Here is an article from the WSJ. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703691804575255410855321120.html
On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 5:52 AM, Bux <[email protected]> wrote: > Updated: May 20, 2010, 4:51 AM ET > Landis comes clean on PED use > > * Email > * Print > * Comments > > By Bonnie D. Ford > ESPN.com > Archive > > Nearly four years after he began waging a costly, draining and > ultimately losing battle to discredit his positive test for synthetic > testosterone at the 2006 Tour de France, Floyd Landis told ESPN.com on > Wednesday that he used performance-enhancing drugs for most of his > career as a professional road cyclist, including for the race whose > title he briefly held. > > In a lengthy telephone interview from California, Landis detailed > extensive, consistent use of the red blood cell booster erythropoietin > (commonly known as EPO), testosterone, human growth hormone and > frequent blood transfusions, along with female hormones and a one-time > experiment with insulin, during the years he rode for the U.S. Postal > Service and Switzerland-based Phonak teams. > > [+] EnlargeFloyd Landis > Doug Pensinger/Getty ImagesFloyd Landis says he used performance- > enhancing drugs for most of his career as a professional road cyclist. > > Landis confirmed he sent e-mails to cycling and anti-doping officials > over the past few weeks, implicating dozens of other athletes, team > management and owners and officials of the sport's national and > international governing bodies. ESPN.com is seeking further evidence > and comment from those individuals. > > Landis' doping conviction cost him his Tour title, his career, his > life savings and his marriage. He said he knows his credibility is in > tatters and that many people will choose not to believe him now. He > added he has no documentation for many of the claims he is making > about other riders or officials, and that it will be his word against > theirs. > > However, Landis said he decided to come forward because he was > suffering psychologically and emotionally from years of deceit, and he > has become a cycling pariah with little to no chance of ever riding > for an elite team again. Prior to speaking with ESPN.com, he said he > made his most difficult phone call -- to his mother in Pennsylvania to > tell her the truth for the first time. > > "I want to clear my conscience," Landis said. "I don't want to be part > of the problem anymore. > > "With the benefit of hindsight and a somewhat different perspective, I > made some misjudgments. And of course, I can sit here and say all day > long, 'If I could do it again I'd do something different,' but I just > don't have that choice.'" > > Landis said he takes full responsibility for having doped and added he > was never forced or threatened. > > "I don't feel guilty at all about having doped," Landis told ESPN.com. > "I did what I did because that's what we [cyclists] did and it was a > choice I had to make after 10 years or 12 years of hard work to get > there; and that was a decision I had to make to make the next step. My > choices were, do it and see if I can win, or don't do it and I tell > people I just don't want to do that, and I decided to do it." > > According to Landis, his first use of performance-enhancing drugs was > in June 2002, when he was a member of the U.S. Postal Service team. > The World Anti-Doping Agency's statute of limitations for doping > offenses is eight years, and Landis said that, too, is part of his > motivation for divulging his inflammatory information. > > "Now we've come to the point where the statute of limitations on the > things I know is going to run out or start to run out next month," > Landis said. "If I don't say something now, then it's pointless to > ever say it." > > Landis, who began his career as a top mountain biker, had kept > detailed training journals since he was a teenager. He said he > continued the same methodical record-keeping once he started using > banned drugs and techniques. Landis said he spent as much as $90,000 a > year on performance-enhancing drugs and on consultants to help him > build a training regime. Landis said he has kept all of his journals > and diaries and has offered to share them with U.S. anti-doping > authorities in recent meetings. He added that he has given officials > detailed information on how athletes are beating drug testing. > > As for his own positive test, Landis still maintains the result was > inaccurate and he had not used synthetic testosterone during the 2006 > season -- although he now admits he used human growth hormone during > that time. At this point, he does not want to dwell on any of the > issues he and his lawyers hammered at during his case, he said. > > "There must be some other explanation, whether it was done wrong or I > don't know what," he said. > > "The problem I have with even bothering to argue it is [that] I have > used testosterone in the past and I have used it in other Tours, and > it's going to sound kind of foolish to say I didn't." > > Landis exhausted most of his own savings in fighting his case, which > cost an estimated $2 million. He also raised funds for his defense in > a well-publicized effort. He said he would pay those donors back if he > could, but does not have the money. He said he did not level with the > people close to him, but declined to say whether he informed his > lawyers of his past drug use. > > Bonnie D. Ford covers tennis and Olympic sports for ESPN.com > > -- > You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] > -- You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected]
