appeal the decision to federal court.

Which would presumably take the form of asking for injunctive relief from additional B sample tests. This might be viable now that the arbiters have explicitly said they don't have the authority. Landis would have exhausted his remedies through arbitration, be left with a separate matter with USADA and the UCI, and have need for immediate relief to preserve the status-quo.

LancasterOnline announces a planned group ride to show solidarity with Floyd Landis to take place in Lancaster, Co. PA. Landis' former home. The fund raising "Keep the Faith Ride" was the idea of Melanie Sensenig and will take place May 12 two days before the beginning of his USADA hearings. Details about registration will be available soon on the FFF web site:

Keep the Faith Ride will follow 20 miles of scenic roads near Landis' hometown of Farmersville. The caravan will pass the Landis family home.

Sensenig said the route follows many roads Landis, 31, used to ride before he moved to California at age 20.

The Monterey County Herald takes Sunday's James Raia article originally printed in the Sac-Bee and reworks it with a reference to the Sea Otter Classic where Floyd Landis made his comeback after a hip fracture in 2003.

PCWorld/Network World covers the "wiki" and social network parts of the defense, talking with Baker and discussing "crowd sourcing"

Baker says the wiki has brought to him lab workers who have provided critiques of the procedures used by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited labs that tested Landis's urine sample.

Blogs
Scienfiction Twin is relieved that the ice in which the Landis case has been packed is finally starting to melt.

Rant compares the handling of Landis' case to how the Australian Agency has handled Thorpe, and thinks the Ozzies have done a more professional job.

Hugh is excited about the upcoming "Ride with Floyd" FFF fund raiser to be held in Austin Texas on Sunday April 15. He also mentions the Monday April 16th FFF Townhall to be held at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas.

Andrea Rat isn't sure about Tyler Hamilton's innocence or guilt, or Lance Armstrong's for that matter. She IS sure that Floyd Landis is innocent, though she can't say why she thinks this.

Forums
DPF has begun discussing the ruling, with Bill Hue repeating the comment he made here, and which will be expanded in Part IV of our series on the legal process of the case. His later comment there in response to someone who thought him cynical:

My opinion of the arbitration decision while critical, is not cynical, in any way.

I'm one of the people who think it is plausable that Landis doped.

Landis takes no offense in that, as long as he gets a fair chance to show he didn't.

Where I now join Landis is in the belief that the system in which he is being judged is extrordinarily skewed against the athlete. After reading this decision, I'm very concerned, as should you and everyone else, that the system in no way equates to justice. If the system that finds him "guilty" is unjust, how can we rely on its determination to reflect the "truth"?

My opinion has been formulated upon a tremendous amount of time consuming personal research and after a lot of thought and reflection. That is the opposite of reacting cynically.

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Tuesday Roundup

News
Daily Telegraph (Aus/News Corp == Fox) says Australian Olympic Committee chair and CAS Vice President John Coates is irked about the Thorpe leaks. He denies it came from CAS as suggested earlier, and he suspects "a European lab" with knowledge of the tests. The lab is not named, so conjectural leaps that this might be LNDD are unsupported. Expect more about this to become revealed over time. How a European lab would get knowledge of tests that we assume were performed by the Sydney lab is also unexplained. Would FINA have passed results on for consideration by a local lab? The FINA HQ is in Lausanne, which would suggest Dr. Saugy's lab in the same city.

Blogs
Royal Brougham Way wonders if despite everything Barry Bonds can be a unanimous hall of famer? In the process of discussing it he pens the first "snark of the week" candidate about Floyd Landis. He kinds takes a step back on being corrected in a comment, but not very far.

Jon (I am a swift wind sweeping the country) over on My Space gives us a listing of some of his cycling stats and states that fellow former Lancaster,PA resident Floyd Landis did what he would have done too, ride his bike to success.


The White Mountain Road Club promotes the upcoming FFF event to be held in Phoenix,AZ on April 14,2007 at 6PM at Teakwoods.

Thought for the Day

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment

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Monday Roundup

News
The St Petersburg Times' Tom Jones was watching Saturday's coverage of The US Open Cycling Championships in Richmond, VA and noting that Floyd Landis was interviewed during the coverage:

Landis was a guest on NBC's coverage Saturday of the U.S. (cycling) Open. NBC's crew asked tough questions and Landis, to his credit, answered all of them.

"First of all, I'm confident and I'm proud of what I did," Landis said. "I'm innocent. So I'm confident because of that. I'm a little hesitant to say that I'm sure of what the outcome will be because until now we've not been treated with what you would expect even if you were a criminal in this country."

The Eagle Times of New Hampshire prints a story about a program for increasing comfort in road bicycles through a collaboration instituted by Specialized Bicycles and The Boulder Center for Sports Medicine director Dr. Andy Pruitt who has worked extensively with Floyd Landis.

Pedal ,Canada's cycling magazine, covered the US Open Cycling Championships on Saturday in Richmond, VA which was won by Canadian cyclist Svein Tuft. Among the chilled and cheering throngs was 2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis.

Blogs
Kattrags spent part of her time at the US Open Cycling Championships on Saturday in Richmond, VA with "nice guy" Floyd Landis.

Rant notes the hearing is coming up, and that we'll finally get to see all the cards on the table. He notes concerns the table might still be fixed, and points out things you might do to help ensure an honest count.

Claire at Chinablogs writes that it's only 55 degrees in her Beijing, China apartment, but that spring really is here. She competed in a race on Saturday and was the "first loser" but feels that, like Floyd Landis, she can't make excuses.

