Disgraced pro cyclist Floyd Landis is making some bombshell disclosures regarding doping in the peloton, especially during his time with the US Postal Service team.
Landis rode alongside Lance Armstrong on that team for several years. During this year's Tour of California, Landis disclosed that the use of performance-enhancing drugs and illegal techniques were prevalent during that time. Landis is reiterating those assertions in “Blood Brothers,” a Wall Street Journal article published Saturday, the first day of the 2010 Tour de France.
Armstrong says the WSJ article is “full of false accusations” at LanceArmstrong.com.
Among the latest allegations:
— Missing bikes: Landis says Trek made about 120 bicycles for US Postal Service in 2004, but only about 60 were put in use by teammembers. The rest, Landis alleges, were sold to help pay for doping. The WSJ quoted Trek representatives that they were aware of the missing bikes, but didn't know what happened to them.
Now Trek writes it into contracts that unused bikes be filtered down to the junior teams, not sold.
— Blood transfusions: Landis said he took a blood transfusion on July 12, during the Tour de France. He said it appeared Armstrong, George Hincapie and Jose Luis Rubiera were also receiving blood. The transfusions boost the cyclists' red blood cell count. Landis says Italian doctor Michele Ferrari drew the transfusions; they were administered during the Tour in hotel rooms and the team bus.
— Testosterone patches: Team manager Johan Bruyneel suggested to Landis that he use testosterone patches on his stomach 2 out of 3 nights to aid his recovery.
The WSJ article also writes about Landis being caught doping during the 2006 Tour de France as a member of the Phonak cycling team. Landis told the WSJ that he received a call from Armstrong suggesting that he deny everything.
At the LanceArmstrong.com website, Armstrong says:
“Today’s Wall Street Journal article is full of false accusations and more of the same old news from Floyd Landis, a person with zero credibility and an established pattern of recanting tomorrow what he swears to today. The article repeats many of Landis’ baseless and already-discredited claims against many successful people in cycling, and even includes some newly created Landis concoctions. Landis’ credibility is like a carton of sour milk: once you take the first sip, you don’t have to drink the rest to know it has all gone bad. For years, sensational stories – based on the allegations of ax-grinders — have surfaced on the eve of the Tour for publicity reasons, and this article is simply no different. Lastly, I have too much work to do during this, my final Tour, and then after my retirement in my continued fight against cancer, to add any attention to this predictable pre-Tour sensationalism.”
Federal investigators are checking into the Landis accusations.
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