Floyd Banned!

by Andy Shen

Section head text.

Floyd loses on 2-1 count, banned for two years retroactive to 1/30/07, TdF title forfeited. Discuss.

Article here.

27 Comments

Anonymous

I’m in agreement with Phil, well said. like not having to breath when pedaling up hill….at least make it look a little hard……you can see the power of ten riders in these guys….and it’s clear when they are not. (lol)

Phil

spent a week with him in January riding around San Diego, said that it was his worst decision ever to ride the tour that year, quite sad really.

He mentioned that it was going to be very difficult as the head guy from WADA had it in for them after being burnt by a certain Ben Johnson 100m finalist who tested positive and the guy from WADA was also Canadian and has been out for sportsman ever since.

I think plenty of them dope or do drugs , same as in most sports I think it comes down to who has the best masking agent program.

This year at the tour I was told alot of them use Dog haemoglobin and cover it with female testorone. So be very weary of anyone with 7 dogs with them at any race.

I think it pretty much comes down to , the reputations of UCI , WADA all major screwed up, if you can’t even get the sample number right, ( floyd’s was wrong at least a few times ) then the chance of them getting a test result is pretty far off.If they did not convict floyd it would have looked bad for all involved, Floyd was just the unlucky one who got screwed, I very much doubt he will ever race road again after this. Will his manager did not help things with the lemond situation and that could have cost him dearly as well.

I have to say this years tour was great to see them catching alot of the big names , I still think that there are alot still out there, I mean Rasmussen and contador were sprinting up those mountains day in day out, great tv but come on, anyone who has been on those mountains knows it is not right.

Anonymous

Did Mr.Landis win 3 major races in 2006 prior to the Tour while being fully tested in and out of competition? I think so. Did Mr.Landis race well and supposedly clean for the first 15 stages of the Tour in question? I think so. Did Mr.Landis have a very,very bad day on stg.16? I know so. Did Mr.Landis warn everyone who figured he was way out of contention that he was going for broke on a super hard,hot stg.17? Sure did. Did he perform a miracle that day or had he shown many times that he was capable of such hard headed determination and fortitude?The miracle is a matter of opinion but the personal traits are not. Did he pull back an enormous deficit and then go on to win the race of truth in a presumed non-postive state.I think so. Did this man who came on his own from nowheresville, from a rural family who were against his sporting endeavors at the outset,and with limited initial support seemingly go on to earn the top spot in the worlds biggest race–with the full use of only one leg!It sure seemed so!Well,after reading the dissenting arbitrator’s written opinion, and taking everything that can be known about Mr.Landise’s arduous journey from obscurity to the top of the sporting mountain into account, does this man deserve the benefit of doubt when a lab mistake would commit the gravest injustice in this case?I do think so.Read and weigh the dissenters opinion and for a moment put cynical thoughts aside.If the numbers don’t fit you must -not- convict!

Anonymous

If he became eligible in Aug. 08, Mr. Eustice would get him a place in Univest if he wanted it. Mengoni always needs riders.

Anonymous

Why the extended sentence to Jan. 2 years is up in August and he would have rode in next years Univest as a guest Mengoni rider.

lee3

I still enjoyed watching the 06′ tour. The 07′ tour was great to watch as well – despite the scandels. I dont think the truth will ever be known due to the fact that if he were found innocent the UCI, WADA, and the labs would be eternally suspect. His guilty verdict had much larger repercussions than a guy sticking a needle in his arm or a patch on his sack. Reputations were on the line – and we can only thank the leaks for making this whole matter dealt with in a suspect and non-professional way. Cycling has to come up with a better way to handle its doping issues other than resorting to using newspapers and sensational headlines.
That said, its too bad for Floyd, lets hope Slipstream can give us something to cheer for…soon!

Anonymous

is the Spanish Christophe Moreau. He got in a good break in 2006, and the bunch made a mistake and let it stay away. Good luck for him, definitely, but not really the dominant show of force (a la Landis in Stage 17) one would prefer from a Tour winner.

And although the two are apples and oranges, to say the least, I’d agree that a Cat 4 Top 10 at Housatonic is indeed “good.” No one there “lets” anyone get away. Either you keep up or you don’t.

Longacre

Whether he told you to your face or whether you never set eyes on him in your life before, as the French say, “Se la Sport” You have to be an idiot from Pennislytucky to think that a rider like Landis wasn;t influenced to the gills by everyone he looked up to(!) to do whatever it takes to be the best there is in the sport! Stop the discussion. He did it. And so did the Dart Board that we like to call Lance!

Anonymous

I was also thinking that it’s kinda funny (and ironic) that he’s now the TdF champion for 2006. But he would have been the champion was it not for that one stage where Floyd might or might not have used an illegal substance (well the court says he did so let’s assume for a second that he did). If that stage did not go off the way it did, Oscar would have been champion and would we still have thought him not “worthy”. Is 10th on GC in the TdF bad? And there I thought that top 10 at Housatonic Cat 4 was good.

Anonymous

happy fans will be looting and turning over cars in the Spanish capital tonight?

“Oscar Pereiro, 2006 TdF Winner!” Now there’s an ironic slogan for a T-shirt, especially after his commanding 10th place this year.

Reed Rubey

I would tell him today what I told him as he signed his photo for me at the Brooklyn Brewery, “Give ’em hell, Floyd.”

Greg

I’m that much closer to once again being adored by Americans as the only US rider to win the Tour.

Now, if David Walsh can only write a few more books and we fund a new wing at the LNDD for the on going investigation into the 2001 Tour, I’ll be golden.

Anonymous

Wait, he looked me in the eye at the Brooklyn Brewery and told me this was untrue….no fair! I want my $35 back.

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