Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cyclist, from
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. He currently rides for UCI Continental team
OUCH Pro Cycling TeamOUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is a professional road bicycle racing team, run by Momentum Sports Group and based in the United States. The team is sponsored principally by OUCH Sports Medical Center, and Maxxis...
. He is an all-around rider, with special skills in climbing and time-trialing, and is extremely good on the descent. Landis turned professional in 1999 with the Mercury Cycling Team. He joined the US Postal Service team in 2002, and moved to the
Phonak Hearing SystemsPhonak was a Swiss professional cycling team active from 2002 until 2006. The Phonak team was one of the 20 teams invited to the first UCI ProTour for the 2005 season, where the team showed consistency...
team in 2005.
In 2006, Landis won the first edition of the Tour of California, before going on to finish first in the
2006 Tour de FranceThe 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....
. He was stripped of his Tour de France victory and fired from the Phonak team after a drug-control test demonstrated the presence of a
skewed testosterone/epitestosterone ratioThe Floyd Landis doping case is a doping scandal that featured Floyd Landis, the initial winner of the 2006 Tour de France. After a meltdown in Stage 16, where he had lost eight minutes, Landis spectacularly came back in Stage 17...
during Stage 17.
Landis maintained his innocence, and he mounted a vigorous defense. Although Landis' legal team documented inconsistencies in the handling and evaluation of his urine samples, the disqualification was upheld.
He was suspended from professional competition, through 30 January 2009, following an arbitration panel's 2 to 1 ruling on 20 September 2007. Landis appealed the result of the arbitration hearing to the
Court of Arbitration for SportThe Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sports...
, which subsequently upheld the panel's ruling.
During the 2008 season, Landis worked as an advisor for
Rock RacingRock Racing is a UCI Continental cycling team founded in 2007 by Michael Ball. The team is affiliated with Ball's Rock & Republic clothing . Rock Racing received media attention for hiring outcasts in the sport, including those tainted by performance enhancing drug scandals...
. After completion of the suspension, Landis joined
OUCH Pro Cycling TeamOUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is a professional road bicycle racing team, run by Momentum Sports Group and based in the United States. The team is sponsored principally by OUCH Sports Medical Center, and Maxxis...
, his first race, following his suspension, was the
2009 Tour of CaliforniaThe 2009 Amgen Tour of California was the 4th running of an annual cycling race contained within the state of California. The event was staged February 14–22 and began with a prologue in the state capital of Sacramento. The event was held as part of the schedule of both the UCI America Tour and USA...
.
Biography
Floyd Landis is the second child and oldest son of Paul and Arlene Landis. His childhood home is located in the
unincorporatedIn law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city or town with its own government. Thus, an unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
of
FarmersvilleFarmersville is a rural Mennonite settlement located southeast of the borough of Ephrata in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is an unincorporated locality located in West Earl Township, Pennsylvania. Farmersville is near no major roads, with the town being defined as around the intersection of...
in
West Earl TownshipWest Earl Township is a township in northeastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,766 at the 2000 census.Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, is from the unincorporated village of Farmersville in West Earl Township.-Geography:According to the United...
,
Lancaster CountyLancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America, is a county located in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. With an estimated 2005 population of 490,562, Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the 99th largest of 361...
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
.
Landis used his first bike to ride while out fishing with his best friend but quickly learned to enjoy riding for its own sake. At one point, he became determined to ride in a local race. Landis showed up wearing sweatpants because his religion forbade wearing shorts; he won anyway. More wins followed as Landis continued to enjoy the sport. Disturbed at his son's participation in what he considered a "useless" endeavor, Landis' father tried to discourage him from racing his bike by giving him extra chores. This left him no time to train during the day, so he would sneak out of the house at night to train, sometimes at 1 or 2 a.m. and often in the freezing cold. Landis' father, a devout
MennoniteThe Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
, received a tip that his son had been going out at night. He did not appreciate his son's passion for cycling and thought that he might be getting into drugs or alcohol. He often followed Landis at a distance to make sure he was not getting into trouble. Today, Landis' father has become a hearty supporter of his son and regards himself as one of Floyd's biggest fans.
