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Landis' Former Team Shutting Down
ClickonDetroit ^ | August 15, 2006 | AP

Posted on 08/15/2006 7:59:37 AM PDT by ShadowDancer

Landis' Former Team Shutting Down

POSTED: 10:06 am EDT August 15, 2006
UPDATED: 10:32 am EDT August 15, 2006

ZURICH, Switzerland -- Floyd Landis' former cycling team will shut down at the end of the season.

Phonak owner Andy Rihs said Tuesday that he has been unable to find a buyer for his team since Landis, this year's Tour de France champion, was busted for doping.

"I've had to do something I've never done in my whole life: Give up," Rihs said.

The Swiss hearing-aid firm had already decided to pull its sponsorship because of doping issues. American company iShares, a subsidiary of Barclays Bank, was to replace Phonak as title sponsor in 2007, but the deal was called off after Landis' positive doping tests.

The 30-year-old Landis tested positive for an unusually high amount of testosterone after a tough Alpine stage on July 20 - when he made a remarkable comeback and went on to win the Tour de France. Both his "A" and "B" samples tested positive.

Rihs said the Landis doping scandal led to the shutdown of the team.

"I am deeply disappointed because what he did was what led to this decision," Rihs said. "I would never say this is a bad person because he played bad. I regret what he has done for him, too."

Phonak's image had already been badly damaged by 10 other doping cases since the Swiss-based team was launched seven seasons ago.

The International Cycling Union refused to issue Phonak a racing license for 2005 because of the team's doping record after three Phonak riders - 2004 Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Camenzind and Santi Perez -- were all found guilty of doping violations in 2004 and fired.

The team was only allowed to race after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled last year that Phonak should have a two-year license.

Phonak team manager John Lelangue had no answer for the unusually high number of cheating athletes within the Phonak team over the years.

"It's all individual cases. There were old guys, young guys, experienced guys, with and without results," Lelangue said. "There was no one common profile. It's a very unfortunate coincidence."

Rihs said he stayed up late Monday to negotiate with a few potential investors. Running the team requires an investment of up to $13.7 million a year, and the uncertainty of receiving a racing license didn't help.

The cyclists were informed of his decision Tuesday morning by telephone.

Lelangue said his next task will be looking after the team's riders and staff, hopefully placing them with other teams within the next couple of months.

There has been talk that UCI and the Tour de France might consider suing Landis, but Rihs said he wouldn't take that step.

"I would never consider suing him. The greatest damage done is already done. There is no going back," Rihs said. "Everybody knows the risks and if you play in that business you have to take the responsibilities that go with that risk."

Rihs and Lelangue insisted they had never suspected Landis might be doping.

"I never doubted him," Rihs said. "He was a good boy, you know?"


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cycling; floydlandis; sports
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1 posted on 08/15/2006 7:59:37 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
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To: ShadowDancer

What's the chance of Tour de France hatred of Americans for 8 consecutive years of winning that these tests were bogus reports so as to knock Landis out of ever racing again?


2 posted on 08/15/2006 8:02:22 AM PDT by Rb ver. 2.0
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To: ShadowDancer
"The 30-year-old Landis tested positive for an unusually high amount of testosterone . . . "

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought his testosterone was in the normal range, but that the ratio of testosterone to e-testosterone was abnormal.
3 posted on 08/15/2006 8:05:10 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: ShadowDancer
These people f*cked up. The teams know well that most are doping, drugging, whatever. According to a recent article I read, they even encourage it. What they are sorry for, is getting caught.

I feel bad for Floyd, my Occams Razor tells me he did it, that something went wrong with a masking agent he was taking. But I'll wait till later to pass full judgement, at which time, my judgement on him wont mean squat.

4 posted on 08/15/2006 8:06:40 AM PDT by Paradox (The "smarter" the individual, the greater his power of self-deception.)
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To: Rb ver. 2.0
Landis admitted last week that he "might have taken something": he's a cheater and therefore deserves all the trash that he is getting. He has damaged his team and will loose his title of Tour de France champion in some months. Hopefully the sport and the Tour will be able to rise again to its glory... Landis goofed BIG time!!!
5 posted on 08/15/2006 8:08:04 AM PDT by jamesbrotherofjesus
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To: ShadowDancer
It is my understanding that the same tests done both before and after the day in question, came up negative.

Factor in that doping has to be done weeks in advance for it to be of any benefit to the cyclist, and that doping substances stay in the body and can be detected for weeks as well, and we get a situation that just does not pass the smell test.
6 posted on 08/15/2006 8:12:00 AM PDT by Sergio (If a tree fell on a mime in the forest, would he make a sound?)
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To: ShadowDancer; Rb ver. 2.0; Steve_Seattle
One weird thing as my doctor-cousin mentioned, is that testosterone is not an acutely acting drug but a hormone whose effects are very gradual. Landis' testosterone levels were normal at other stages of the Tour.

Why would he load up on a drug that would have little immediate performance enhancing effect? Strange.

7 posted on 08/15/2006 8:21:46 AM PDT by dodger
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To: jamesbrotherofjesus

When did he admit he "might have taken something"? I missed that.


8 posted on 08/15/2006 8:25:57 AM PDT by leilani
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To: jamesbrotherofjesus
OH please.. Landis did not "admit" that he "might have taken something". He was being interviewed and was aksed what could have happened to cause a positive test if he wasn't doping. He gave a list of possibilities including "I may have ingested something inadvertantly".

That is not an admission of any type, it is one of a list of possibilities that may have happened.

Now, chances are very high he was doping and got caught, but to misrepresent his words to make it seem like he is admitting guilt just so you can slam him is pretty low.

