Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

(pic from floydlandis.com)

Floyd Landis underwent hip surgery this week to finally rid himself of the excruciating pain he had to endure the past few years. The doctors said that they used a new procedure that will give Landis the maxim ability to comeback to become a top class cyclist. Landis’ recovery program will allow him to ride a bike with a week or two and then a full six weeks for total recovery. This is a very ambition schedule, especally for a cyclist whose future is very much up in the air at this point due to his positive drug test for Testosterone in the Tour de France. The Yellow Jersey winner is fully intent on returning to the peloton despite having no team for next year.

The past few weeks Floyd Landis has re-emerged to the spotlight. He made appearances in races in Lancaster, PA his original home town after making himself available to the press in San Diego and other places. Floyd then travelled to Spain to say farewell to the Phonak staff during the Tour of Spain. That was the last chance to see a large contingent of Phonak staff in one place since the fall season is very loose in terms of organization. Floyd looks to be a confident man since his lawyers have seemed to find a good angle in which to attack the positive drug test case. The French lab it seems is frought with very lax procedures. The fact that news leaked of a positive A sample before the B sample could be confirmed back in late July made speculation run rampant that the positive result was Landis’. Phonak had no choice but to announce that the positive result was Landis’ and the rest of the time Landis was out in public trying to figure out just why he tested positive long before the B sample could be tested.

Flash forward to this week when Patrice Clerc, head of the Amaury Sports Organization went on record as saying that he fully believes that Landis is guilty. This announcement is made just as Landis’ legal team is ready to go to a public hearing to show just why the case against Landis should be dismissed. What is Clerc’s motivation behind the comments just as the process on the Landis case is unfolding. Whatever the ASO believes should not matter since it is up to the various courts to decide what happens. Does the case for Floyd look strong enough where the ASO feels they need to reiterate their point on Landis? Should they even have an opinion?

For further proof of Landis’ impending exoneration, Martin Dugard a reporter who follows the Tour and American cycling went on record on his blog on the Landis case stating:

Which brings me back to Floyd. Let me just say that I know more now than I did before, and that I’m confident he’ll be exonerated.

Landis’ lawyers are certainly earning their money. In fact as written on these pages before, I fully believe Landis will walk, and I have not seen the evidence Dugard has seen.

As for cycling’s war on doping, the real problem is not so much with the cyclist as it is with the various organizations that run the testing and prosecute the cases. This week Ivan Basso is ready to return to racing after going through the legal proceeding related to Operation Puerto. You remember the investigation which turned up between 9 and 200 names who visited the offices of Dr. Fuentes to undergo several procedures such as blood transfusions? Turns out there has yet to be a conviction in this investigation. The only person who looks to be in hot water is Jan Ullrich, but the case has not moved forward. Most cycling federations who had cyclist involved have not seen reports and when they do get them the evidence is not enough to convict. So if cycling or any sport really wants to clean up, then the investigatios need to be more complete and rules need to be followed. Otherwise the entire process is a joke and some guilty cyclist end up walking. Not to say that Landis or Basso are guilty.