George Parker invokes Landis in two similar but slightly different rants about the Apple iPhone, one at adscam, and one at adhurl. Summary: it's just a phone.

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Peeps

Following up Pommis's post from yesterday...

[WAIT!!! There's MORE Peeps]

Peeps on the prohibited list.




At the Peep Phairness Phund.

Capt. TBV had previously nailed a jelly bean to the mast as a reward for the first sighting of the yellow peep.

LNDP forgot that the bodies were required in the LDPeep

Despite presence on the civilian prohibited list, the army had no qualms distributing the "go-peeps"

Wanting to be in the Olympics, the pink bunnies didn't realize the impact the Peep Code would have, or what their leader, Dick Peep, would say frequently in public to hurt their reputation.

Climbing Taylor St at the end of the day, the weaker peeps took to weaving.

It is important to calibrate the LNDP's HECC with blank peeps before running the experiments.

The hearing is coming soon.

Dr. de Peepurizz under cross-examination.

The rumour was picked up first by L'Equipeep.

Peepor occasionally made mistakes on the lab documents, but usually it didn't matter.

Peep McQuaid wonders what is happening.

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Sunday Roundup

News
The Sac-Bee ,registration may be required, has printed an extensive interview with Floyd Landis by free lance journalist James Raia. Titled "I'm Not Going Away, Ever" it explores the Landis case, why fans should or should not believe him, how things are going on the homefront, and what will be happening in the hearings to be held in a little more than a month:

Q: When your test results were announced and you were accused of doping, why didn't you scream and holler from the first day? I saw that great look of defiance on your face, as did everyone else, when you won Stage 17. I think people knew then that even this nice, quiet guy could get angry. So, if you didn't do what you're accused of doing, why didn't you get on a mountaintop and scream?

A: I would hope you just don't believe me because you look at me and I say, "I didn't do it." Please don't do that. There's plenty of more information and reason for you to believe me. We've put together everything we have available to us, and there's at least an adequate explanation to why people should take a look at this, the evidence against me. In my opinion, that's far more important than people taking a look at me and saying, "I don't think he did it." I hope you don't just believe everything someone tells you because you'd be confused. I don't want anyone to believe me because they think, That guy couldn't possibly have done it. That's not good logic. And it's not necessary in this case because there's scientific evidence. And in the beginning, I wasn't given any of the evidence about what I was being accused of doing. I could have gotten mad, but I was tired at the end of the Tour. It's hard to even get mad at that point. I don't know if anyone can relate to that. But it's almost impossible to deal with that kind of thing because you don't want to even be talking to anyone, let alone talking to the whole world about something to which you know nothing about. If people fault me for not getting angry, I don't know what to say about that. If I would have gotten angry, it wouldn't have solved anything. Here we are, nine months later -- I still don't have all the evidence against me, but I'm doing my best to educate people who want to know what the truth is. I have no desire for people to believe me just because they think I'm a good person. For me, that wouldn't make me feel good. I would hope that people would think it through further than that.

The Salt Lake Tribune laments the demise of several cycling events recently within the United States, and the Floyd Landis PED scandal gets part of the blame.

Blogs
Fixedgear went to Richmond to see the US Open Cycling Championships and saw Floyd Landis at Stool Pigeons. He feels the race promoters were shrewd in using Floyd to promote the race during interviews in which he was pleading his case.


Media
The FredCast posts the speeches of Chris Fortune of Saris and Kozo Shimano from the recently held National Bike Summit. Fortune also introduces his special guest Floyd Landis, whose remarks and Q&A are also featured. Floyd's questioners may be hard to hear, but the answers are clear.

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Saturday Roundup

Floyd Landis did a brief interview during coverage of the US Open Cycling Championships on NBC this afternoon with Al Trautwig, Bob Roll, and John Eustice. Floyd reiterated that his May USADA hearings will be public, without mention what media outlet would provide coverage. He also expressed some concern over the hearing process itself, but is adamant that his experience results in change in that process. The outstanding quote of the session was made in response to an Al Trautwig comment that not one mention is made on the official Tour de France web site about who won last year's race, it's as if it never took place. To this Floyd replied, "That's one way to deal with it." (See "Inaccuracies" in Blogs below).

Trautwig finished the interview as they were going into a commercial break by saying , "Floyd Landis; tested positive after the Tour de France, and now saying he's innocent- it will all play out in May." Indeed.


Blogs
Inaccuracies is disturbed and feels that NBC did not fully check the Tour de France web site for last year's results and thinks they may be just plain lazy.

Pommi's Easter post has a cartoon not to be missed... and some reflections on the Morzine stage.

Pommi references an article from "Men's Journal" which surmises that even though the popular perception may be that Floyd Landis is guilty of using PEDs, it is actually USADA who may be on the defense:

The article talks about the upcoming USADA hearing, and that while the media and most observers have already proclaimed Landis guilty, it may actually be the USADA being on the defense. The hearing will be open to the public as per Landis' request, and his lawyers will not only attack the credibility of LNDD but also USADA's rules. Lindsey lists four contentions why Landis "could walk":

1. wrong sample: the '995474' vs '994475' mixup
2. faulty machinery: improper operation, antiquated software
3. bad protocol: same techs involved in A and B sample analysis
4. ambiguous rules: the fact that only reading for only one metabolite were out of range

Team LandRover got an abbreviated report from his Dad on today's US Open Cycling Championships from Richmond, VA, and is just glad that no one was inebriated and immolated.

