Floyd Landis

Floyd Landis

Let's consider Floyd Landis, the American cyclist who will probably be stripped of his Tour d' France victory, because he supposedly doped up with testosterone.  I believe Landis when he denies any doping, and not because he's American, but because the whole thing stinks.  Consider: The French are a disagreeable and haughty race of people. The French seethed over Lance Armstrong's record seven consecutive Tour de France wins. The French accused Armstrong of doping up, and tried unsuccessfully to strip him of his last win. There was an anonymous leak of Landis' preliminary carbon-isotope test results to the New York Times on July 31. The muted reaction by the French press to Landis possibly losing his win is perhaps testament to their own embarrassment over what appears to be a  get-even attempt by the Tour's governing body (our Liberals are sooooo French, aren't they?). Despite the French assertion that their test is 100% accurate, it isn't. Given the Armstrong precedent, and with foreknowledge that he would undergo close examination himself, we are supposed to believe that Landis said, aw, what the hell, and doped anyway.   To point out that the tests were run by a French lab might sound churlish, so I won't.  I will say that if I wanted to set Landis up, it would be simple enough to do.  A little testosterone in his glass of victory wine, or in a cup of water held out during the race would be enough.  Nuh-uh.  This stinks. Is ''Nifong'' a French name?