Two people who have spoken with Mr. Landis said the cyclist was cooperating with the Food and Drug Administration’s criminal investigations unit, which they said was looking into Mr. Landis’s allegations.
These people said Thursday that Mr. Landis had met with FDA special agent Jeff Novitzky. Mr. Novitzky, a former Internal Revenue Service special agent, is best known as the lead investigator in the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative case. That case resulted in a plea deal with the lab’s owner, Victor Conte, on conspiracy and money-laundering charges, a prison sentence for gold medal-winning sprinter Marion Jones and an indictment of home-run champion Barry Bonds. Mr. Bonds is awaiting trial on federal perjury charges, which he denies.
Mr. Novitzky declined to comment. An FDA spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm or deny the existence of any investigation. Mr. Landis didn’t respond to email messages seeking comment.
The thing is, Lance hasnt actually failed a drug test like Petitte and Clemens (both were part of the Mitchell report that showed which MLB players failed MLB drug tests).
So until we actually see how Lance reacts when there is an official doping charge, we wont know. My guess is that he will fight like hell (Clemens) and try and appeal any failed drug test if that were ever to happen. Very rarely do guys simply accept their fate without fighting it.
Well, if you read the fine print in the Landis reporting, he claims that LA actually DID fail a test but that he & JB bought some sort of cover-up settlement with the relevant authorities.
For me, having watched clips of Clemens during his congressional hearings, the guy just plainly looked for all the world like a lying douchesack, regardless of how defensible his story may or may not have been in print. If only he could lie as proficiently as he threw a ball…
Well yes but there is a difference in “claiming” somone failed a drug test and having an actual positive drug test with that sports governing body. Until Lance has officially had a “positive” than there really is no comparison between Lance and Petitte/Clemens.
Well yes but there is a difference in “claiming” somone failed a drug test and having an actual positive drug test with that sports governing body. Until Lance has officially had a “positive” than there really is no comparison between Lance and Petitte/Clemens.
That’s not really true. Lance had essentially the same positive that - for example - A-Rod had. When they tested Lance’s old samples with with the new EPO urine test - that did not exist when Lance won the TdF in 1999-2003 (IIRC, the test for EPO in urine came about in 2004), those samples tested positive. The samples were supposed to be anonymous, but the identity was leaked. A-Rod - and others - all tested positive during 2003 (again, IIRC), when MLB ran anonymous testing to see what % of the tests came back positive, so that they could evaluate whether or not there was a problem (which is absurd).
So, if you want to get particular, both Lance and Pettite/Clemens have had samples test positive. None of them has ever failed a drug test. And all have been accused by former trainers/teammates of taking PEDs.
That’s my best recollection of what happened in all cases, so please feel free to correct me. But my understanding is that they all fall - basically - fall into the same boat - samples of theirs have tested positive for PEDs, but none of them have never failed a drug test.
The thing is, Lance hasnt actually failed a drug test like Petitte and Clemens (both were part of the Mitchell report that showed which MLB players failed MLB drug tests).
So until we actually see how Lance reacts when there is an official doping charge, we wont know. My guess is that he will fight like hell (Clemens) and try and appeal any failed drug test if that were ever to happen. Very rarely do guys simply accept their fate without fighting it.
Marion Jones never tested positive and ended up in jail.
The difficulty for Lance is that people may start to rat to save their own necks.
That is the problem once you get involved with investigations. Will your confidants risk jail time for you like Barry Bonds trainer did? The problem here appears to be so wide spread within the sport and so many people are involved that some will be like Andy Pettitte and come clean and some will say others mis-remembered and make themselves look like idiots…just like Roger did.