A week later, according to his Web site, floydlandis.com, the 30-year-old Tour de France winner had plunged to the “depths of scandal.”


Ditto for his hometown of Farmersville.


Landis has vowed to contest findings by the French Chatenay-Malabry lab that his urine contained a testosterone/epitestosterone ratio that was much higher than normal.


As news broke Saturday that a second doping sample had come back positive, Landis’ Lancaster County friends and neighbors pondered the bewildering turn of events.


But even as they winced in the glare of the national media spotlight, they continued to back him.


“My personal beliefs about Floyd have not changed in the past 15 years,” said Mike Farrington, a friend of the racer and his parents, Paul and Arlene Landis. “They’re not about to start changing now.”


Cameras clicked in the harsh sun outside Farrington’s Green Mountain Cyclery in Ephrata.


Strings of pennants soared overhead, parading the green and yellow of the Swiss-based Phonak team that abruptly fired Landis Saturday morning.


TV truck antennas beamed Farrington’s words and image to KYW and NBC stations in Philadelphia. Photos shot out over the Associated Press wire.


Farrington told a gaggle of reporters that he spoke briefly with Landis, who had been riding a road bike trainer in his garage in Murietta, Calif., Friday night.


An operation to replace his arthritic hip has been put “on hold” while Landis tries to clear his name, Farrington reported. Landis advised people to watch the morning news shows Monday and Jay Leno Monday night, Farrington added. “Floyd’s got a lot to talk about,” Farrington said. “He was very, very positive. He definitely has a game plan. What it is, I don’t know.”




Spokes screen




Performance-enhancing substances are a plague on pro bike racing.


Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were among 13 favored Tour riders busted for alleged doping before the 2006 race even began last month.


The specter reared its head again with post-Tour news of a contaminated “A” urine sample from Landis on July 20 the day the rider uncorked an epic, 80-mile solo attack and made up nearly eight minutes lost when he bonked the day before.


Pierre Bordry, head of the French anti-doping council, said this weekend that the “B” sample confirmed the intake of synthetic testosterone from an outside source.


Cycling fans had hailed Landis’ grueling Stage 17 drive over three mountain passes as legendary.


The unreliability of measuring testosterone is also legendary. According to one published report, such analyses have yet to withstand a legal challenge.


Dr. Charles Yesalis, a Penn State expert on drugs in sports, said the Landis case has raised multiple “red flags” for him.


The French lab has been “mired in controversy,” he said, alluding to previous doping accusations against seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong.


Yesalis pooh-poohed the idea that testosterone was responsible for Landis’ astounding revival in the Alps. “There’s no way, shape or form in 24 hours that testosterone could do that reversal.”


Nor, he said, does the over-the-top ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone attributed to Landis, 11:1, make sense from a cheating context.


The allowable ratio is 4:1. Top-level doping practitioners routinely sidestep tests while boosting athletes’ performances, Yesalis said. “I can’t believe any so-called expert in this would screw up that bad.”


Tampering can’t be proven or ruled out at this point, according to Yesalis.


“I wouldn’t testify in court that something is going on here. I just told people it is not unreasonable to put on your list of potential explanations a setup.”


The professor also stopped short of letting Landis, or any Tour competitor, off the hook.


“I don’t believe you can win the darn race without drugs,” he said.


Landis has credited his achievements solely to Herculean training and insisted that his testosterone was naturally produced by his body.


In a Web site statement posted Friday, he said that he offered alcohol consumption and a flurry of other possible explanations for the high reading before fully grasping the situation.


He also asserted that his testosterone was actually in the normal range, but that the test ratio had been skewed by a low epitestosterone value.


On a Saturday Web site posting, Howard Jacobs, Landis’ attorney, said he was waiting to receive “full laboratory documentation” for the “B” test.


“In consultation with some of the leading medical and scientific experts,” Jacobs said, “we will prove that Floyd Landis’ victory in the 2006 Tour de France was not aided in any respect by the use of any banned substances.”


Landis’ fans in Lancaster County said they believe he is telling the truth.


If someone is lying, Farrington emphasized to reporters, “All I can say is, it isn’t Floyd.”


Green Mountain Cyclery customers continue to snap up Floyd Landis T-shirts at $20 apiece, he added. Proceeds go to Arlene Landis’ favorite charity, Tabor Community Services. Tammy Martin, a friend and frequent spokeswoman for the Landises in Farmersville, issued a Martin family statement Saturday.


“All he has accomplished, he attained through his hard work and discipline,” the statement said. “We are very confident he will prove his innocence. It is very unfortunate that these tests were revealed before he had a chance to do so.” The scene in the tiny town was a far cry from July 22, when people and jubilation filled the Martin yard.


Gone were the yellow balloons from outside the Landises’ North Farmersville Road home. Gone, too, were the Landises. “God Bless” read a sandwich board in their front yard, “Went Camping.” And on the other side: “The glory of young men is their strength.”


A painted sign in the intersection continued to proclaim Landis the world champion.


But Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Saturday that Landis was no longer considered the winner. Any official title stripping must be done by the International Cycling Union, and is dependent upon the outcome of a disciplinary process by USA Cycling.


Runner-up Oscar Pereiro from Spain would likely succeed Landis if the American becomes the first winner in 103 years to lose the title over doping accusations.


Landis also faces a possible two-year racing ban.


Jacobs, Landis’ attorney, has started to prepare the case for arbitration. The proceedings are expected to take four to six months to be resolved.


Folks from the racer’s old stomping grounds said these prospects were dismaying partly because they were so hard to understand.


“I don’t think anyone reading the newspapers or watching the news can make an informed decision,” said Leola resident Ron Kendall, who was smoking a cigarette outside an Ephrata convenience store.


Tampering is a possibility, he noted, although “I don’t know who would have the ability to do that.”


“If he’s guilty,” added Kendall, citing Landis’ wholesome rural upbringing, “it would surprise me. But you never know. There are times when we all do things that we’re sorry for later.”


What happened in Europe is still a mystery, said Rob Allen, owner of Spinners Cycling in Leola.


“It’s not a good scene, though. Total buzz kill. Total letdown. I don’t think it’s [Landis] so much as the system.” The scandal has a “horrible” ripple effect on the bike business, said Allen, who was helping a customer with a road model.


Still, according to Allen and his brother, Ryan Allen, Landis and Lance Armstrong have both had a positive overall effect on cycling.


“Floyd, whether he’s guilty or not, has done a lot for bicycling around here,” Ryan Allen said. “We get a little more respect instead of getting laughed at for wearing spandex.”


That Landis is guilty until proven innocent was troubling to Brian Arbuckle, a visiting Shipshewana, Ind., resident who had stopped by Spinners to gauge the Floyd climate.


“I’m as disappointed in the whole thing now as I was excited when he won,” said Arbuckle, who has followed Landis’ career for four years.


“I want to believe Floyd,” said Arbuckle, who stuck his hands in his pockets and bowed his head.


“He was my pick to win even before the other guys were dismissed. He had a phenomenal year. I don’t know.”


The Floyd Landis Web site address is www.floydlandis.com blog comments powered by Disqus