Hi All,
Floyd Landis has finally come clean. And in ironic twist, he threatens to throw dirt on others. Floyd Landis, in an interview with ESPN on Wednesday night, finally fessed up to his doping past, admitting to having taken performancing-enhancing drugs since 2002 (when he was with Lance's US Postal Team). We already suspected as much, since Floyd did test positive during the 2006 Tour de France.
Landis admitted to spending upwards of $90,000 per year on performing-enhancing drugs, including EPO, testosterone, HGH, and blood doping. He allegedly kept detailed records of his drug regimens while he rode for USPS and Phonak.
But now he wants to "clear his conscience", and has sent letters to a whole bunch of cycling organizations and anti-doping associations, letting them know how he got away for so many years, who else doped with him, who knew about it, and threatens to blow apart American cycling. Apparently, according to Velonews.com, Landis makes allegations against Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie, and George Hincapie, among many others who he raced with or against.
Is Floyd just flapping his gums, hoping to hurt others who turned their back on him when he got caughts, or is this the tip of the biggest doping iceberg ever?
As always, we will see - beginning with Lance's press conference before Thursday's Stage 5 of the Tour of California.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Week of Catching Up...
Hi All,
Sorry for the one-week holiday. But that means that there are more things to get to than I get to in a single post, so let's break it up this week, leading off with 3 running stories.
One, for those of you who haven't heard, Regina's Simon Bairu absolutely obliterated the Canadian 10,000m record last week at a meet at Stanford University. He ran 27:23 while knocking 13 seconds off Jeff Schiebler's 2001 record. Bairu got overshowed in the race because, A) he finished 5th in the race and B) the winner of the race broke the American record as well. Chris Solinsky, a 5k specialist who has never run a 10k race before, ran 26:59 to break the American record (previously set in 2001 by Meb Keflezighi) by 14 seconds. In doing so, he became the first non-African (and only 31st ever) to break the magical 27 minute mark.
Track and Field Videos on Flotrack
You can see the race video and other Solinsky highlights on this page. Congrats to him. And before you feel too sorry for Bairu for getting overshadowed, consider Galen Rupp. He finished third in the same race, also broke the American record, but got none of the headlines of Solinsky and Bairu. That was one fast race...
Bairu has already had a great 2010 season, with a definitive win over Ryan Hall in Phoenix and now becoming the fastest Canadian ever over 10,000m. The next step is the marathon, but when and where he makes his marathon debut is still up in the air. Canada badly needs someone to break the 35-year old marathon record of Jerome Drayton (2:10:08). Can Bairu do it?
On the very same weekend that Athletics Canada was celebrating Bairu's new national record comes some news on Canadian athlete funding. Athletics Canada will pay world-class athletes (Top 16 in the world) like Bairu, Perdita Felicien, and their top teammates approximately $1500 per month in funding support. The trade-off is that a few national team athletes who aren't close to that Top-16 level could lose their funding. Instead, Athletic Canada will offer developmental funding to high school athletes who may be able to develop into those Top-16 athletes years down the road.
I'm a little torn, but Athletics Canada is trying to imitate some of the "Own The Podium" techniques that Winter Olympic sports have used over the past 6 years. They are trying to groom potential medal winners, and if that means putting more money into some events and less into other events and athletes.
Last up, a very good story around Mother's Day. We knew that Paula Radcliffe is pregnant, but I was surprised to find out that her spring training partner Kara Goucher was also pregnant. And in a nice coincidence, they are both due to the same day in late September. It also leaves them almost two full years to get back into shape for a run at an Olympic medal in August of 2012.
Lots more ahead...
Sorry for the one-week holiday. But that means that there are more things to get to than I get to in a single post, so let's break it up this week, leading off with 3 running stories.
One, for those of you who haven't heard, Regina's Simon Bairu absolutely obliterated the Canadian 10,000m record last week at a meet at Stanford University. He ran 27:23 while knocking 13 seconds off Jeff Schiebler's 2001 record. Bairu got overshowed in the race because, A) he finished 5th in the race and B) the winner of the race broke the American record as well. Chris Solinsky, a 5k specialist who has never run a 10k race before, ran 26:59 to break the American record (previously set in 2001 by Meb Keflezighi) by 14 seconds. In doing so, he became the first non-African (and only 31st ever) to break the magical 27 minute mark.
