An Open Letter to the Phonak Professional Cycling Team
Dear Andy, John, my teammates and staff:
When I joined the Phonak Cycling team, it was our ultimate goal to win the Tour de France. On Sunday, July 23rd, 2006, we achieved that goal.
With the dedication and support of the entire team and staff, we overcame impossible odds to make the 2006 Tour de France one of the most exciting races in its history. When the race arrived in Paris on the final day, we had the Yellow Jersey.
Winning the tour with Phonak makes me very proud. Andy, you have assembled an excellent organization, staff and team. You never wavered in your commitment to the team and your athletes despite the struggles you’ve faced in the past. It makes me happy to have won the Tour with and for Phonak. You deserved to be on the podium with me.
While the recent allegations against me hurt us all, I respect the fact that the Phonak team must follow its own rules and charter under these circumstances. I just wish that all the parties involved would do the same. Despite this, I will not relent on my pursuit of the truth. I will not shy away from this fight.
Most of all, I understand that this situation impacts families and friends other than my own. It affects the businesses and sponsors that support cycling as well as the sport itself. It is for this reason that I am determined to show that I followed the rules and won fairly and cleanly. There is a greater integrity at stake here than just my own.
I thank you all for your support and courage as I embark on this journey to restore my name, the team’s name and the image of cycling.
Thanks,
Floyd Landis
2006 Tour de France Champion
An open letter from Floyd
"If he's truly guilty, his utter arrogance and lack of remorse is psychopath-worthy. That is why I'll keep believing he's somehow innocent, even though there's a pesky voice inside me saying, ""Don't be stupid. We've been through this before."" I won't listen."
It would not shock me to find that most athletes have no idea what the team doctor is shooting into their veins. If the doc says it's ok, they think it's ok. Then when the poop hits the fan, the athlete goes down.
He can also maintain plausible deniability. Of course, in the end, he's only fooling himself, but we all do that from time to time.
no one gets to that level of the sport without knowing what is going on.
25 years ago the high school athletes knew all about steroids and cycles.
its a given part of the sport, hopefuly he gets rich with a reveal all book
FREE FLOYD!!!!
The lab has no cred. Lance's court case that cleared him over the alleged 1999 single sample only positive determined in 2005 proved that. Testesterone is not a magic bullet solution the day after a bonk - it takes weeks to have an effect. Where are the results for the other tests he must have taken throughout the Tour? It's far to convenient an opportunity to discredit an American cyclist by a supremely angered French agency. We should see this for what it is. A great performance that has been stolen from a great competitor. Floyd is a much easier target than Lance ever was. Just wait the months for this to roll out. The courts will once again show that this lab has no business in the testing arena with its flawed and biased methods, let alone breech of protocol and making this public - what a great way to besmirch someone!
"“Testosterone is not a magic bullet solution the day after a bonk - it takes weeks to have an effect.”
This is very much true – it does take weeks. Why are the results for the other tests he took throughout the Tour nonnegative? This is the single most intriguing aspect of this story. Per UCI and WADA protocol, an IRMS test can only be performed after an adverse finding is reported by a high T/E ratio. If a doping rider never expects to have a high T/E ratio, than a doping rider does not have to worry about an IRMS test detecting exogenous testosterone. As for the other samples, one must presume B samples from other tests still exist. My question – why hasn't Landis called for these to be tested? The best answer – like his B sample from Stage 17, he already knows what the results.
“We should see this for what it is. A great performance that has been stolen from a great competitor.”
I was in France for the last two weeks of the Tour. I took a great picture of him and his team on the Col de Galbier, the “jour sans.” Quite the contrary to your comment, praise of Landis was universal in France not only for his Stage 17 victory but overall yellow jersey as well, as many naively thought his poor showing on Stage 16 somehow proved he was clean. Remember, this Tour started with perhaps the biggest doping scandal cycling had ever endured, and Landis was hailed as a savior, not a villain.
Since over the years this lab would have had every opportunity to sabotage a far more disliked champion like Armstrong, it is very far fetched to believe this lab or anyone associated with the Tour would sabotage Landis. Such a tactic discredits the sport and the event far move than any individual rider. More relevant is the fact that ""spiking"" a sample is not as easy as one might think, as such an act would show exogenous T without other makers, like those consistent findings in Landis' samples that strongly indicate doping: 1) High T/E; 2) Low E; 3) Exogenous T. My guess the labs also performed a testosterone/lutenizing hormone test as well."
