Landis letter re drug use in cycling

[Dr. Maserati]

Maybe that is why it is coming out....because nothing happened when he sent it.

How long ago was he on Larry King defending himself? I didn't hear about that, recently that is.

He was back on Larry King in early February in relation to the arrest warrant that was said to have been sent out for his alleged involvement in the hacking of the AFLD laboratory computers.

The reason why I remember it is because if he was about to go and 'spill the beans' why go on Larry King and deny any wrongdoing - better to just avoid the media and let it all die down.

 

[Publicus]

Hmmm, you are probably more correct - especially with 131313s post saying this was a known event.

The only thing is - why a 'letter' to 'senior Cycling official', why not just say I saw this and that and did this and that? (of course this could be a way to corroborate the story)

I think it's about the credibility of the claim. If he goes on tv and starts making claims, it is much easier to dismiss it as an attempt to enrich himself personally. Going this route, at least gives the impression that it is more akin to a whistleblower. He doesn't have much credibility so he doesn't have the luxury of going the more sensational route.

 

[Kennf1]

You gotta wonder what kinds of late night texts are flying back and forth from certain individuals in California tonight.

 

[Publicus]

You gotta wonder what kinds of late night texts are flying back and forth from certain individuals in California tonight.

If they are smart, no texts are flying.

 

[BroDeal]

So, WTF is up with this 180 if he was on there spewing the same old shyt?

P!ssed off after going to Gila, trying to race clean, and getting clobbered by his old teammates who are getting paid ten to thirty times more than he is.

Supposedly for quite a while he has been telling peope he knows about what was going on.

 

[pedaling squares]

If they are smart, no texts are flying.

No doubt. And they're way too savvy to twitterpate. But not too classy to avoid getting a dig in at Vino today.

 

[Cobblestones]

The relevant section of the news article is:

Cyclingnews.com has been sent a letter purportedly from Floyd Landis to a senior cycling official with revelations of drug use in cycling in the period up to his Tour de France victory. We are awaiting responses from individuals involved and hope to bring you full details shortly

So it says the letter is purportedly from FL, meaning they're not sure, which is a big problem IMHO.

What is clear is that it was to a 'senior cycling official'. No hedging there. That might point to the source of the leak.

Moreover, as I understand it, the letter wasn't sent directly to CN (although the wording is a bit unclear).

The best interpretation I can come up with is that:
(i) the letter was leaked to CN by someone on the recipient's side (with or without consent by FL is up for debate).
(ii) CN has not confirmed independently the authorship of the letter. Probably they contacted FL, but maybe he wouldn't confirm to them, which means it was probably leaked without his consent.
(iii) CN has strong indications that the letter is the real deal. Maybe they have a second source, or maybe the primary source (or the content of the letter) provided details which can be checked independently. Otherwise, why publish this snippet?
(iv) The 'awaiting responses from individuals involved' phrase seems to point to that FL spilled the beans. He mentioned names, broke the omerta. They want to give people the chance to respond to the content of the letter.

This could get interesting.

ETA: any idea why it was leaked to CN in particular?

 

[titan_90]

 

[ProfTournesol]

he'll join the long list of riders and behind the scene staff that have made allegations. Let's hope that the difference now is that he has some proof or LA will just bluff and bully as has done all the other times.

 

[Hillavoider]

Nope. You send the letter to one person and you have "published" it.

Not sure I agree with your leaking theory. Deep throat leaked his information directly to the Washington Post. Daniel Ellsberg leaked the pentagon papers directly to the New York Times.

Ha Ha your funny, just don't leak anything yourself

 

[woodburn]

You gotta wonder what kinds of late night texts are flying back and forth from certain individuals in California tonight.

Or the IM conversations that are taking place. JV and FA are both there.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

he'll join the long list of riders and behind the scene staff that have made allegations. Let's hope that the difference now is that he has some proof or LA will just bluff and bully as has done all the other times.

This is why I think the involvement of 'a senior Cycling official' is crucial.

If its confirmed that someone received 'the letter' then what did the organization that they represent do with it?
If its shown that they did nothing or actively hid it to protect certain people then it would suggest corruption right through the sport.

 

[Cobblestones]

This is why I think the involvement of 'a senior Cycling official' is crucial.

If its confirmed that someone received 'the letter' then what did the organization that they represent do with it?
If its shown that they did nothing or actively hid it to protect certain people then it would suggest corruption right through the sport.

Well, they did something. They leaked it.

 

[BroDeal]

This is why I think the involvement of 'a senior Cycling official' is crucial.

If its confirmed that someone received 'the letter' then what did the organization that they represent do with it?
If its shown that they did nothing or actively hid it to protect certain people then it would suggest corruption right through the sport.

If it went to USA Cycling then of course nothing happened. That organization is run by Armstrong's friends, people like Tom Weasel )) who have supported Armstrong from the very beginning.

 

[Race Radio]

This is why I think the involvement of 'a senior Cycling official' is crucial.

Hummm, maybe it is one of the guys who runs the Bio Passport, Like Ashenden or Parisotto?

