Cycling: The Landis Case Gets Even Stranger

It seems that pro cyclists are using the computer skills gained from the ubiquitous twitter profiles and putting them to nefarious deeds in a case that has echoes of the Dale Begg-Smith (who has added a silver in 2010 to his 2006 Moguls gold medal) affair.

An arrest warrant has been put out for disgraced doper Floyd Landis after he allegedly hacked into the computer system of a French drug testing laboratory. Landis tested positive for testosterone in the 2006 Tour De France which was odd in itself, as testosterone is easily detected compared to other methods available at the time (such as EPO). When presenting his defense against these allegations, Landis allegedly used documents which belonged to the French anti doping authorities (obtained through these hacks). An email with a trojan horse virus was allegedly sent from the computer of Landis' coach Arnie Baker, who is also sought by the French authorities. The trojan horse also provided for the removal and change of some documents in an attempt to show incorrect testing procedures.

Landis has fought hard in an attempt to clear his name, appealing to the Court for Arbitration in Sport and spending around $2 million in legal fees. He has had no success, except eating up most of WADA's legal budget. Landis has been unrepentant, and although the ban from his Tour De France doping has expired (in January 2009), he has only been able to get rides with minor teams such as OUCH and Cyclingnzshop.com. This arrest warrant is only valid in France, so with Landis recently only racing minor events, primarily in the US he may choose to simply avoid France and trial. I for one, hope that he faces the judgement, if only for the media circus that would result. For more details, check out cyclingnews or SBS cycling central.