Scott of the Racing Space is home and recovering from his BHR operation on Monday. he marvels at Floyd Landis' very quick recovery from the same surgery last September.

My Observations blurbs today's US Open Cycling Championships in Richmond and notes that they will be televised on NBC at 2:30 PM EDT and that Floyd Landis is in attendance. Better to watch the race at home since the weather there at this time is less than desirable, 37F with snow!!

Fat Cyclist shares the pre-emptive news that the 2007 winner of the Tour de France is a doper, according to WADA. The logic is inescapable. (tip o' the hat to Jeremy)

The Internal Pigdog appreciates the attitude of the Kenyan marathoners and can't wait to see the "Chasing Kimbia" web project completed. He also sees that same hard work ethic in Floyd Landis.

Scott Henderson Illustrations in Dirt Rag found the most difficult thing,other than the faces of course, in his Lance Armstrong vs Floyd Landis cartoon was who to root for.

Gathkinsons watched the race on the Tivo, and saw Landis talk with Bobke and the others in the booth, and is looking forward to the hearings. Gives us a plug, too.

Recovox still hasn't posted the promised video interview, and a couple of comments we've made about it seem to have vanished. Paige posted hers -- what up dudes?


Thought for the Day

In each moment, you can choose where to focus your attention and your energy. Seek to keep your focus as positive as possible, and you'll move steadily in the direction of your dreams. -rm-

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More FFF Events

If you haven't been paying attention to the TBV calendar over there on the right hand side, you might not have noticed a bunch more FFF events that have been scheduled.

So far, the events before the May 14 hearing are:

• April 14, Town Hall in Phoenix AZ
  
• April 15, Ride with Floyd in Austin TX
• April 16, Town Hall in Austin TX
  
• April 17, Richardson TX, details TBD.
• April 18, Town Hall, Atlanta GA.

• May 6, Town Hall, Dallas TX.

You can check the FFF Events page for updates and more details.

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Friday Roundup

News
Richmond.com reporter Andy Thompson interviews John Eustice as it publicizes the US Open Cycling Championships to be held in Richmond, VA this weekend. It asks Eustice if he is afraid of any backlash due to the appearance of his friend Floyd Landis who is attending the race:

Richmond.com: Floyd Landis has lived under a cloud of suspension since testing positive for elevated testosterone levels after winning the 2006 Tour de France. Why did you think it was important to have him here at this race?

John Eustice: Floyd Landis is my friend and I'm also a supporter of his and his defense of doping allegations on the Tour de France. Floyd supports cycling, and this is a brand new race and he wants to come support it. He understands what we're doing here, trying to create European quality races here in the United States. He's very supportive of the up and coming American riders.

RDC: Do you worry that Landis, with his case still pending before an arbitrator, could bring the wrong kind of publicity to this event?

J.E.: I've really studied this issue. I'm not blind, but I studied the issue and I think it's a great travesty that's occurring to him. He is raising awareness of the fact that he has been unjustly accused. He's not doing fundraising here but he has done fundraisers. I am honored that he is at this race.I run a race called the UNIVEST Grand Prix in Pennsylvania in September. We were the first race to say hey, we believe in Floyd Landis. We honored him at the race and he was a huge, huge, huge success.

The Bowling Green Daily News posts a piece about author Christopher Thompson's book on the history of the Tour de France titled "The Tour de France: A Cultural History". It, among other topics, traces the use of various PEDs by the competittors throughout the history of the Tour.
He takes a cynical view of Landis:

“My own assumption is that the test is correct, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was mistakes in the testing procedure and he ultimately wins his appeal."

The New York Times writes what is more of a travelogue about the upcoming Tour de Georgia with a minor mention of defending champion Floyd Landis.

The Sydney Morning Herald's Peter FitzSimons gives us perhaps the snark of the month, though it's still early April, in the guise of a quote from The Daily Mail's Paul Hayward concerning Floyd Landis and the similarities to the Ian Thorpe case.

Blogs
Cycle Rama was at Stool Pigeons last night and met Floyd Landis who was participating in a meet and greet with local cycling fans to promote this weekend's US Open Cycling Championships in Richmond, VA. She felt very conflicted meeting him due to the doping accusations made against him last summer, but she made no comment to him about this when she met him.

Rhett Olson gives a link to the FFF video, but takes a view shared by probably most Americans who don't automatically assume he's guilty:

I think what is happening is unfair to Landis, but I don't care enough to send money.

Shadow and Mirror feels ambivalence about explaining doping to an innocent who enjoyed watching the tour last summer, and hasn't heard anything since.

"You are really going to explain doping in cycling to him?" somebody asked me when I told this story.

"Sure," I replied. "If I can handle 'Why do Christians want Jesus to be in pain?' I can handle this."

Armchair GM talks about Thorpe, and L'Equipe, and gets just about everything right, including the phrase "alleged use of synthetic testosterone" by Landis.

Christopher was bored last night so he did a longitudinal interview with himself about his life from the ages of 17-21. Most notably he has invested large amounts of money in bicycles and is currently watching Floyd Landis in last year's Tour de France video. We are pleased to report that thus far he sports no tattoos.

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Thursday Roundup

News
Telegraph (UK) notes growing concern about the validity of Testosterone cases, in the context of Thorpe.

The Atlantic considers the Landis hearing in May an event worthy of inclusion in their calendar. Emailer Cheryl notes

"Other hot topics for The Atlantic include the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first transgendered pop star marriage in South Korea, the reuniting of the Police, and people making a decent living selling virtual goods for the game EverQuest II. Who knew a gnome was worth more than an elf ($214 vs. $195)?

