The once praised American cyclist Floyd Landis finally admitted to ESPN's Bonnie Ford that he did in fact use performance enhancing drugs.
Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory, has been adamant about his innocence since the accusations occurred. His site, floydlandis.com used to even say "how they convicted an innocent man." (it has since been taken down)
I rooted for Landis in the 2006 Tour de France. And I watched as he overcame that huge deficit to take the lead after falling WAY behind the previous day. I watched as he "won" the Tour and was happy that America was still on top of the world's biggest cycling race. Oh, and I felt sad when it came out that he had cheated to win.
Therefore, when Landis comes out and says that other athletes he was working with, such as Lance Armstrong and Dave Zabriskie, were also doping I find that I must take his words with a grain of salt.
Landis has repeatedly lied. Even going so far as to write a book in 2007 titled, "Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France." (I see that book falling into bargin bins everywhere now)
The fact is the man has lied. Lied again. And lied one more time. In print and in interviews for almost four years now. Now do I know if Armstrong and Zabriskie doped? Of course not.
But I do know that Landis claimed his innocence for a very long time, only to come clean years later. His word vs. theirs. (Because Landis has no proof) You pick who you'd listen to. But for me, I'm listening to Armstrong and Zabriskie.
Check out the reaction from ESPN:
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