Landis gets Lance's backing
Armstrong and Landis are former team mates (Tim de Waele©.)
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong believes Floyd Landis is innocent of doping but feels he will still lose his arbitration case.
Landis, a former teammate of Armstrong, won the 2006 Tour de France but tested positive for a synthetic steroid during the event.
That forced Landis to go to an arbitration hearing against the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Armstrong was quoted in Colorado's Summit Daily News as saying the cards are stacked against Landis.
"I think conventional wisdom is that he will lose, because USADA has never lost a case," said Armstrong, the guest speaker at an Aspen Ideas Festival health forum discussion on Tuesday.
"The arbitrators don't ever rule for the athletes. Quite frankly the system is set up against the athletes. ... Unfortunately for him, I don't think he did it.
"That's always been my position and still is today, but I'm not sure that's he going to get a fair shake in this trial."
Armstrong himself is at the centre of controversy again this week because of a new book by Irish journalist David Walsh, which alleges he and his teammates used creative doping methods to win his record seven Tour de France titles.
These are the latest allegations faced by the Texan, who has been the subject of a stream of similar accusations both during and after his unprecedented run in the world's most prestigious cycling race.
"I always hear about it, I always read it, and I always see it and it always makes me mad," Armstrong said.
"But you know what? I sleep every night like a baby. I know what I've been through, I know what I did and how I did it, I know the type of team I had. I believe that we were the best, and that's the thing that gives me the confidence to go forward.
"The good news there is that the people I want to affect, the people that I want to influence, they do not care. They could write a million articles - that population of people does not care."
© AFP 2007
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User Comments
There are 3 comments on this post
Showing 1 - 3 of 3 comments
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seumasleahy
Posted Sat 7 Jul, 12:44 pm UTC Flag as inappropriate
In the 1950s a hard and bitter man conducted a witch hunt against people alleging they were communist, making up (in some cases) evidence that destroyed their lives.
it does not surprise me that the habit persists as McCarthy persecuted any people he fancied were not to the right so society seems to hate the winner and if the winner has fought against the odds to survive lets hound them more.
Lance is a hero and an example to people both in and out of cycling, maybe he should come back and do it again.
Seumas
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davidshuppert
Posted Sun 8 Jul, 6:22 am UTC Flag as inappropriate
Spectators of world sports are terribly weary of persistent accusations concerning doping among athletes, wherein even the innocent are made to look guilty.
The whole spectre diminishes respect for all athletic achievements, and in the process undermines the viability of competitive sports.
The varied governing bodies of world sports desperately need to join and develop a unified set of standards for fair, accurate, uniformly administered pre & post event testing. Such enforced standards would serve to dissuade anyone from seeking artificial advantage.
A little new age "Avery Brundage Puritanism" on the part of sports organizers would be a good thing to remove scepticism concerning the accomplishments of athletes, and restore the rightful glory champions deserve.
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psiturbo
Posted Sun 25 Jan, 4:09 am UTC Flag as inappropriate
The problem is; everybody's trophy idols went to rubble when doping got stricter.
This is a transition process; the sport was always portrayed as something magical and at an elite unique level compared to others, but reality is they are humans made of flesh and blood and after all not inmortals.
Many people have a difficult time to assimilate ans accept the truth. People were used to watching the unbelievable and here the commentators say again and again; "This is incredible..., Where does he get the energy form?" "Super human performance..." and then all spectators would look in awe and have there favorite idol on a special pedestal in there home.
The fact was; We are all humans" Be it Miguel Indurain, Pantani, LeMond... those glory days are gone, now you here the commentators say; "The race is even out, will be difficult to decide who is the winner all the way to the end.."
Everybody deserves a second chance!
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