Floyd Landis at Charity tent after the tour of California
At the conclusion of the tour of California on this Saturday, the reporters and photographers rushed towards a hospitality tent. From a distance, it was not easy to say what was actually going on there. Even with a closer view, one could still not understand what was happening inside.
It was Floyd Landis there, the man who had little or no interest in the charity event was only there to gain more publicity and appear in front of the media. At the moment, this is all one could expect form Landis.
On Thursday, Landis, who has been the talk of the town for a number of days, sent a series of emails to some cycling officials and sponsors mentioning the details of his own doping practice as well as naming a few other cyclists involved in the practice. He named some of the top cyclists including Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France and some cycling officials as well. Armstrong, since then had declined the charges several times, questioning the credibility of Landis and the charges imposed by him. However, Landis told that it was Armstrong who had taught him the various doping techniques. He further said that long with some other officials, Armstrong had assured him that the positive doping tests would be clarified and he doesn’t need to worry about that.
The allegations were made by him on Thursday morning before starting another stage of the Tour of California. But later on, he had a crash and Landis had to quit the race. So far, Landis had not talked about the emails he had sent publically nor had he disclosed any reasons why he has confessed for doping.
On Saturday, as the tour came to its conclusion, the cycling world expected to hear more from Landis but he made no public statements and also avoided answering any of the media questions. Instead, he showed up a very casual attitude and kept himself busy with the sponsors and his friends.
The tent he took as haven was kept closed to the public without there being any formal security or loitering onlookers outside it. Reporters and people were freely taking pictures and some just started staring at Landis. At the end of the time trial, more people kept flooding around the tent. One person even insulted Landis at the top of his voice, expressing his annoyance shared by many in the cycling community against the allegations he had put over the cyclists and officials.
After this show he made for the public, Landis was taken away safely by the security guards and police officers, fading away into the crowds in the city of Los Angeles.
Landis had won the Tour of California in the year 2006 but the team he raced with, Bahati
Foundation team, had not been invited to ride this year. In that same year when Landis won this tour in 2006, he also won the 2006 Tour de France. But he was deprived of the title after his charges of doping were proved to be correct. Landis, who confessed of doping, went on an aggressive journey to clear his name at that time. He spoke in various Church halls and on TV channels as he strongly denied any involvement in the doping allegations.
But then we hear him last week admitting that he had been lying then and that he had been doping steadily before his 2006 victory. As they say, proof is the best judge to catch a culprit. Verbal excuses and acceptances cannot be proved in a court of law. One has to bring both cyclists’ onto the same lab to test whether drugs have been shared by both of them or not. Until then, watch for this space for further development.
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