"Master of the Mountains"
Landis won the first
mountain bikeA mountain bike or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling, including jumps, and traversing of rocks and washouts, and steep declines,...
race he entered. In 1993, he was crowned junior national champion. He told friends he would win the
Tour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that covers approximately throughout France and bordering countries. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages. Individual times to finish each stage are totalled to...
one day. At age 20, Landis moved to
Southern CaliforniaSouthern California, or SoCal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers around three major metropolitan areas, each of which have over 3 million people; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with over 12 million inhabitants, the San Bernardino-Riverside...
to train full time as a mountain biker. He soon established a reputation for toughness, once finishing a race riding on only his rims. However, his training regimen resembled that of a road biker, and in 1999 he switched to road cycling.
Landis performed well enough on the road that
Lance ArmstrongLance Edward Armstrong is an American professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam . He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support....
recruited him to U.S. Postal and chose Landis to ride alongside him in three straight Tours de France (all of which Armstrong won) from 2002 to 2004. Landis often pushed the pace in the mountains to break the pack before Armstrong made his final move. In the 2004 tour, Landis led Armstrong and a few of Armstrong's main rivals over the final climb of stage 17, putting on such an impressive display of strength that comedian and avid bike-racing fan
Robin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian.Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
dubbed him the "Mofo of the Mountains." Landis' performance led some observers to peg him as a possible team leader and future winner of the maillot jaune. Landis left US Postal later that year after receiving a better contract offer from the Phonak squad.
In the
2005 Tour de FranceThe 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3607 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...
, Landis finished ninth overall in the
General ClassificationThe general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...
, his highest finish in the tour at that time.
Landis started the 2006 season strongly, with overall wins in the
Amgen Tour of CaliforniaThe Tour of California is a professional cycling stage race on the UCI America Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that made its debut on February 19, 2006. Sponsored by the biotechnology company Amgen, the eight-day race covers between 650-700 miles throughout California...
, and then in the prestigious
Paris-NiceParis–Nice, "the race to the sun", is a professional cycling stage race held each March.The first Paris–Nice was in 1933 when the winner was Alfons Schepers from Belgium. The most successful cyclist in Paris–Nice was Seán Kelly from Ireland. He won seven consecutive titles .Although the name is...
, both week-long stage races. Winning Paris-Nice gave Landis 52 points in the
UCI ProTourThe UCI ProTour is a series of road bicycle races organised by the International Cycling Union . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
individual competition, starting him off in first place for 2006. Landis continued his display of strength with another overall win in the
Ford Tour de GeorgiaThe 2006 Tour de Georgia was a six-stage race held April 18 through April 23, 2006 with the overall title won by Floyd Landis of the Phonak Cycling Team. American Fred Rodriguez claimed the points jersey for sprinters. Jason McCartney won his second KOM crown; he previously won the 2004 climbers...
, which took place from April 18 to April 23. In addition to winning the Tour de Georgia time trial, Landis managed to retain every second of his lead through the mountains with a close second place finish to
Tom DanielsonTom Danielson is a professional road bicycle racer. Previously riding for the Saturn Team on the U.S. Pro Circuit, and for Fassa Bortolo in Europe, Danielson is currently a member of Team Garmin-Slipstream, but rode for the Discovery Channel team between 2005 and 2007.Danielson currently holds the...
on
Brasstown BaldBrasstown Bald is the highest point in the state of Georgia, USA, with a summit elevation of 4,784 feet above mean sea level. It is also the highest point in the Deep South ....
, the most difficult climbing stage of the tour.
Hip ailment
The powerful performance of Landis up to Stage 16 of the Tour de France and his comeback in Stage 17 is particularly notable given his hip ailment, osteonecrosis, which was revealed in an article in
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
during the 2006 Tour de France. This deterioration in the ball joint of his right hip stemmed from diminished blood supply and constricted blood vessels caused by scar tissue. The original injury that led to the formation of the scar tissue was a femoral neck fracture sustained in a bicycle crash during a training ride near his Southern California home in October 2002. Landis kept the ailment secret from his teammates, rivals, and the media until an announcement made while the 2006 Tour was underway. This same ailment also affected former multi-sport athlete
Bo JacksonVincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is an American retired athlete and a former multi-sport professional. Jackson played at the highest level of sports in the United States in both American football and Baseball ....
and
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
player
Brett FavreBrett Lorenzo Favre is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. He was the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers between 1992 and 2007, and for the New York Jets in 2008....
.
Landis rode the 2006 Tour with the constant pain from the injury, which he described thus: "It's bad, it's grinding, it's bone rubbing on bone. Sometimes it's a sharp pain. When I pedal and walk, it comes and goes, but mostly it's an ache, like an arthritis pain. It aches down my leg into my knee. The morning is the best time, it doesn't hurt too much. But when I walk it hurts, when I ride it hurts. Most of the time it doesn't keep me awake, but there are nights that it does."
During the Tour, Landis was medically approved to take
cortisoneCortisone is a steroid hormone. Chemically, it is a corticosteroid closely related to corticosterone.-History:...
for this injury, a medication otherwise prohibited in professional cycling for its known potential for abuse. Landis himself called his win "a triumph of persistence" despite the pain.
Landis underwent successful
hip resurfacingHip resurfacing is a form of arthroplasty which has been developed as an earlier intervention alternative to total hip replacement . The potential advantages of hip resurfacing include less bone removal , a potentially lower number of hip dislocations due to a relatively larger femoral head size,...
surgery on September 27, 2006.
Doping case
On July 27, 2006 the Phonak Cycling Team announced Floyd Landis had a urine test come back positive, having an unusually high ratio of the hormone testosterone to the hormone epitestosterone (T/E ratio) after the epic performance in Stage 17. Landis denied having doped and placed faith in a test using his backup sample. Phonak stated that he would be dismissed should the backup sample also test positive. It did, and Landis was suspended from professional cycling and dismissed from his team. Landis's personal physician later disclosed that the test had found a T/E ratio of 11:1 in Landis, far above the maximum allowable ratio of 4:1.
The test on Landis's Stage 17 A sample had been performed by the French government's anti-doping clinical laboratory, the National Laboratory for Doping Detection (LNDD). LNDD is a division of the Ministry of Youth, Sport, and Social Life and is accredited by WADA, the
World Anti-Doping AgencyThe World Anti-Doping Agency , , is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee . It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sport...
.
Landis was eventually found guilty of doping and was disqualified. The second place rider, Óscar Pereiro, became the race's official winner. The decision of whether to strip Landis of his title was made by the
International Cycling UnionUnion Cycliste Internationale is a cycling association that oversees competitive cycling events internationally. It is the world governing body for jurisdiction in the sport of cycling. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland...
(UCI). Under UCI rules, the determination of whether or not a cyclist violated any rules must be made by the cyclist's national federation, in this case
USA CyclingUSA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, BMX and collegiate racing....
, which transferred the case to the
United States Anti-Doping AgencyThe United States Anti-Doping Agency , which began operations on October 1, 2000, is a non-governmental agency responsible for implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code in the United States...
(USADA).
Landis was also banned from the sport for two years, dated retroactively to January 2007. Even before the USADA's ruling on this matter, the controversy resulted in the disbandment of Landis's former team, Phonak.
On September 20, 2007 Landis was found guilty of doping by a 2-1 vote of the hearing committee, with Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren in the majority, and Christopher Campbell dissenting. Landis appealed the decision of the committee to the
Court of Arbitration for SportThe Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sports...
. . The hearing ran from March 19 to March 24, 2008 in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The decision was announced on June 30 2008 with the result that the conviction and ban were upheld. In September 2008 Landis moved in U.S. federal court to vacate the CAS arbitration award, contending that the procurement of the award was tainted by partiality and conflicts of interest. Additionally, Landis contested the $100,000 US "costs" award, characterizing it as a disguised punitive award. The parties agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice in December 2008, finally ending the litigation surrounding the doping case. On April 14, 2009 the French newspaper L'Express reported information that had been obtained from hacking into the French national laboratory for doping detection was sent to a Canadian counterpart lab from a computer registered to Arnie Baker, Landis's ex-coach. On August 25, 2009 The New York Times reported, "No evidence has surfaced to connect Mr. Landis or Dr. Baker to the hacking, and each has denied any involvement."
Return to cycling
His two-year ban ended in early 2009; Landis returned to cycling with the
OUCH Pro Cycling TeamOUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is a professional road bicycle racing team, run by Momentum Sports Group and based in the United States. The team is sponsored principally by OUCH Sports Medical Center, and Maxxis...
in the Battenkill Professional Invitational on April 19, 2009.
