Tour de France: Le Scandal!
July 28th 2006 02:23
Bonjour tout le monde.
Breaking news: Scandal rocks Tour de France!!! 2006 winner Floyd Landis has tested positive for high levels of testosterone. The information, release by the Phonak Hearing Systems team management, has been denied by Landis.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, he said “No. C’mon man” in response to questions about the allegations. In the same interview, Landis said he “can’t be hopeful” that his second sample (the B sample) will clear his name, but he is prepared to fight any charges.
If his B sample tests positive to the “elevated levels of testosterone,” Landis will be sacked by the Phonak team, according to the team’s code of ethics. He will also be stripped of the Tour de France title, which would be a first in the Tour’s long history.
The International Cycling Union notified Phonak on Wednesday of the unusually high levels in a sample taken from Landis after Stage 17. It was in this stage that Landis made an astonishing comeback with a 130 kilometre solo breakaway. In Stage 16, Landis fell back to 11th overall, placing him eight minutes behind then leader Oscar Pereiro.
Floyd Landis racing in the Tour de California Time Trial (picture was taken by Michael David Murphy. It is licensed under the Creative Commons 2.0 Agreement and can be found at wikipedia.org)
In an interview, Oscar Pereiro said he hopes to retain second position, stating it would only be “an academic victory” and he has “too much respect for Landis” to celebrate if he is awarded first place.
The latest scandal comes after seven riders did not start the Tour after a major Spanish doping investigation.
So over the next few days, we wait, holding our breath (maybe not literally) to see what will happen in what has been nicknamed “Le Scandal.”
For all the latest information, go to www.foxsports.news.com.au
Have a good weekend. We will continue the tour of New Caledonia on Monday
À lundi
Melinda
P.S in an interesting move, www.floydlandis.com is currently offline...
| 47 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
