Much Ado in Malibu

If you haven't read or heard about the fireworks in today's session of the Floyd Landis doping case you might want to read these articles HERE and HERE. In these articles you will learn that Floyd Landis called three-time Tour champ Greg LeMond on August 6th of last year to confront LeMond on LeMond's public disdain of doping in the sport of cycling. During this conversation, according to LeMond, Landis admitted to doping. LeMond then told Landis to publicly come clean on the doping and be the kind of guy who could usher in a new era of clean cycling. Landis refused. LeMond then told Landis that keeping dark secrets will eventually hurt you. As way of example LeMond shared with Landis that he had been sexually abused at six years of age by an uncle. And that keeping it a secret for many years had hurt LeMond.

Unhappy man in black

Fireworks enough right? Wrong! On the eve of testifying in the Landis case LeMond received a phone call from someone identifying himself as LeMond's abusive uncle. The caller said that he would be at the hearing and if LeMond showed up to testify, the caller would discuss details of the sexual abuse (in graphic, disgusting terms that even Elvis refuses to reprint). After the call LeMond used caller ID to re-connect and discovered that the caller was none other than Floyd Landis' close personal friend and business manager. LeMond reported the threat to the police. This all came out during LeMond's testimony and the business manager was pointed out as he was sitting right behind Landis. There was chaos in the courtroom as lawyers scrambled to figure out what all of this meant. LeMond's testimony ended abruptly when he refused to answer questions about Lance Armstrong (You just knew that this name was going to come up, didn't you?). Landis' attorney then addressed the court to say that all business relationships between Landis and the caller had just ended. Landis had fired his manager right then and there, in the courtroom.

LeMond left the courtroom and said this to reporters as he left, "What I felt was right was to come here and tell the truth. People say it's the message that hurts this sport but it's not that. It's cheating that hurts this sport".



OK, that's a fine story but what does it all mean? First off, it means that Landis isn't very good at picking people to surround himself with. Not only was his manager a scumbag for making the phone call, he was an idiot for not making it from a pay-phone or at the very least using caller ID block which is available on every phone on the planet. Really, Elvis' twelve year old daughter knows why and how to block caller ID. For a guy who is supposed to be managing the affairs of a rich and famous cyclist this lack of knowledge is unforgivable. Was Landis behind the call? The answer is yes, at least to some degree. The only way the manager could have known about the sexual abuse is if Landis had told him. Did Landis put him up to the call? We'll never know. Here is what we are likely to hear; the manager was so upset and distraught over the unfair treatment of Landis that he was momentarily overcome with anger. This anger clouded his thinking, however briefly, and he made the call. Further, the fact that he made the call from his own phone without blocking caller ID is proof that his thinking was clouded. Landis will tell us that he had nothing to do with it, was unaware of it and fired the guy as soon as he heard about it. He is, yet again, just an innocent victim.

Landis' manager. Can you hear me now?

But consider these two items: One; Landis had been sporting a nice suit with a yellow tie each day of the hearing. Until today. He was wearing all black. He told friends that he would wear all black if LeMond ever testified. Floyd, you've got a serious problem if you spend time thinking about what you're going to wear based upon who is on the witness stand. That's not just weird, it's sick. Item two; Landis made a threat that is eerily similar to what happened when he placed a posting on dailypeloton.com. Read it HERE. Pretty weird, isn't it? Sure makes you think that Landis was somehow the impetus behind the phone call.

Floyd told me that he doped

How does all of this affect the Landis case? That's a good question. The Landis team has asked that the entire LeMond testimony be stricken from the record. Whatever - the damage has been done. They may be better served by asking that the Landis hearing be delayed until the police investigate the phone call, the local district attorney makes a determination whether or not to make a formal charge and if so, wait until that prosecution is complete. This would give Landis time to shuffle his defense in light of what happened today instead of prodding along as if none of this had happened.

Stop for a moment and reflect with me; Floyd Landis, the man who has tried so hard to make all of us think of him as a victim is somehow involved in a failed plot to scare away a witness for the opposing side (which, by the way, is a felony in California). Whether Landis told his manager to make the call, told him that he wouldn't stop him from making the call or knew nothing of it, we're still stuck here knowing that Landis' longtime friend, confidant and business manager, made a felonious phone call to three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond. Holy crap! No matter how you slice it, it's not good. It makes you sick. And fair or not, it puts Landis in a bad light.

All of this of course makes cycling and cyclists look petty and stupid. And we have FLoyd Landis to thank for that. He was the man who hired the moron manager and he was the man who insisted on an open and public hearing. Thanks Floyd. And thanks to you, three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond is undoubtedly enjoying a peaceful evening with his family.