Armstrong Disagrees with Landis Decision

Filed in archive Biking on October 3, 2007

After arbitrators upheld the initial decision that found Floyd Landis guilty of doping, a real Tour de France winner is coming to the defense of Landis. Sort of.

On Wednesday, Armstrong accused blasted the arbitrators for considering "shoddy" lab work. He also added that if Landis' case was presented in front of an American jury, they would have found him not guilty. Landis can still appeal the decision.

"I didn't follow Floyd's case that much, but I will tell you, if that's a jury trial in the United States of America, with eight or 10 or 12 of our fellow citizens, you get off every time. Not that you get off, but you're vindicated," Armstrong told The Associated Press on Tuesday while promoting a new line of Nike apparel that supports his Livestrong campaign to fight cancer.

Armstrong, who has endured doping accusations throughout his career, has criticized the French lab where Landis' tests were conducted.

Although the arbitrators faulted the lab's practices in their ruling and warned that future errors could result in the dismissal of a positive finding, the panel still upheld Landis' positive doping test.

When you are giving someone the death penalty, which they essentially did, you cannot tolerate shoddy work, which they clearly did," Armstrong said. "I don't understand that type of rationale. I don't understand the verdict.

"It's tough for Floyd; it's tough for cycling. But at the same time, it's also really tough and unfortunate for the fans of all athletes. You never know when you're in that position, when an athlete's in that position, and you want to make sure that everything's done right."

Armstrong conceded that cycling is going through a "tough period."

"But I think all of sport is going through a tough time," he said. "You can look at cycling and say, 'Oh, they're all cheaters.' But you know what? You can look at the New England Patriots and say they're cheaters, too. You can look at the McLaren Formula One team and say they're cheaters."