In 2006, Floyd Landis became the first Tour de France winner to be stripped off the title. The reason was that he tested positive for doping during the race. More than one year has passed and this year’s race is already over but the controversy drags on.
An US arbitration panel judged in September that the American cyclist did indeed take synthetic testosterone to enhance his performance during the race. But Landis himself has always demonstrated his innocence against doping charges leveled against him and now he is taking his case to the to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the ban imposed on him.
The sport of cycling has never quite been able to free itself of the dark shadows of drugs. Even cycling great Lance Armstrong still is believed by some to have doped during his stretch of 7 successive Tour de France victories. The sport of cycling, often called the sport of truth, reached a new nadir at the end of the Tour de France in 2006 when Landis was discovered to have used illegal performance enhancing drugs by a French laboratory.
Landis has been banned for two years and he would be able to participate in professional cycling only from January 2009. His appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the last remaining option that he has at the moment and should he fail to prove his innocence there too, he would have nowhere to go.
Whether Floyd Landis gets relieved of the ban as a result of the appeal or not wouldn’t be able to remove the strain from his character. Landis has been labeled as a cheater forever and the sport of cycling is fast losing its appeal and popularity. The only way forward is more transparency and quick and complete cleaning up of the sport.
Image Source: Artas Authority
Source: BBC
