Remember disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis? He ostensibly won the 2006 Tour de France, but was stripped of his title shortly after the conclusion of the race when a French lab said that he tested positive for banned substance (i.e. performance enhancing drugs).
Well, Landis swore up and down that the lab results were faulty, and the case went to court (or arbitration), where Landis lost. He then appealed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a process that took more than three months from beginning to end.
Today, the Associated Press reports that Landis lost his appeal, as the three-person panel decided to uphold the original decision.
There is still one appeal avenue left to Landis — the Swiss Federal Court — but it’s unclear if he’ll exercise that option.
I don’t follow cycling all that much, but in nearly every mainstream article I read, there are talks of the widespread use of PEDs. Was Landis guilty of using illegal substances? I have no idea, of course, but it certainly seems as though these appeals are getting him nowhere. His reputation is basically ruined and he’s lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, endorsement opportunities, and salary (he’s banned for 2 years, remember?).
On the one hand, I feel like he should give up. It might be a European vs. American bias (ask any European if they think Lance Armstrong doped up during his Tour days) or it could be that Landis really was guilty. Either way, it doesn’t look like he’ll get a ruling in his favor. So why go to the extra time and expense of another appeal?
On the other hand, leaving things as they are would disgrace Landis for life and ruin what bit of a career he might have left. This is the “nothing left to lose” approach, which obviously could backfire if the Swiss Federal Court finds the lab tests valid as well.
If Landis was guilty of doping, he’s probably wishing he had just ‘fessed up on the spot and not gone through the last two agonizing years of arbitration and legal wrangling. Yikes.