Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after failing a dope test, has sent a series of e-mails to cycling officials and sponsors admitting to the use of performance enhancing drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The report said the American’s e-mails detailed his systematic use of the drugs during his career.
In an interview with ESPN.com late on Wednesday, Landis admitted using performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career, including during the 2006 Tour de France.
CONSCIENCE
“I want to clear my conscience,” the 34-year-old told ESPN. “I don’t want to be part of the problem any more.”
“Now we’ve come to the point where the statute of limitations on the things I know is going to run out or start to run out next month. If I don’t say something now then it’s pointless to ever say it,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal said it had reviewed three e-mails sent earlier this year.
“Mr Landis copied seven people on these three e-mails, including officials with USA Cycling and the International Cycling Union,” the report said. “Three people who have seen the emails and spoken to Mr Landis about them say they are authentic.”
DENIAL
Landis, the first rider to be stripped of a Tour victory, had previously denied any wrongdoing, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected his assertion that his positive test was due to procedural mistakes by the laboratory.
He said last year after his two-year ban ended that he was trying to decide whether to ride again in the Tour de France.
In February, a French judge issued an arrest warrant against Landis for suspected hacking into an anti-doping laboratory computer.
French anti-doping agency head Pierre Bordry said the judge, Thomas Cassuto, believed Landis wanted to prove the laboratory where his samples were tested was wrong.
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