Blogs
Backcountry.com and YouTubeNews both note the Floyd Landis YouTube video "plea for help" being presented on the FFF web site.

In an extensive piece CrsytelZENmud takes on strict liability, it's WADA definition, and how this applies to the Landis case:

Yet, such is the life under 'strict liability' for the Athletes. How many more innocent victims must be, as may be Floyd, as certainly was Alan Baxter, scathingly scarred by the incriminations offered by labs and tests that are theoretically 'cutting edge', yet often-times not assured of the reliability that one presumes to be a standard, across the medical world? Why would WADA not subject its accredited Laboratories and other Anti-Doping Organizations to the same strict liability standards by which the athletes under this authority are judged?

Which is reasonable, but we should remember a challenge to the fairness of strict liability is not a part of Landis defense, because he says there's nothing there, so nothing to be liable for.


Webinfarmation blurbs the US Open Cycling Championships to be held in Richmond,VA this weekend and a Landis appearance from 7-9 tonight at Stool Pigeons.

Bob's Web Log writes about running the Leadville 100 this summer, with this memorable note, to be savored by all Fred who wish to reuse:

And this year, Lance Armstrong signed up for the race but had to drop out, probably because Floyd Landis also signed up for the race. The three of us account for the last 8 Tour de France victories.

Rant apologizes for a headline implying knowledge of Ullrich's guilt, but says he's failed to learn the legal and PR lessons of the Landis case.

Snoopy says that Floyd Landis will be at Stool Pigeons at Shockoe Slip in Richmond , VA tonight for a meet and greet from 7-9PM.

Alan in Oz thinks that we might not necessarily want to trust all that we read, and he is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Dugard talks about Ullrich's defense to date, and despite thinking Jan is probably guilty as sin, Marty is still tipping towards the athletes.

Thought for the Day

" Youth is not a time of your life. It is not the age of supple knees, rosy lips and chubby cheeks. It is a quality of your will, a vigor of your emotions. It is the freshness of deep springs of life. Youth means temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than in a boy of twenty. No one grows old merely by a number of years. We only grow old by deserting our ideals."

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Comments on the WADA Code Update

SwimYouIdiot from DPF has sent us some pointers to some of the feedback on the WADA code update. First, various parties talk about Article 7, as of December 2006.

Skip right to page 7 of 15, and look at USOC's feedback that the LDP contents as currently specified are inadequate, and their suggestions for improvement. It's not clear to us that this would clarify requirements about, for sake of argument, computer data files from spectrometers.

[MORE]

Earlier, we find USOC and USADA saying the same thing about comments by ADAs on cases; they want to shut the officials up, but allow non-involved persons to be able to say something, proposing:

7.6 Public Comment on Pending Proceedings To ensure the integrity, neutrality, and independence of anti-doping enforcement, Signatories and their employees and officials shall refrain from publicly expressing opinions about whether an anti-doping rule violation has occurred while an investigation or adjudication regarding the alleged violation is pending. However, nothing in this Article shall be deemed to: (1) prevent release of any fact or document that the Code expressly allows to be disclosed to the public; (2) prohibit public comments about the persuasiveness of a decision under Article 8 or Article 13; or (3) limit public comment by Signatories (and their employees and officials) that are not involved in the investigation or adjudication and have no right under the Code to challenge the results of the investigation or adjudication.
Further, WADA should investigate measures that would allow enforcement of the new Article 7.6. There should be a mechanism for invoking penalties of sufficient certainty and severity to achieve deterrence

It's hard to argue with penalties for loudmouths, unless you are one of them. Some of the other provisions look like they might be tricky to interpret.

Note, however, that USADA did not bring up the LDP content concern raised by USOC.

Throughout, many agencies want clarification that a T/E > 4:1 should not be declared an AAF without a followup study. There's dispute whether tests in the follow up should be known to the athlete, or completely unannounced. Declaring it not an AAF would have simplified Landis' life, and required the longitudinal, so he'd only be looking at the CIR claim now. This makes sense, since they never offered or did the "thorough endocrinological study" he requested. It's hard to quibble with unannounced tests for anyone who is already in the Out-of-competition pool. While it does seem fair to inform them they are undergoing a follow up study with random tests to be done, not informing them makes them identical to subjects of "targeted" tests, which are allowed.

The bodybuilders are sensitive to an a finding being an AAF or not, because it affects whether the athlete can be present for a B test. If it's not an AAF, then there is no B test, and the argument is the follow up replaces the B. This should be clarified.

Several parties want positive affirmation given to athletes when they are negative on tests, thinking a policy of silence is unfair, and inconsistently used. Sounds good to us.

There is a suggestion for codified use of review boards. That wouldn't seem bad if there were rules on what the boards were supposed to do, and rules for statistical reporting of what they actually did.

Japan wants to know what to do if Police seize a B sample when an A is positive, and won't give it back because of a criminal investigation. There's an interesting scenario there -- Officer Jingo finds out his favorite athlete has a positive A, and seizes the B, precluding ADA prosecution. Then he sits on it and does nothing.



The second document is a collection of UK response to the testing standards, undated to us. The summary in the beginning includes:

The document assumes a presupposed homogeneity for the testing process in all sports which we think does not exist in the real world. For WADA to obtain the agreement of professional sports to the code and standards, it may be more helpful if the document recognizes their issues too.

