The debate is raging...

Yes, once again I'm talking about the Landis doping debate.

Did he do it? Did he not do it? What is the outcome going to be? I know one thing, tomorrow morning Oscar Perreiro is most likely going to be crowned the 2006 Tour de France winner. Who is Oscar you might ask? Well, he's the guy that was standing on the second step of the podium in Paris back towards the end of July, that's who he is. The even stranger thing is that he and Landis are good friends, both having ridden for Phonak last year in 2005 (for those of you in the know about bike racing, Perreiro was the guy Hincapie beat last year for his stage win after sitting on for about a billion kilometers). Let's face it, Landis' B sample is going to come back the same as his A sample, I think he has n chance in Hell of coming out of this one with a negative test. And here is where it is going to get interesting. There will be appeals, and then more appeals, and finally a broke Floyd Landis will be standing in front of the Court for Aribitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne Switzerland (I think), his head hung down low, his eyes cast down, his one last hope for not getting banned for 2 years, and their gavel will drop, and he'll get banned anyway. I'm starting to think that he should just save his big pile of money for a fruitless battle that will probably return the same verdict over and over again. Guilty of doping most likely. Maybe he should consult Tyler Hamilton and ask him how much money it cost him to battle his way to what he originally got anyway, a 2 year ban from the sport. Except for Landis stands to lose 2 years in the initial banning, and then 2 years additional away from the ProTour, which means he'll have to retire from cycling, because coming back after 4 years probably won't be possible for him, not to the top tier of the sport at least. He'll be, well, old by that point in time, and have one bum hip anyway. Save your money Floyd, save yo money.

What's funny about this entire thing is the excuses coming out. As always, when someone gets busted for doping, their excuse list grows by the day. So far for Landis we have the following: dehydration, alcohol, bad testing, it's his natural testosterone level, and so on and so forth. They all sound, well, like excuses. And they're not any better than other stuff that I've heard from dopers in the past when they've gotten busted. Then, after the excuses come out, they immediately blame the testing and or the testers. Always blame the test, even though the test is based on good science and proven results and studies that may have been going on for years on end. The funniest thing about when people blame the test, is that they don't say HOW the test is bad, or how it's not proven out. They just say that it is no good, and that testing irregularities for this test, or that test. So funny, no proof, just words. Maybe that's why the vast majority of tests don't get shot down when they're reviewed, because they're proven scientific results. I have a former teammate of mine who is a PhD in chemistry, and he is constantly arguing with people about how and why these tests are valid, but people who have no idea about the science behind the tests always argue with him about how the testing protocols are bad. This is even though they have no idea what the protocols are, or how they are administered. Now, he might not have completed these tests himself, but he's been studying chemical science for a long time, and knows what the deal is. Everytime he asks someone what is so bad about the testing, and or the tests, they just answer that the tests are just bad. They don't know how, or why, but hey, "they know." Mostly because the lawyers for their favorite athlete who just got busted say so. Jeesh people, get a clue please.

Floyd is going to lose his title. He's going to be banned for 2 years. He's going to go away, and probably not be seen again on the pro cycling scene ever. It's sad because Landis does seem like a genuinely nice guy, and a decent person. A little kooky, but hey, who isn't? He'll go down in history as a trivia question. Who was the first cyclist to lose their Tour de France title because of doping?

Floyd Landis.

Hey Floyd! Thanks for helping to ruin the sport...