If I had any doubts about Floyd Landis' claims to innocence in doping allegations, they were quickly confirmed with the damning testimony of two witnesses during Landis’ doping hearing which started last week in Malibu, Calif. Last Friday, former triple Tour de France champion Greg LeMond revealed he had been abused as a child and Landis’ manager had used that information to prevent him from testifying. LeMond said he confided the abuse to Landis last summer with the hope that sharing the story would convince Landis to come clean about his doping. According to Landis in a Reuters’ news story, Landis replied that coming clean “would destroy a lot of friends and hurt a lot of people.”
Early today, a little-known cyclist named Joseph Papp explained how he and other cyclists applied a testosterone gel on their bodies to recover more quickly during competitions. According to Papp, “it’s something you can use in small quantities that doesn’t trip any of the scanning…Immediately after the race, you would rub it [the gel] on your chest or your abdomen because within 30 minutes you would experience an increase in your testosterone level. And within four hours you would be back to your normal base line level.” Papp is currently serving a two-year ban from cycling for testing positive during a race last year.
Regardless of what happens during the rest of the hearing, and regardless if the French lab screwed up the testing of Landis’ samples as Landis claims, the testimonies of LeMond and Papp convince me that Landis is guilty of doping. This entire hearing was never about the testing process. It was all about getting Landis off the hook. If the arbitrators have any brains at all, they will waste no time in delivering a two-year suspension and stripping away his Tour de France title. I am hoping that cycling officials will learn something from this case that MLB has not – don’t let one of your “stars” off the hook.
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