Lance Armstrong Responds To Landis Drug Accusations Via Manager

In a move intended to clear his conscience, 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). Lance hasn't responded yet but the cycling team manager Johan Bruyneel has. Floyd Landis said that Bruyneel is the man who allegedly introduced Landis to PEDs, and Johan Bruyneel has fashioned an appropriate response on Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong website.

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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 says that when Landis tested good following his 2006 Tour de France victory, he started to contact Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong and threatened to blackmail them, possibly even demanding installment loans for people with bad credit. Since then, claims Bruyneel, Floyd Landis changed his story regarding PEDs numerous times and even wrote a book about the affair. ”For me, it’s clear we’re dealing with somebody who is bitter,” Bruyneel explained. “Floyd has always been an angry person, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.” Although that energy was sometimes used to help him perform, sometimes it also was just used for him to lash out at 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 prepares for the Tour of California, Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel would like to be able to put the Floyd Landis situation behind them. Bruyneel said that the Landis accusations were just "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.’ Given that then I think it's been up and down for Floyd, and I’d advise him to watch for professional help, and I'm not talking about lawyers, I'm talking about other help.”

Floyd Landis on top of the world

Floyd Landis' Tour de France victory in 2006 made him a household name. Unfortunately, his difficulties 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. Except for some French officials who might just resent his previous Tour de France dominance, that has satisfied the cycling authority. Floyd Landis has damaged the reputation of American cycling quite a bit. A young cyclist with the will and ability of Lance Armstrong may have to come along and clean up the mess.

Additional information at these websites

Johan Bruyneel

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_johan-bruyneel-comments-landis-situation/