 

[Hillavoider]

How many cyclists have done this before, tried to blow the lid, they never get anywhere, there is too much to lose. Doping is tolerated at the highest levels in this sport because of the size of the investment companies/people have in it. The country of Spain basically condones it by theyre massive stalling efforts with drug lord valverde

 

[BroDeal]

How many cyclists have done this before, tried to blow the lid, they never get anywhere, there is too much to lose. Doping is tolerated at the highest levels in this sport because of the size of the investment companies/people have in it. The country of Spain basically condones it by theyre massive stalling efforts with drug lord valverde

If FLandis really wanted to blow the lid off then he would start talking about where the drugs came from. If Postal was purchasing dope for its riders using U.S. Postal Service money then that is worthy of investigation by the feds. You get people being questioned by the FBI and their answers may be considerably different than when they are questioned by the USADA.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Well, they did something. They leaked it.

If it wasn't Landis who leaked this then I believe it is someone working independently who has had enough of the cover-ups and hypocrisy of the system.

This could be like what happened years ago in Italy when Donati handed in a report of the widespread use of PED's to CONI - who promptly left it on the shelf to gather dust.

Eventually La Gazette found out about the report - it forced Italy to initiate new laws and to do a complete shakeup on how Sporting Organizations worked.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

If FLandis really wanted to blow the lid off then he would start talking about where the drugs came from. If Postal was purchasing dope for its riders using U.S. Postal Service money then that is worthy of investigation by the feds. You get people being questioned by the FBI and their answers may be considerably different than when they are questioned by the USADA.

This and if it is USAC - who you rightly pointed out have Weisel appointees on the board - and if it is shown that a sporting organisation failed to follow up on information or actively protected certain people this could end up being very messy.

Q - Is USAC given Federal grants?

 

[tubularglue]

About the USA Cycling Development Foundation
Created in 2000 to support the future of American cycling, the USA Cycling Development Foundation (USACDF) raises money to drive American athlete development programs in cycling. As the non-profit fundraising arm of the national governing body, the USACDF receives no federal funding or subsidies and operates solely through private donations from individuals, corporations, and other foundations. The money raised by the Foundation funds programs for juniors, U23 and other future Olympic athletes in all disciplines of competitive cycling. For more information about the USA Cycling Development Foundation, visit http://www.usadf.org.


ooops wrong branch

from 04'

called the champions club" and they are 75% contributors and automatically on the board. page 7

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...T9kaza&sig=AHIEtbTWU_0MYf0KKXb662_A1j8qtQIWlg

does not seem as though any fed money is involved

 

[theswordsman]

From twitter: Same one or are we looking at a cluster?

@Procycling_mag
A news bomb is about to fall on the world of cycling. Hold on to your hats. about 6 hours ago via web

 

[Ferminal]

From twitter: Same one or are we looking at a cluster?

Wigans MkII.

 

[tubularglue]

Another major change put into the secret plan by Tarbert and MacLeod was the addition of three "Outside Directors" to the USAC board, who would represent no racing programs. This was to accommodate investment banker Thomas Weisel and his financier associates, who promised to bring money to the table and wanted some political power to go with it. They had formed a "charitable" nonprofit corporation that was renamed "USA Cycling Development Foundation".

page 2


"USA Cycling's History of Crooked Elections" - Les Earnest

http://www.sandcreeksports.com/usa_cyclings_history_of_crooked_elections.pdf

We noticed also that USACDF's expenditure of their "charitable" nonprofit funds, which were acquired as tax deductible donations, were being used to support the political campaign to restore Weisel and his associates to the USAC board, which would allow him to oversee his financial interests in the sport. This appeared to contravene Federal tax law, but we left that on the table, at least for a time. This dirty campaign, which as usual was ignored by most of the membership, resulted in another apparent victory by the crooks. Weisel was restored to the board and took control of the organization by installing one of his employees, Jim Ochowicz, as President, replacing Mike Plant.

While Mr. Weisel and company have been consolidating their control of USA Cycling and shaping it to suit their interests, he has been less successful in fending off federal investigations of crooked dealings by his investment firm, Thomas Weisel Partners, which is now been forced to pay a $12.5 million fine following a lengthy investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

[BroDeal]

Another major change put into the secret plan by Tarbert and MacLeod was the addition of three "Outside Directors" to the USAC board, who would represent no racing programs. This was to accommodate investment banker Thomas Weisel and his financier associates, who promised to bring money to the table and wanted some political power to go with it. They had formed a "charitable" nonprofit corporation that was renamed "USA Cycling Development Foundation".

page 2


"USA Cycling's History of Crooked Elections" - Les Earnest

http://www.sandcreeksports.com/usa_cyclings_history_of_crooked_elections.pdf

DIdn't Les Earnest sue USA Cycling for a crooked election and walk away with a couple hundred thou? (I don't like PDFs.)

 

[Martin318is]

Isn't anyone else worried that this is going to just turn out to be either a fraudulent letter or (more likely) a benign event that blows over in 24hrs?

So far, have any of the other news outlets written their own piece on this from their own source (I havent seen that yet) or are they just leaning on the CN story for now?

I am wishing that its true but worried that it isn't