Floyd Landis confesses to doping and implicates Lance Armstrong

[Minder]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/cycling/article7131630.ece


Floyd Landis, the American cyclist who was stripped of his 2006 Tour De France victory after testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone, has admitted to systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.

He also claimed that other riders and cycling officials allegedly participated in doping, including Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner. Armstrong, whose stunning recovery from cancer has made him a household name in international cycling, has always denied taking performance enhancing drugs and never failed a drugs test.

Landis sent a number of e-mails to cycling and anti-doping officials over the past few weeks, implicating dozens of other athletes, team management and owners and officials of the sport's national and international governing bodies.

In the e-mails, Landis said that during his career, he and other American cyclists learnt how to conduct blood transfusions, took Erythropoietin, or EPO, the synthetic blood booster and used steroids. Landis said he started using testosterone patches, then progressed to blood transfusions, EPO, and a liquid steroid taken orally.

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Until now, Landis has always vigorously denied using performance enhancing drugs, but he has now decided to come clean. "I want to clear my conscience," Landis said. "I don't want to be part of the problem any more."

Landis said his first use of performance-enhancing drugs was in June 2002, when he was a member of the US Postal Service team. The World Anti-Doping Agency's statute of limitations for doping offences is eight years, which is why Landis has spoken out now.

"Now we've come to the point where the statute of limitations on the things I know is going to run out or start to run out next month," Landis said. "If I don't say something now then it's pointless to ever say it."

In one of the e-mails addressed to Stephen Johnson, the president of USA Cycling, dated April 30,Landis said that Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's longtime team manager, introduced him to the use of steroid patches, blood doping and human growth hormone in 2002 and 2003, his first two years on the US Postal Service team. He alleged that Armstrong helped him understand the way the drugs worked. Both Bruyneel and Armstrong have flatly denied Landis's revelations.

"He and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test," Landis said.

In the e-mails, Landis also said he was frustrated about the inability of anti-doping officials to clean up the sport, calling their efforts "a charade".

[eggy bread]

Shock, horror, athletes taking drugs!! 

[magpie seanie]

Oh right, so now he says he DID take drugs.

[Declan]

No real surprise is there only the timing of the statement

[Tyrones own]

He's probably writing the last chapter as we speak 
Follow the Dollar I reckon...

[haranguerer]

Wasnt there discussion on here about lance a while back, and plenty of people of the opinion that he was clean? 

[Celt_Man]

No surprise... I remember a good quote from some random cyclist  when talking about taking drugs - "do they expect us to cycle up mountains on mineral water?"

Says it all really

[Tony Baloney]

Wasnt there discussion on here about lance a while back, and plenty of people of the opinion that he was clean? 

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=11652.0

[haranguerer]

Cheers tony, tried searching for it myself, but realise I must just have been searching this thread  . Now if someone could jsut merge the two...

[seafoid]

why is pat mcquaid standing up for armstrong?

[muppet]

why is pat mcquaid standing up for armstrong?

Viagra.

[deiseach]

No surprise... I remember a good quote from some random cyclist  when talking about taking drugs - "do they expect us to cycle up mountains on mineral water?"

Says it all really

Random? It was no less a colossus than Jacques Anquetil, five times winner of Le Tour. Which says it all even better

[AbbeySider]

Wasnt there discussion on here about lance a while back, and plenty of people of the opinion that he was clean? 

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=11652.0

That thread bring me back! I had a few arguments about suspicions on Armstrong, I guess he has more questions to answer.
There was a few pro-Armstrong posters pining about the allegations 

[Minder]

Strange that so many of his peers have been caught, Basso, Ulrich, Vinoukerov, Rasmussen, Landis etc but Lil Lance was the only clean cyclist in the village. I suppose everyone can make their own mind up.

[Celt_Man]

No surprise... I remember a good quote from some random cyclist  when talking about taking drugs - "do they expect us to cycle up mountains on mineral water?"

Says it all really

Random? It was no less a colossus than Jacques Anquetil, five times winner of Le Tour. Which says it all even better

Good shout... Random as in I couldn't remember for the life of me who said it...