Greg LeMond urges Landis to speak truth about doping charges
July 29, 2006
Floyd Landis news conference
PARIS (AP) -- Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond says the doping charges against fellow American Floyd Landis could be "what cycling has needed for many years" in order to discourage cheating.
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"If he is confirmed positive, I hope he has the courage to tell the truth," LeMond said in an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche released on Saturday. "He alone can change the face of the sport today. His example could be a symbol of change."
In a veiled reference to seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, long dogged by doping allegations, LeMond added: "I hope that (Landis) won't do what another American did: Deny, deny, deny."
LeMond, who won cycling's premier event in 1986, '89 and '90, urged a mass crackdown on doping, involving all cycling regulatory bodies, governments and health ministries. He suggested an amnesty for riders who speak out about doping, and punishing entire teams if a single rider was found to have used banned substances.
"Testing, we will never do enough of it," he said, urging the International Cycling Union -- which he has criticized as corrupt -- to take a more aggressive stance on doping.
Landis' victory ride into Paris last Sunday after a stunning comeback renewed enthusiasm for the sport -- but just days later, his title was in doubt after a French lab reported a testosterone imbalance in one of his urine tests. Landis has said his body's natural metabolism was to blame and demanded backup tests.
The news rocked the cycling world, already under a cloud following a massive doping investigation in Spain which forced several of the world's leading cyclists off the Tour.
"I know Floyd, he's a good guy, he comes from a good family. If all this is proven, it will be a part of the tragedy that crosses this sport: Even good people are obliged to deceive," LeMond told Le Journal du Dimanche.
"It is cycling as a professional sport that represents the problem. It can transform someone into a liar."
2006-07-30
09:49:55
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