Landis' last gasp

Bro Deal

I still like FLandis. Yeah, I'm a hypocrite. I like his attitude. With exploits like trading a yellow jersy for a beer on the way down from Alpe d'Huez, he would have been hugely popular in the U.S. among cycling fans. He was a much warmer and wilder personality than the cold, arrogant meanness of Armstrong.

He played this wrong. Hamilton should have served as an example that the UCI was willing to scapegoat select individuals and that the consequences of fighting it out to the end and losing would be severe. With the tip offs that Postal was getting about random testing, he must have known that the UCI was corrupt.

His wiki defense backfired. He would have been better served by making his initial denials and then letting the process go forward quietly. If his defense team could find a serious error then he would eventually skate on the charge, but if not he would not have been left backed into a corner as he is now.

If he really wanted to go public, an attack on the anti-doping apparatus was a bad target. He should have targeted the systemic nature of doping in pro cycling. Saying that he was not doing anything his rivals were not doing is more believable than claiming he didn't do it, especially since most of his rivals had been prevented from racing the Tour a month earlier. It is also a more sympathetic position.

FLandis must be angry as hell. Aside from seeing the UCI spend money to defend Armstrong's dope use, they are now assuring the public that Contador is clean. Pereiro was on the same doping program as Landis the year before, yet he gets the title that was rightfully won by FLandis. Judging by what happened to Hamilton, the UCI will black list Landis in europe.

The starting date of his suspension is bullshit. He gave up several hundred thousand dollars by not collecting post-Tour race appearance fees. There appears to be no clear rules on when a suspension starts. It does not seem to be too hard to make a simple rule that it starts after the last race you did after testing positive. He is lucky that CAS dismissed the idea of starting the suspension after the 2007 PB100.

Maybe I'm just vindictive, but if I were FLandis and the UCI was doing whatever it could to prevent me from working the last few years of my career, I'd blow the lid off of Postal, Phonak, and everyone else I knew anything about. He's already probably near bankruptcy. He is judgement proof if he gets sued for libel. It is also the only way to salvation.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates