In a move supposedly intended to clear his conscience, disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis attempted to sully the reputation of previous teammate and seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong by alleging that Armstrong was aided by a wide variety of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Johan Bruyneel, cycling team manager, has responded although Lance hasn't yet. Floyd Landis pointed the finger at Bruyneel as the man who allegedly introduced Landis to PEDs, and Johan Bruyneel has fashioned an appropriate response on Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong website.
Article Resource: Lance Armstrong responds to Landis drug accusations via manager
Bruyneel says Lance Armstrong did not participate in doping
Johan Bruyneel, manager of former Lance Armstrong/Floyd Landis cycling team U.S. Postal (now Team RadioShack), told the media that every allegation Floyd Landis made is a lie. Bruyneel claims that as soon as Landis tested good following his 2006 Tour de France victory, he started to contact Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong and threatened blackmail, possibly even demanding installment loans for people with bad credit. Given that then, claims Bruyneel, Floyd Landis changed his story concerning PEDs numerous times and even wrote a book about the affair. ”For me, it is clear we’re dealing with someone who is bitter,” Bruyneel explained. “Floyd has always been an angry person, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.” Basically, the energy sometimes would motivate Landis for performance but other times caused him to lash out at his friends. Both Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel are uncertain as to Floyd Landis’! timing, whether there was a reason to come forward right now with a new story.
Team RadioShack is distracted
As Team RadioShack is preparing for their Californian Tour, both Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel want to put to the Floyd Landis situation behind them. Bruyneel feels that the Landis accusations aren't anything more than "a sad story":
“Knowing the personality, his history, having had him on the team, I mean we took Floyd on the team when he was in bad financial shape after the Mercury fiasco and he had no money. I remember he told me, ‘Luckily you got me on the team because I was almost forced to sell my house to pay my bills.’ Since then I think it's been up and down for Floyd, and I’d advise him to try to find professional help, and I'm not talking about lawyers, I'm talking about other help.”
Floyd Landis was on top of the world
Floyd Landis' Tour de France victory in 2006 made him a household name. Sadly, his issues with cycling officials have made him known a lot more for that than for how good he is. Lance Armstrong had been rumored to have used similar PEDs to Landis, but Armstrong has passed multiple drug tests. That has satisfied the cycling authority to a large extent, conserve for certain French officials who may resent his previous Tour de France dominance. Floyd Landis has damaged the reputation of American cycling, perhaps beyond repair. A young cyclist with the will and ability of Lance Armstrong might have to come along and clean up the mess.
Read more on this topic here
Johan Bruyneel
http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_johan-bruyneel-comments-landis-situation/
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