Landis, Gerrans on the doping conference
With the UCI Road World Championships and the New Pathways for Pro Cycling both on the horizon, Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans has come forth as the first Worlds competitor to lend his view to the minor controversy sparked by the participation of infamous
cyclist Floyd Landis in a panel discussion at the conference.
“'I'm a bit surprised that anyone organising an anti-doping conference around world championships would invite someone who is going to bring so much negative publicity,'' said Gerrans to journalist Rupert Guinness. “'There are probably plenty of guys out
there would have the same impact that Landis would. Yet he is a heck of a lot more controversial.”
Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, was stripped of that title when a test taken during that race was proven positive for banned substances. He maintained his innocence for nearly four years before finally admitting guilt this spring, and in
the same breath implicated many riders and staff of his former US Postal Service Team in widespread doping practices, including Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel. He has been invited by the organisers of the conference, held at Deakin University in Geelong,
Australia during the two days immediately prior to the World Championships, kicking off in the same city of September 29.
“I hope they get him at customs and send him back to where he came from,” said Gerrans, true to the tradition of cyclists hugely overreacting when speaking of another cyclist who is involved in a doping scandal.
Landis’ reaction to the situation points to the absurdity of the surprise consistency shown by, as Landis has put it, “those that seek to maintain the status quo or otherwise cover up the extent of the doping problem and the resulting corruption under which
the sport currently labors.”
“My knowledge and participation in the culture [of doping] can be used to begin the process of repairing the currently broken sport of cycling and its governing institutions.”
Gerrans, who is known to have a good relationship with Armstrong, could be reacting under the presumption that Landis will be making reference at the conference to specific riders, such as Armstrong, who he has already implicated in the US federal investigation
into the former federal-funded USPS team. Landis expressed his intention to speak only of the options for the future of the sport.
“How can you expect not to hijack the event, whether it's his intention or not?” responded Gerrans. “I am not wasting any energy on it. I am thinking about the road and putting in the best performance possible. It's more of a shame for the event. It's such
a fantastic event, and it'll have this cloud over it.”
Martin Hardie, the organiser of Deakin University’s New Pathways for Professional Cycling conference, has offered his own apt criticism of Gerrans and others who share his stance.
''We are getting overwhelming support from team directors, federations, riders, WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency], fans,” he said. “But we have the party line going, the same sort of Soviet Union stuff … 'Oh, he's got a problem, this guy. Lock him up.’”
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