Some of the standards descriptions are vague and open to interpretation. For example there is no indication of the minimum/maximum standards acceptable for testing facilities and conditions in which tests should be undertaken. There seems an assumption that all testing takes place in perfect facilities at purpose built venues which is completely unrealistic and fails to appreciate fully the breadth of experience in testing programmes.

What mechanism will be in place for the verification of adherence to this standard? The ISDC is audited to ISO 9001:2000. Independence of the DCOs should be a fundamental part of the process, equalling the independence of the laboratories.

Which seem like some reasonable concerns. Skipping...

5.2.4.3.1 Laboratories should report all substance found, including those of a different class.

which would address the "where was the cortisone?" question.

5.2.6.7 The last sentence of second paragraph of this section needs redrafting. It says:
‘The reported estimate could be, for example, a multiple of the threshold value or a confidence interval and associated probability’. Whilst the first of these (multiple of the threshold value) has the correct units of concentration, the second (confidence interval and sociated probability)
appears awkward. Perhaps this means: ‘…. or a simple statement that the concentration exceeds the threshold’, with the criteria for this statement then specified in terms of a confidence interval and an associated probability.

Criteria for quantification should be clarified e.g. how many diagnostic ions should be used 1,2 or 3? This needs to be clear to avoid a case being dismissed on those grounds.

This might begin to address the 0.8 uncertainty problem, but probably not; the ion criteria may be important for Landis.

The last few pages offers these thoughts on mindset and "expert testimony" issues, which we quote at length:

My only real doubts occur where I seem to detect a ‘prosecuting mindset’ and I think editing changes at these points could improve the document.

Prosecuting is only for prosecutors. Of course sports authorities need help in a regulatory process aimed at defeating sophisticated and determined cheats. The WADA-accredited laboratories therefore do need to work with sports authorities to anticipate new approaches to drugs infringements and then to do their best to detect prohibited substances in their day-to-day casework. At the point where disciplinary enquiries are held, however, the laboratories and their staff need be entirely neutral, committed only to helping the tribunal – no matter who calls them to give evidence and whether this is factual evidence or expert opinion evidence.

Against this background, I think there is a problem in the final sentence of section 3.4 of Annex 2 on page 46, which says: ‘The laboratory should not provide expert services in defense (sic) of an athlete in doping control case (sic)’.

Forensic science in criminal cases may be instructive. In the mid 1990s, the United States radically changed the management structure of its FBI laboratories after problems occurred in court. When fears arose that the laboratories had become too prosecution-minded, to the detriment of justice, the FBI abandoned its policy of insisting that only career FBI agents could have significant managerial authority in its forensic laboratories and it made sweeping changes.

Earlier, in the United Kingdom, after Appeal Courts had criticised several forensic scientists for inadequate objectivity, Select Committees of the House of Commons and the House of Lords looked into forensic science, as did a Royal Commission. They all noted a disparity in the expertise available to the prosecution and the defence. Moreover, where career forensic scientists are nearly all employed by the law enforcement authorities, and are not available to the defence, the only recourse for a defence team is to seek help from other sources. These people may have had no training in the role and duty of objectivity expected of expert witnesses. Some of these people then cause problems in court by mistakenly believing their duty is to promote the cause of their client when giving expert opinions.

It is disconcerting, therefore, to read in Appendix 2 a statement that ‘The laboratory should not provide expert services in defense (sic) of an athlete in doping control case (sic)’. It is certainly reasonable for a laboratory not to provide services for both the prosecuting authority and the defending team in the same case, but it is difficult to see why a well-qualified expert from another WADA-accredited laboratory should not help the defence if the necessary funding is available. This surely cannot serve the interests of justice. In practice lawyers are unlikely to seek help from employees of WADA laboratories unless they are seriously concerned about a miscarriage of justice, in which case they need the best professional advice available. If the laboratories themselves were to fear being at loggerheads with one another, it would be time they matured and understood their true role in the administration of justice. There is no suggestion here, of course, that the defence should have access to samples for a separate analysis; just that the defence should have access to WADA-recognised experts for advice and expert testimony.

Similar nuances occur in the term ‘Adverse Analytical Findings’. I would prefer a term such as ‘Adverse Analytical Report’ because a report has only a temporary legal status and it may be challenged. Arguably it does not acquire the status of an ‘adverse finding’ until either the defence or the tribunal accepts it, if necessary after crossexamination. The laboratory’s report will often be prima facie evidence of an offence but its status – acceptable wholly, in part or not at all - is one of the disciplinary hearing’s most important decisions, particularly if strict liability applies. Arguably, use of the term ‘Adverse Analytical Findings’ before a disciplinary hearing tends to ‘jump the gun’.

On a similar theme, section 5.2.4.3 (p14) talks of ‘presumptive positives’. Ordinarily testing laboratories take the view that screening aims to eliminate most of the negative samples and reduce the definitive analytical workload to manageable proportions. Screening tests can tolerate a few false positives but they aim to avoid false negatives. At most, samples failing a screening test can be called ‘suspicious’. Confirmatory analyses, by contrast, provide the definitive information on which a disciplinary hearing may turn. These methods must produce no false positives and although they aim to avoid false negatives they can tolerate a few false negatives if this is a necessary part of avoiding false positives.

A complication has arisen since mass spectrometry methods came into routine use at the screening stage because they provide information with such a high discriminating power that it is almost cavilling not to call the result a ‘presumptive positive’. This is not true of immunoassays, however, and on the whole a choice of language that imbues the analyst with caution is to be preferred.

