Floyd Landis, former disqualified 2006 Tour de France champion opened his big mouth and confirmed what I said less than two weeks ago about the utter corruption in the beautiful sport of professional cycling. It would hardly be noteworthy except that in admitting that he's a big liar, fraud and doper, Landis implicates much of US cycling including Lance Armstrong.
It's ironic that this comment comes on the same day that I'm writing about not self-representing yourself when you are in legal peril, because as we know, Landis contended that he was "not a doper" and he raised beau coup dollars from friends in and out of cycling to advance his defense. By doing this based on the published premise that he was "not a doper" certain issues of potential criminal fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud come to mind.
I found the most amusing remark, worth passing along, came from Johan Bruyneel, Landis' former US Postal Service team director, currently associated with Radio Shack aka "the Shack" which is led by Armstrong. Quoted in the NYT this AM, Bruyneel said Landis tried to shake him down for a bunch of money and, or a job in exchange for silence--apparently about performance enhancing drug usage by Armstrong et al. "[H]e should seek professional help, and by that I don't mean lawyers," Bruyneel told the Times.
Johan Bruyneel, is right,. . . still, I think Floyd Landis will be needing lawyers soon enough.
Postscript: The Wall Street Journal blawg is speculating about a defamation action from Lance Armstrong, the implication being--not filing one means Lance is a doper. Wrong. At least I'm not passing judgment on the question--frankly, I don't care. Folks, Lance is a "public figure" in US Courts, need I remind you of the obstacle that very status presents to just being able to file a defamation action against Landis. Impossible. Ain't gonna happen, regardless.
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this floyd guy is one wack dude, but doping in cycling is as old as cycling according to the history books.
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