Track and Field Videos on Flotrack
Even more remarkably for Solinsky - if you group all the men who have broken that magical 27 minute barrier, he is both the tallest and the heaviest. At 6"1 and 160 pounds, he is the first man over 6 feet to run that fast and the heaviest by a whopping 19 pounds! That's incredible. For the record, Bairu is 5'8" and about 130 pounds, so he fits in well with the average uber-fast Kenyan and Ethiopian.
You can see the race video and other Solinsky highlights on this page. Congrats to him. And before you feel too sorry for Bairu for getting overshadowed, consider Galen Rupp. He finished third in the same race, also broke the American record, but got none of the headlines of Solinsky and Bairu. That was one fast race...
Bairu has already had a great 2010 season, with a definitive win over Ryan Hall in Phoenix and now becoming the fastest Canadian ever over 10,000m. The next step is the marathon, but when and where he makes his marathon debut is still up in the air. Canada badly needs someone to break the 35-year old marathon record of Jerome Drayton (2:10:08). Can Bairu do it?
On the very same weekend that Athletics Canada was celebrating Bairu's new national record comes some news on Canadian athlete funding. Athletics Canada will pay world-class athletes (Top 16 in the world) like Bairu, Perdita Felicien, and their top teammates approximately $1500 per month in funding support. The trade-off is that a few national team athletes who aren't close to that Top-16 level could lose their funding. Instead, Athletic Canada will offer developmental funding to high school athletes who may be able to develop into those Top-16 athletes years down the road.
I'm a little torn, but Athletics Canada is trying to imitate some of the "Own The Podium" techniques that Winter Olympic sports have used over the past 6 years. They are trying to groom potential medal winners, and if that means putting more money into some events and less into other events and athletes.
Last up, a very good story around Mother's Day. We knew that Paula Radcliffe is pregnant, but I was surprised to find out that her spring training partner Kara Goucher was also pregnant. And in a nice coincidence, they are both due to the same day in late September. It also leaves them almost two full years to get back into shape for a run at an Olympic medal in August of 2012.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
100% Giro...
Hi All,
I'm a bit behind this week on a variety of topics, so i'll eventually get around to catching up, but right now I need to concentrate on the biggest event so far on the cycling calendar, the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia. Although the biggest two lightning rods (Contador and Armstrong) won't be on the start line in Amsterdam on Friday, it does have a loaded field - Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso, and Alex Vinokourov, among others. Some years the Giro becomes a target for top Italian cyclists, but this year it seems as though one of the big names will capture the prestigious maglia rosa.
We are guaranteed a new victor in 2010, as last year's winner Denis Menchov is skipping the Giro and last year's runner-up (and 2007 winner) Danilo Diluca is serving two years in the penalty box for taking some drugs last season. The Italian hometown favorites are limited, as only Basso and 2004 Giro winner Damiano Cunego would seem to have any chance whatsoever. Alessandro Ballan and Franco Pellizotti are both being skipped due to "investigations" (more on this on Monday) so won't get a chance for hometown glory.
The 3 week voyage around Italy begins as I said in Holland, with the first 3 stages in and around Amsterdam. The race then moves to Italy and really kicks off with Stage 4's team time trial. It then spends 8 of the next 9 stages on flattish stages before ending with an impressive 2 time trials and 4 high mountain stages in the last 8 stages. It should be an unreal selection process. The two time trials near the end could hurt Sastre's chances of winning the Giro, and should help racers like Christian Vande Velde, Vinokourov, Basso, and Bradley Wiggins move up near the top of the race. The race ends with two epic mountain top finishes before a 15 km time trial on the last day.
The sprinters will get a chance to break out their legs early and often with expected bunch sprints in several early stages. The Giro doesn't have a sprinter's jersey like the Tour, instead having a points jersey, the maglia rosso passione. The big names among the sprinters include Tyler Farrar, Alessandro Petacchi, and Robbie McEwen. Will one of them dominate like Mark Cavendish did last year?
Canadian content in Italy - two Canadians on the start line Friday morning. Garmin's Svein Tuft will race his second Grand Tour in a row (last year's Vuelta was his first) while Michael Barry will race the Giro for the second year in a row, this year on Team Sky as he protects the team captain Bradley Wiggins. Good luck boys!
Predictions: since i'm never right - let's go with Vinokourov with a late flourish. Ok, I'm just hoping.
So who's not racing the Giro? Lance, Mark Cavendish, Levi Leipheimer, and Fabian Cancellara are all choosing to race Tour of California - which starts in ten days. Lots of news to come...
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