There is a further, legal point. If, as section 5.2.4.3 says, ‘the objective of the confirmation assay is to accumulate additional information regarding an adverse finding’, there is a presumption that the results from the screening test are already being regarded as evidence in their own right. As such, they ought to be given to the defence. If, on the other hand, the screening test is set up merely to eliminate samples from further testing, and perhaps to give a clue as to what further testing might be appropriate, no evidence emerges from the screening stage. There is a need for caution here because, ultimately, only the disciplinary tribunal can decide what to regard as evidence. However, whilst the screening data should certainly be available for inspection, it would be reasonable not to pass screening results to the sports authority as a matter of standard procedure if, within the laboratory’s quality system, they have no evidential status. This is a point of law, however, and could be checked with lawyers.

To which the FFF might say, "amen," except that no changes in these areas are likely to affect the Landis case, because they aren't the current rule set. It does demonstrate that everyone in the system is not as deaf and blind to fairness and justice as much of the leadership appears to be.

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Wednesday Roundup

Michael Henson sends mail to folks on the FFF list announcing changes to the site:

NEW “Events” Section – In order to keep you updated on where we’ll be holding our next FFF Town Hall and to allow those of you who have attended one of our Town Halls the ability to share your experiences through photography, we’ve added an “Events” section.

NEW Online Store – We’ve gotten many requests for FFF merchandise. If you go to our new online store, you can buy FFF t-shirts, hats, limited edition t-shirts, as well as limited edition Smith & Nephew cycling jerseys and shorts – the same kit that Floyd rides in today.

UPDATED Wiki Defense Slide Show – To stay up to date on some of our newest arguments in Floyd’s defense, Dr. Arnie Baker’s “What’s Fair is Clear” slideshow 3.0 has replaced version 2.0.

UPDATED “Get Involved” Section – We’ve been working hard in Washington D.C. to ensure that your taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund a distinctly un-American legal system. You can help us make sure that the US Government holds USADA to a higher standard by perusing the new material on our “Get Involved” section and sending a letter to one, or all, of the Members of Congress listed there. Please make the effort to write. Your letters are critical to our efforts to ensure Floyd a fair hearing.

We are confident that if Floyd’s case is heard on its merits, then truth will come to light, Floyd’s innocence will be proven beyond doubt and we will have achieved much toward our goal of introducing basic principles of justice and fairness into an unjust legal system so that no other athlete will have to experience Floyd’s current travails. Our website is crucial to keeping you involved in that fight. We hope that you enjoy the upgrades.

News
Active.com reviews the Thorpe allegations, noting L'Equipe spreading its love from cycling to other sports.

BikeBiz also reports on the FFF Youtube video, and spells out the perks of being a big time contributor to the cause:

Future and former contributors to the Floyd Landis Fairness Fund will get 'freebies', ranging from a signed thank you note from the Tour de France winner himself – for $75 contributions – through to a personalised, signed yellow jersey to those who cough $2000. Donors who contribute $50+ get a thank you note from Henson. Pay $5000+ and you'll get a personalised, signed yellow jersey plus invites to VIP receptions and Team Wiki Floyd Fairness Fund events.

VeloNews announces that AT&T is now the major sponsor of the Tour de Georgia, which will be without last year's defending champion Floyd Landis..

Blogs
More Mind Food recommends "Lance Armstrong's War" by Daniel Coyle, not for the Lance Armstrong content, but for the chapter on Floyd Landis, which IS a good read. MMF is taking the "they all dope" position.

LoungeLizard in a snark of the day contender, is SO pissed off that Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, and Floyd Landis are cheats that he MAY not watch pro cycling again any time soon and he just wishes they would all quit cheating!

Pommi seems pleased that the FFF web site is announcing fund raising events well in advance of their ocurrance, and he is thinking these may be among the last before Floyd's May 14th USADA hearings at Pepperdine.

Kevin Haugh went swimming in such cold water this AM with friends that it took him a minute to register just who one of his mates went cycling with yesterday.

Road Riding cynically thinks any time a rider denies using PEDs he is probably afraid of getting fired (that tack didn't seem to help Floyd Landis), or that he is afraid of going to jail if he admits to using, or both. Oh, and cycling fans have their heads in the sand about cyclists and PEDs. We could have our heads up, well, you get the drift.

Rant wants Ullrich to get a better defense or come clean.

40 fandoms uses last summer's stage 16 and 17 of the Tour de France and the setting for some "fiction".

QuickRelease.TV notes the FFF video on youtube, with minor complaint about minutes of black at the end.

Chill-Blog (translated) thinks Ullrich just goes to show it a tour of Doping, and Landis was the Bass Drum.

Thought for the day

"Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. -lao tzu-

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Tuesday Roundup

News
CyclingNews and VeloNews raced each other to report that Ullrich's DNA seems to have matched some of the Puerto blood bags, and that German authorities are threatening fraud actions against him.

The Fort Wayne News Sentinel gets in on the latest snark fest with the little nugget that Ian Thorpe will be changing his nickname to "Floyd Landis".

FoxSports, Oz Division, thinks Thorpe can't win this one. Aside from the innuendo, Thorpe seems to be carrying some baggage.

The Age (Aus) notices that T/E tests aren't conclusive.

The Mercury News writes about an appearance by Mr. Pound at Stanford Law School:

[L]eaks, Pound said after his lecture, have created credibility issues for drug testers.

The WADA chief, who has exchanged verbal shots with cyclist Floyd Landis, praised the Tour de France winner Monday for a clever Web-based campaign to prove his innocence. Landis, who tested positive for artificial testosterone, has posted hundreds of pages of material on his Web site. He also has toured the country to answer questions about his case, which is scheduled to be heard next month.

