Lance, Floyd and the Joy of Cycling

I think it’s a safe assumption to say that most, if not all of us, are tired of reading about the use of performance enhancement drugs (PEDS) in sports. Hearing that another ball player has tested positive is about as interesting as learning that Lindsay Lohan got drunk again. Nobody cares. That said, there is something fascinating about what’s happening in cycling right now that has got my attention. And given that I have absolutely no interest in the sport, that’s saying something.

Let’s begin with Floyd Landis. By now everyone knows that Floyd was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for testing positive for testosterone. Claiming innocence and blaming the positive test on either sloppy lab work or shenanigans on the part of the French, he proceeded to fight the cycling authorities to get his title back. He spent enormous amounts of money – much of which was donated by people who believed him – on various appeals but, ultimately, he lost. Despite all of this, Mr. Landis remained steadfast in proclaiming his innocence. Until now. In what must rank as one of the strangest announcements in the history of sport, he sent a series of emails to the cycling authorities saying that, in fact, he did cheat, and he’s been lying about it ever since. But that wasn’t enough. He then implicated most of the other top riders – including Lance Armstrong –claiming they were all doping during the same time period.

All of this begs two questions. First, what exactly was going through Floyd Landis’s mind leading to his admission of guilt? And second, what does this all mean for Lance Armstrong? Forget about all the other riders, nobody knows who they are. Cycling is only about Lance.

You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that Floyd Landis is one angry guy. His fight-flight response is permanently stuck in the on position. While on the surface he professes to be doing all of this to cleanse his soul, you can almost hear his internal voice screaming,

“YEAH I CHEATED … WE ALL CHEATED…YEAH, LANCE TOO…YOU THINK HE WON ALL THOSE TOURS ON TALENT ALONE…. I DESERVE THAT TITLE...I’M NOT GOING DOWN ALONE… YOU TOO LANCE…YOU KNOW THE TRUTH...NOW YOU’RE ALL GOING TO SUFFER.”

In Floyd’s mind, ironically, he wants justice. And on some level, there’s logic to his craziness. Before baseball players knew the difference between steroids and asteroids, cyclists were using their bodies as chemistry experiments. For them, using PEDs wasn’t cheating, it was science. And Floyd was just doing what everyone else was doing. Unfortunately, he got caught after winning cycling’s most prestigious event.

Floyd’s behavior became even more surreal during the Tour of California, which was taking place when the story gained media attention. He showed up at the event with bodyguards and wearing a bullet proof vest. Floyd had either tipped over completely, or he wanted to make some dramatic statement about the legitimacy of his claims . Either way, this was better than any reality TV show currently airing.

And while all this was going on, Lance Armstrong was the coolest guy in town. In addition to Lance calmly stating that he has always tested clean, his statements about Floyd sounded cleverly sympathetic and subtly patronizing.

On the other hand, some of the statements coming from other riders were reminiscent of Mark McGuire at the Congressional Hearings a few years back. George Hincapie, a teammate of Lance Armstrong said, “whoever wants to talk about something eight years ago, fine, they can waste their time on that. I want to talk about the future of the sport and the sacrifices we put into it.” Oops, that doesn’t sound so good. Fortunately for him, this was in response to a question from a reporter and not testimony under oath before Congress.

So, what are we left with? Is Floyd Landis telling the truth? The only problem with Floyd’s accusations is that he only has his recollections of events, no actual bloody needles, photos, documents, etc. That’s not to say he’s lying, it only means proving these accusations is somewhat problematic. And herein lies Floyd's dilemma.

In order for him to get the justice he so desperately wants, somebody – some other rider or support staff - is going to have to come forward and corroborate his story. And that is never going to happen. Assuming Floyd’s Landis’s accusations are true, the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has a better chance of plugging itself than seeing another rider come forward to implicate Lance Armstrong.

Lance is the Godfather of cycling. The level of intensity that drove him to cycling immortality doesn’t disappear when he steps off his bike. It’s the core of his personality. When you couple his iconic status as an athlete with his heroic status as a cancer survivor, you see an athlete on a pedestal that no other individual has ever occupied. Lance Armstrong is The Ultimate American Hero.

Floyd Landis let his rage get in the way of his judgment. He’s alone out there and nobody is going to stand next to him. As an old wise man once said, “never mess with the Godfather.”




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