CYCLING:American cyclist Floyd Landis has hit out at World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Dick Pound after Pound criticised the drug-tainted Tour de France winner in published reports in the New York Timesand Wiredmagazine.
Landis issued a press release calling Pound's comments "defamatory and absurd" and accusing Pound of branding him as guilty, even though Landis is still appealing against the suspension from racing he received after the 2006 Tour de France.
"Dick Pound's recent defamatory and absurd public comments - in the midst of a process where the highest ethical standards should support a fair and just outcome - highlight the dramatic and systematic problems with global anti-doping enforcement and adjudication," Landis said.
"Mr Pound should conduct himself in a manner consistent with the seriousness of the unsubstantiated allegations against me and the damage they have caused to a great number of people.
"My livelihood and family have already been unfairly and severely damaged, the Tour de France has been unnecessarily tainted by an incompetent WADA lab, and cyclists, fans and sponsors alike have been hurt by the LNDD and anti-doping agencies that routinely ignore their own rules without regard for fairness or ethics."
Landis won the Tour in July due mostly to a tremendous effort on stage 17 of the race. He tested positive for a banned substance after the stage, however, and has been suspended from racing ever since. Landis continues to fight the ban.
Pound made it clear in the interview he felt Landis's efforts on the stage were not legitimate.
"It's a great story," said Pound. "Wonderful. But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. He was 11 minutes behind or something, and all of a sudden there's this Herculean effort, where he's going up mountains like he's on a goddamn Harley," Pound added.
The day before, during stage 16, Landis cracked on the final climb to apparently fall out of contention for the title.
"Mr Pound's published reference to the testosterone in my system proves he has not even bothered to review the facts regarding the unsubstantiated allegations against me," Landis said. "My testosterone levels were tested as normal following stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France and this fact is clear to anyone who cares to review the lab data."
If he is found guilty of the drug charges, Landis would be the first rider in the modern era to be stripped of the Tour de France's yellow jersey. The title would be handed to his former team-mate Oscar Pereiro of Spain.
Landis tested positive for the hormone testosterone during last year's Tour but denies any wrongdoing and has said he should be cleared due to procedural errors at the Paris-area lab.
The 31-year-old said his bid to have the doping charges thrown out had been strengthened by the case of Spanish rider Inigo Landaluze, who escaped a two-year ban in November despite testing positive for testosterone.
Landaluze was the surprise winner of the eight-day Dauphine Libere race in 2005.
Landaluze was cleared after testing irregularities were discovered at the same laboratory after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) admitted that the same person analysed both A and B samples, which violates standard practice.