Pound told the sports-law class that Landis' media blitz is a smart defense. "It is designed to cast doubt," he said.

But he questioned whether it would sway arbitrators, who also will hear the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's arguments in the case.

Web
Arnie Baker announces June 26 publication of his ebook, "The Wiki Defense: How the French Lab (LNDD) & US Anti-Doping Agency Botched Floyd's Test". It'll be better if a paper publisher picks it up too.

As promised, Part II of Landis calling spin races in Brooklyn:






Blogs
Rant goes after Thorpe's leakers, with "whatareyagonnado" about L'Equipe.

Bill the Butcher comes up with a snarkily novel theory of entitlement and substance abuse and wonders if Floyd Landis was pre programmed to think he had the right to guzzle steroids by watching Popeye cartoons? But let's it, face spinach can only be blamed for so much, and Floyd grew up without a TV!!

Kurt Snibble of ESPN.com Page 2 shows us why last summer's Tour de France was a difficult one for Floyd Landis. Who knew that Floyd was friends with TomKat?





Paige Dunn keeps her word and posts briefly about her Friday talk with Landis, along the video below, with her apologies for being incomplete.



(For me, after "he'll be back", it's all black for 4:50)

FLITM has received modest venture financing, and is expanding the Free Floyd store (proceeds to FFF) so you can get what you want instead of only he was offering:

Say you want the black long sleeve t’ with the flag hoisting Floyd; no problem. No wait, I want the “pop-my-collar” Floyd; again, no problem. Mixing and Maxing will not be an issue.

The Free Floyd mug is sure to be a big-seller, but wait, there's MORE!



Who wouldn't want a Patriotic Floyd shirt for their dog?

Gio at Myspace probably doesn't (want one), as he compares Ullrich to Landis:

Jan now needs to get his $$$ and himself out of town, hide the money he made in a sack and burry it because here come the lawyers. The defense they gave is pretty lame, as lame as floyd Landis' because its the same. "There is a conspiricy!!!" Well while I wouldn't put it past the French, its still weak. You would think those over paid blood suckers would have a better defense than that but WTF!! They clearly are not even trying.

Here at TBV, we don't believe in conspiracies when incompetence and stupidity will suffice for explanation.


Forums
The DPF discussion of IRMS Mass discrimination has wandered off science and into existential debate. Probably the good stuff is over.

Thought for the Day

I don't pretend to have all the answers, I don't pretend to even know what the questions are. Hey where am I? -jh-

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Monday Roundup

News
The Australian reports that FINA, the international swimming and diving federation,will hire a private investigator to discover just where the leaks of the results of Ian Thorpe's drug screening originated:

Swimming Australia executive director Glenn Tasker said yesterday FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu had pledged to employ a professional investigator for the case as soon as he returned to Switzerland.

However, Mr Tasker does not believe FINA is the source of the leak. The French journalist who disclosed details of Thorpe's test had previously received confidential information about the drug tests of US cyclists Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis.

FINA had asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to review the case to determine if Thorpe had a case to answer. Under the international anti-doping code rules, any test that registers a testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio of more than 4:1 must be investigated further.

These levels can occur naturally due to a range of pathological and physiological reasons. Thorpe's T/E ratio on the relevant test was said to be between 4:1 and 6:1.

An eminent sports physician, who asked not to be named, said it was not uncommon for athletes to register ratios above 4:1.

"It's quite possible to have quite significant changes in the test levels - there are a lot of things that can make that fluctuate radically, including the time of day," he said. "I have had athletes who have been in that range and been tested, and I know they are not on steroids, and they have been cleared. There are people who have had over 6:1 and been cleared.

"I don't think there's been enough research done on these levels. It's almost pick a figure out of the air and make that the acceptable level."

AP via ESPN says that WADA is unhappy about the confidentiality violations with Thorpe:

The agency expressed "its great concern and disappointment" Monday following a report in the French sports daily L'Equipe on the results of Thorpe's drug test last May.

"The apparent provision of an athlete's name to the media when it should have been kept confidential is unacceptable," WADA said in a statement. "This particular case has not led to an analytical positive result, but is rather an unusual situation which is subject to further inquiry."

This will probably infuriate Lance Armstrong, who Mr. Pound says still has "something to answer for" by way of the research tests of the '99 tour samples, for which there could not be an analytical positive result. Thorpe's problem is somewhere between Armstrong's and Landis -- Armstrong could never have been a positive, and he was tainted with no recourse; Landis had an AAF that was going to come out eventually, though confidentiality may have improved the quality of his response. Thorpe has hit the mine of premature publicity the same as both cyclists, and there is the possibility of a case being brought forward by FINA over ASADA's objections. If the agencies are willing to take Landis case to the wall, why not Thorpe too?

(pointer by Ferren)


The Canberra Times thinks Thorpe is the victim of vindictiveness, but can't help taint Landis with slanted and slightly incorrect facts:

The most notorious example of testosterone use in recent professional sports history occurred last year, when American cyclist Floyd Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title after returning a positive result. Landis denied taking the hormone, even though the test revealed a testosterone to epitestosterone ratio of 11:1 (normally the ratio in males is between 1:1 or 2:1. The Thorpe sample is believed to have a ratio of more than 4:1).

Sydney Morning Herald suggests Thorpe may use a Turnbull/Landis alcohol defense, and notes he was not an IRMS/CIR positive -- this is a pure T/E case. We haven't seen the actual reported numbers, only cites of the 4:1 threshold limit.

