Cyclist Floyd Landis Unveils Contest of Doping Results

By Mark Hoerrner

It was a short few months back when the world once again had their eyes on an American Tour de France champion and this time, it wasn’t Lance Armstrong. A new face had emerged to keep the title in the U.S. Floyd Landis, a longtime competitor who had outcycled many on the tour to win the title, was having his finest hour until French lab technicians delivered the bad news: he had tested positive for too much testosterone, indicating that he was likely using some sort of performance-enhancing steroid.

Landis vowed that he had never used any kind of steroid and that he would fight the case. Today, he told the world how.

In a Powerpoint presentation available online, Landis’ attorney, Howard Jacobs, outlined the defense with the help of Dr. Arnie Baker, a retired physician and Landis coach, who identified what Jacobs called "dozens" of inconsistencies in the handling and processing of Landis’ lab work.

"It's an unprecedented step, but if the federations are going to keep breaking the rules by leaking results, it's only fair that athletes can respond," Jacobs told Yahoo! Sports. "That's what we're doing."

Jacobs is referring to the fact that Landis’ test results were leaked before the athlete was notified. In the defense, Jacobs has also submitted 300 pages of documentation and a motion to dismiss the charges based on the leak.

The online presentation details how the French lab allegedly erred in its analysis, classification, labeling and chain-of-custody procedures. Jacobs also said that the World Anti-Doping Agency testing standards were ignored during testing. All of this is backed up by scientific medical evaluations by Baker, he claims.

"The whole process has been full of errors," Baker notes during the presentation.

Representatives of the World Doping Agency disagree with Landis’ tactics.

"It's unfortunate if athletes are blaming individual laboratories," said Arne Ljundquist, former chairman of the International Olympic Committee medical commission, in the San Jose Mercury News. "Such a defense is not very solid or very wise to take. The labs are extremely well controlled and under very close supervision. To attack the labs is not the best type of defense."

Jacobs, however, says that it’s the only defense his client can pursue.

"We're not giving them anything they don't already have," he said.

Jacobs also plans to have the case tried in public, something that is not generally done. He said that it’s the only way his client can ensure that things are handled properly since Landis feels betrayed by the sport that he’s devoted so much of his life to.

"If this case was confidential we would have no need to do this," he said.