Landis Plea Rejected

Submitted by: KevinB

Floyd Landis is highly likely to have his Tour de France title stripped from him after cycling chiefs rejected his plea that the tests were flawed. Landis had claimed the drug-test procedures were flawed and had subsequently led to false results for his own drug-test.

American Landis had tested positive after the 17th stage in the Tour De France, for high levels of testosterone. Landis had claimed victory for the 17th stage and each stage winner is normally expected to provide a sample for compliance with the drug-test procedure.

The UCI (International Cycling Union) announced that the results of the ?B? analysis conducted on Floyd Landis?s urine sample of July 20, 2006 are consistent with the findings of the ?A? sample. Both samples were taken following Landis?s victory in stage 17 of the Tour de France. The results of the ?A? sample were released on July 26. Landis had insisted his test was flawed and had appealed on them grounds.

International Cycling Union president, Pat McQuaid did insist that Landis had been treated within the rules. He said: ?I have full faith in the Paris laboratory and there are stringent measures kept in place by the anti-doping agencies to ensure they proceed correctly.

?We acted correctly, informing the team, rider and federation there had been an irregularity. Then we issued a Press release saying an unnamed rider had been found positive.

?His team published his name two days later. We make no excuses for our communique.?

Landis will actively continue to try and clear his name, but the decision needs to be taken by the UCI on the rightful winner of the Tour de France. This is just another drug crisis faced by the sport of Cycling and the authorities are trying to show they are clamping down heavily on people who fail these tests.

Another dark cloud has formed over the sport and it is too early to see how much this latest setback will eventually end up costing the sport in terms of advertising and future development for riders.