The Marion Daily Republican informs us that Rob Landes is 85% of the way towards his fund raising goal as he rides his bicycle across America in dedication to his mom who suffers from MS. He feels a real kinship to Floyd Landis who he thinks may be a relative due to common Lancaster Co, PA family origins.



Blogs
The Fanhouse thinks that the excuse Ian Thorpe is using for his alleged positive for PEDs sounds very familiar. This is snarkworthy to be sure.

Dugard hopes that once his hearing takes place Floyd Landis comes out swinging, and gives it all he has.

Rant laments that now Floyd Landis and Ian Thorpe have much in common, including reputations that may never be fully restored. What they also have in common is the will to fight!

UltraRob hears the word on the street is that Floyd Landis will be making an FFF appearance in Colorado Springs,CO sometime in May with the actual date TBA. What he finds more curious though is the Leadville 100 logo on the Floyd Landis web site even though at this time Landis' name does not appear on the expansive entrant list.

DShen was at the Friday night M2 Revolution event where Floyd Landis put up the spectacular wattage number of 520. He also includes some fine pictures.

An emailer also at the event was paying close attention to the power, and says that there were some minutes at 600w, followed by saner 420-440 for 5-7, recovering at 300w. He was taking out some frustrations on the bike. By way of contrast, TBV, with much to be humble about, is doing good to hit 300w for two minutes, and five seems like a dream.

Living Odyssey is looking forward to seeing the Tour de France live this year instead of on his TV, this despite the soiled reputation he feels the race has sustained over the past few years.

T-GuyJ do NOT think either Floyd Landis OR Tyler Hamilton took performance enhancing substances, it's just what he believes.

Pommi notes yesterday's warped reality in Landis Land and thinks things may get back to normal now that April 1 has passed. He also had a tiring ride up but a great descent from Mt. Diablo.

VeloGal observes fingers on the leak of Thorpe's data to L'Equipe that are pointing to CAS. That'll be good for institutional credibility.


Le Grimpeur talks of Pantani, and Armstrong, and Ferrari and EPO, and notes last year's fast time by Landis up L'Alpe was a minute slower than Marco and Lance's best.

Web
In search of levity, we find on Youtube part I of Landis calling a roller race final in Brooklyn a few months back. We'd missed the video before, and only posted stills.

Forums
At DPF, You3 continues his fascinating look at the CIR, answering reasoned criticisms of his analysis, largely by OMJ. We're considering a view that there may be software in the instrument that is broken in predictable ways.

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Sunday Roundup

Ah yes, it's April Fools again, remember this as you go through your day and take heed of Ben Franklin's sagacious words:

Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.

News
The Richmond Times Dispatch previews this week's upcoming US Open Cycling Championships to be run between Colonial Williamsburg and the city of Richmond,VA on April 7. Previously it had been stated that an appearance would be made there by Floyd Landis, but no mention of his attendance is made in this piece.

The Capital Region Business Journal writes an extensive article concerning the use of interns by major corporations to help with product problems solving. Saris hired one such intern to implement testing procedures on the measurement and then prevention of water leakage into the Cycle Ops Powermeter hubs.

The Age (Aus) talks about Thorpe, and the T/E test in particular, with reference to Landis and the IRMS. They think Thorpe did not have a positive IRMS, but of course, we only know rumours at this point. They are grasping at the 4:1 instead of 6:1 issue.


The Daily Telegraph, a News Corp (think Fox) outlet also looks at Thorpe, and offers this delightful interpretation:

It must not be lost that Thorpe was not cleared by Australian doping officials last May, but instead had the case thrown out for "lack of scientific proof''.

In other words, a technicality.

Blogs
Scotts PR Racing Space tells us that tomorrow is the big day at last. The day Scott is having his hip resurfaced with the BHR. He is a bit nervous, but finds inspiration in the Floyd Landis hip resurfacing saga:

For the first several days and possibly weeks I will need to use a cane or walker to assist my walking.

Floyd Landis of Tour de France fame had the same procedure done on September 27th of last year and was on his indoor trainer riding without resistance 5 days later. The doctor has recommended using an Ellipitical Trainer for workouts for about a month to reduce the stress on the incision.

RY Hedoff breaks the shocking news that through its new "No Dope" program WADA has found that Mr. Dick Pound has tested positive for the testosterone producing substance Lithium Argide (LiAr) which produces the following effects:

A preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited power

The need for constant and excessive admiration

A strong sense of entitlement

Taking advantage of the misfortune of others for one’s own personal gain

A lack of empathy towards others

Displays of arrogance

A grandiose sense of self-importance

In a related item it is also been revealed that Pat McQuaid has been admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic with a rare form of dependence on AsSuHol, which is a highly addictive derivative of grain alcohol.


Good Versicherung notes that Ian Thorpe is very angry that results of an old test were leaked to the press before he had a chance to find out exactly what was involved a la Floyd Landis. This sounds disturbingly familiar.

ToddBrock snarkily lumps Floyd Landis in with a whole bunch of people who he feels are notorious liars. Tood deplores liars, but thinks that society invariably rewards them, and that the liars themselves actually believe what they are being duplicitous about.

Amprazis was very impressed with the watts Floyd Landis produced Friday night at the M2 Revolution Cycle and Motion Studio in San Francisco.

Baby Gant's big brother Jasper has a page devoted to pictures, including ones of him finding his toes. What's important is that we get a link, showing the family is thinking right thoughts.

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