Floyd Landis loses doping appeal

By Julie Smith

Last Thursday, September 20th, the North American Floyd Landis became the first cyclist to lose a Tour title because of a doping case. The athlete was also suspended for two years, punishment that will be ending on January 30, 2009.

After a USADA hearing in May, the verdict found the 31 years old cyclist guilty of using prohibits substances to improve his performance during the Grand Boucle. Two of the judges (Richard McLaren and Patrice Brunet) voted against Floyd, while the Olympic medalist Christopher Campbell ruled on his favor.

Landis insisted on being innocent, sustaining his argument in the inaccuracy of the French laboratory in charge of analyzing his urine samples. Despite of possible mistakes in the handle of the urine and paperwork, the USADA affirmed that there were no sufficient proves found to invalidate the Laboratory’s conclusion that the Discovery Channel cyclist had taken synthetic testosterone at a crucial stage of the race. Apparently, none of the problems mentioned affected the final result of the doping test.

The professional cyclist has now 30 days to present his last appeal to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) but that option is very costly and he will probably give up on doing it, since the legal expenses of the case until this point have exceeded $2 million already. Moreover, the president of the Tour de France already has announced that the decision of the judges means the Spaniard Oscar Pereiro is the new champion of the 2006 edition.

About the author:

Julie Smith is one of the most recognized copy writers on Sports Betting and currently writes for Instant Action Sports. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.