While their son talks to reporters from newspapers and magazines in Europe and the US, Floyd Landis's parents talked to the local Rotary Club this week.
Landis's strict Mennonite upbringing by his parents became an interesting sidelight to his career in 2006 as he racked up more and more bicycle race wins. But his parents were thrust into the news with the accusations that their son doped to win a stage of the 2006 Tour de France.
Paul and Arlene Landis spoke to 300 people at the Lancaster Rotary Club, a fairly large gathering for folks who spurn the spotlight, reports Lancaster Online.
They said strangers continue to stop at their home and store and send them supportive notes and letters.
Arlene said she feels many people are praying for her and has never directly heard any negative comments about her son. Paul said, however, that he “probably got criticized a million times as a father” in publications.
It would be interesting to see how far Paul and Arlene go with their speaking engagements. It may end with the Lancaster Rotary Club.
In comparison, Lance Armstrong's mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly, has made a career out of motivational speaking and book sales after her son's successes at the Tour de France.
Good news for Landis
Meanwhile, the attempt by Paul and Arlene's son to beat the doping allegations appeared to get a boost last week.
The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of Iñigo Landaluze, who was found to have illegally high testosterone levels during the 2005 Dauphiné Libéré race.
It said that a French lab technician involved in analyzing the rider's B, or second, urine sample was also involved in analysis of the A sample. Because that's a violation of the international standards for accredited laboratories, the court threw out the conviction.
Samuel Abt, bicycling writer for the International Herald Tribune, says this helps Landis in his appeal, which goes to the US Anti-Doping Agency sometime early next year. His medical adviser, Arnie Baker, has found 60 to 70 arguments against methods and results of the Châtenay-Malabry lab. (See Baker's presentation about the Floyd Landis case.)
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