Major results
1999 - Mercury Pro Cycling Team
- 2nd overall and 1 stage win – Cascade Classic
2000 - Mercury Pro Cycling Team
- Overall – Tour du Poitou-Charentes
Tour du Poitou-Charentes is a road bicycle race held annually in the region of Poitou-Charentes, France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.-Winners:...
2001 - Mercury Pro Cycling Team
- Boulevard Road Race
2002 - U.S. Postal Service
- 2nd overall – Dauphiné Libéré
The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. It is organised by the Dauphiné Libéré newspaper...
- 3rd stage, Tirreno-Adriatico
Tirreno-Adriatico, the "race of the two seas", is an elite cycle race following a route between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts of Italy. Traditionally held in early season, it is considered important preparation for the Milan-Sanremo classic race...
- 61st overall – Tour de France
The 2002 Tour de France started in Luxembourg on July 6, 2002, and ended in Paris on July 28. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps...
2003 - U.S. Postal Service
- 77th overall – Tour de France
The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,350 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...
2004 - U.S. Postal Service
- Overall – Volta ao Algarve
The Volta ao Algarve is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Due to its early February position in the European calendar, it is used by many riders to prepare for the Spring Classics.
- Stage 5 – Volta ao Algarve
- Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...
– Tour de FranceThe 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3429 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France....
- Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...
– Vuelta a EspañaThe Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar.-History:...
- 23rd overall – Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3429 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France....
2005 - Phonak Hearing Systems
- 3rd overall and Stage 3 win – Tour de Georgia
The 2005 Tour de Georgia was the third annual bicycle road racing event held in the state of Georgia, United States. The six-day, six stage 550 mile race was held April 19 through April 24, 2004 with the overall title and yellow jersey won by Tom Danielson of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling...
- 9th overall – Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3607 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...
2006 - Phonak Hearing SystemsPhonak was a Swiss professional cycling team active from 2002 until 2006. The Phonak team was one of the 20 teams invited to the first UCI ProTour for the 2005 season, where the team showed consistency...
- 1st, Profronde van Stiphout
- Disqualified - Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....
(all results vacated)
- Yellow jersey, General Classification
The general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...
leader during Stages 12, 13, 16 and 20.
- 1st, Stage 17 (voted most combative rider of the day)
- 1st, USA Cycling National Racing Calendar
The USA Cycling National Racing Calendar is an annual competition of road bicycle racing events held in the United States and sponsored by USA Cycling. The NRC includes a men's and women's individual and team rankings based on points awarded at the events...
series
- 1st overall – Tour de Georgia
The 2006 Tour de Georgia was a six-stage race held April 18 through April 23, 2006 with the overall title won by Floyd Landis of the Phonak Cycling Team. American Fred Rodriguez claimed the points jersey for sprinters. Jason McCartney won his second KOM crown; he previously won the 2004 climbers...
- 1st, Stage 3 (ITT
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
) – Tour de Georgia
- 1st overall – Paris-Nice
Paris–Nice, "the race to the sun", is a professional cycling stage race held each March.The first Paris–Nice was in 1933 when the winner was Alfons Schepers from Belgium. The most successful cyclist in Paris–Nice was Seán Kelly from Ireland. He won seven consecutive titles .Although the name is...
- 1st overall – Tour of California
The Tour of California is a professional cycling stage race on the UCI America Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that made its debut on February 19, 2006. Sponsored by the biotechnology company Amgen, the eight-day race covers between 650-700 miles throughout California...
- 1st, Stage 3 (ITT) – Tour of California
2009 - OUCH Pro Cycling TeamOUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is a professional road bicycle racing team, run by Momentum Sports Group and based in the United States. The team is sponsored principally by OUCH Sports Medical Center, and Maxxis...
- 23rd overall - Tour of California
The 2009 Amgen Tour of California was the 4th running of an annual cycling race contained within the state of California. The event was staged February 14–22 and began with a prologue in the state capital of Sacramento. The event was held as part of the schedule of both the UCI America Tour and USA...
- 41st overall - Nature Valley Grand Prix
Nature Valley Grand Prix is an annual men's and women's road bicycle racing stage race held each June in Minnesota, United States as part of the Midwest Bicycle Festival...
See also
External links