9 posted on 08/15/2006 8:27:15 AM PDT by commish (Freedom tastes sweetest to those who have fought to protect it.)
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To: ShadowDancer
The whole of cycling is in the toilet. Even before the Tour started, there was a bunch of guys kicked off, including Ulrich and Basso. Now this.

There is no question in my mind that Landis was juiced......and I'm sure he was not alone. The real question here is not whether Floyd was on the good stuff. It's how many others are also doing it and what percentage of the cheats are actually being apprehended.

American Olympic Gold Medallist in the 100 meters, Justin Gatlin is now looking at a long ban and possibly loss of medals and records for his own doping exploits. Then there's the Bonds saga and the bulked up monsters in the NFL. It goes on and on.

Professional sports is now a pharmaceutical enterprise and the days of honest competition are long gone, if indeed they ever existed.

10 posted on 08/15/2006 8:32:04 AM PDT by marshmallow
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To: ShadowDancer
If it is any consolation, the ugly Phonak kit will not be missed.


11 posted on 08/15/2006 8:39:55 AM PDT by Plutarch
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To: marshmallow

ALL SPORTS are in the toilet. There is not one that I can think of where the athletes are not cheating by taking steroids. We have taken something good, a sort of Greek ideal of athleticism, and turned it into a profession, a way for people to get rich without having to develop their minds or their morals. I love watching sports on television, but at this point we should also be able to assume that the person who wins is the one with the most skillful doctor.


12 posted on 08/15/2006 8:41:04 AM PDT by babble-on
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To: commish
No, I didn't mean that he had admitted doping himself, but taking into account what has happened to previous cyclist in similar situations, well... his words do have a particular meaning. Right now his chances of being innocent are about 1% and his explanations of what caused the high levels of testosterone are just not credible at all. There is a huge doping market established in the States and many European countries that affects not only cycling but many other sports (just read that they had found needles in the recent in the European Athletic Championships).

I can't feel sorry for Landis or any other professional sport men who dope themselves, sorry!
13 posted on 08/15/2006 8:47:57 AM PDT by jamesbrotherofjesus
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To: dodger
"Why would he load up on a drug that would have little immediate performance enhancing effect? Strange."

I read that injected testosterone can indeed give a rather quick boost, but that it should still be detectable for several days after use. Smaller quantities of testosterone, administered with a patch, would dissipate within hours but would not be sufficient to provide a significant competitive advantage. So either Landis is lying and was involved in a highly sophisticated masking program, which failed on one occasion for some reason or other, or there is little if any evidence that his performance was drug-enhanced.
14 posted on 08/15/2006 8:51:20 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: commish

Is synthetic testosterone, in small quantities, and perhaps under some other name, a component of sports drinks or other substances that Landis might have taken inadvertently?


15 posted on 08/15/2006 8:55:31 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: jamesbrotherofjesus

I still fail to see the "glory" in grown men "racing" on kids toys in their plastic helmets. Pull that bananna seat out of your spandexed crack and get down and race like a man with your feet if you want to show your athleticism. Maybe even try some Rugby. How about boxing, basketball or even football?

I guess I'm just not enough of a latte slurping, tofu eating, big government "conservative" to appreciate the "sport" of bicycle racing. Almost nobody in the USA races bicycles after they're old enough to drive.


16 posted on 08/15/2006 8:59:28 AM PDT by 308MBR ( "She pulled up her petticoat, and I pulled out for Tulsa!" Abstinence training from Bob Wills.)
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To: 308MBR
I still fail to see the "glory" in grown men "racing" on kids toys in their plastic helmets.

Let's see: You have an event (The Tour de France) in which more than half of the competitors fail to finish because it's so gruelling, in which you have to cycle more than 150 miles one day and then race in a time trial the next, in which you have to climb mountain roads in excess of 9% grade and zoom down those roads at over 60 mph, sometimes inches from one another, where a mistake could cause a crash that will certainly cause you to end up with a road rash ripping off half of your skin and breaking several bones (that's assuming it doesn't - in fact - kill you.) Yeah that's right. It's a kiddy sport. Moron.

17 posted on 08/15/2006 9:27:35 AM PDT by PackerBronco
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To: jamesbrotherofjesus
Landis admitted last week that he "might have taken something": he's a cheater

Please document this, or fully retract it.
18 posted on 08/15/2006 9:32:37 AM PDT by Vision (God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline 2Timothy1)
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To: 308MBR

Being a fan of cycling & riding a bike means I'm a "big government conservative"? LOL! I ride so I can stay a "small jeans" conservative. Lemme guess - "big bottomed conservative" Nascar fan, are ya?


19 posted on 08/15/2006 9:34:03 AM PDT by leilani (Guilty as charged on the latte slurping, though.)
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To: jamesbrotherofjesus; Steve_Seattle
Actually the T/E levels I can accept. That particular test is notoriously innaccurate -- that is why the IOC dropped it completely. EVERY challenge to the T/E test itself has been successful.

HOwever, that said, what Landis canot escape is the fact the the Radio isotope test found SYnthetic Testosterone in his blood. That cannot be explained by any "natural process" what-so-ever, meaning that the Synthetic Testosterone had to have entered his body by some means.

I don't know of any substances such as sports drinks, energy bars etc that contain anything that would show up on the test as Synth test, but then I am by no menas a doping expert. I can wax philosophically on the effects of beer, pizza, fried foods etc ROFL, but that is about it.

SO yes James, I agree that Floyd is most likely guilty - as much as I hate to admit that - but I think the test and actiona speak for themselves, and just took issue with how you worded your post.

20 posted on 08/15/2006 10:20:43 AM PDT by commish (Freedom tastes sweetest to those who have fought to protect it.)
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