Floyd Landis Gives Up on Pro Cycling Return After Comeback From Doping
Floyd Landis, stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping, is giving up on a return to professional cycling, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said.
“He sent USADA his retirement notification yesterday,” agency spokeswoman Erin Hannan said in an e-mail.
Landis’s decision was reported earlier today by ESPN.com. The 35-year-old told the website he’d spent five years trying for a comeback but his efforts are “causing more stress than is worth it.” He raced a “handful of times” as an unaffiliated rider last year, ESPN.com said.
In May, Landis sent e-mails to cycling officials accusing Lance Armstrong and other former teammates on the U.S. Postal Service team of doping. Armstrong, 39, has denied the allegations, saying Landis has “zero” credibility.
Jeff Novitzky, a special agent for the Food and Drug Administration, is investigating doping in U.S. cycling in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Landis told ESPN.com he was “relatively sure this sport cannot be fixed.” He didn’t reply to an e-mail from Bloomberg News seeking comment.
Enrico Carpani, a spokesman for cycling ruling body Union Cycliste Internationale, said it rejected Landis’s allegations there is systemic corruption in the sport.
“Mr. Landis is not the right person to express an opinion about cycling after all the damage he caused,” Carpani said by telephone. “We don’t accept his judgment.”
Landis spent more than $1 million on legal fees fighting his Tour de France disqualification, about half of which was paid through donations. He also served a two-year ban.
In 2010, he admitted in the e-mails to cycling officials that he was doping for several years of his career.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Duff in Madrid at aduff4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net.
Cyclist Floyd Landis
Teaukura Moetaua/Getty Images
Floyd Landis of USA prepares for Stage Six of the Tour of Southland on Nov. 4, 2010 in Invercargill, New Zealand.
Floyd Landis of USA prepares for Stage Six of the Tour of Southland on Nov. 4, 2010 in Invercargill, New Zealand. Photographer: Teaukura Moetaua/Getty Images
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