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The Journal of Competitive Cycling

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Floyd Landis, former teammate of Lance Armstrong, has filed a federal “whistle-blower” lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that Landis filed a suit under the U.S. federal False Claims Act, which allows Americans to sue on behalf of the government alleging the government has been defrauded.

According to the Journal, the lawsuit is currently sealed so its exact contents are not known.

But in the article posted on its website the newspaper noted that Landis and Armstrong were teammates on the squad sponsored by the US Postal Service, an independent government whose funds are considered to be public.

Landis has alleged that some of the team’s riders, including himself and Armstrong, used performance enhancing drugs – a charge Armstrong has strenuously denied.

“Such a lawsuit is likely to claim a fraud was committed against the Postal Service in relation to the alleged doping,” the Wall Street Journal wrote.

Landis won the Tour de France in 2006 but was stripped of the title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone.

This year he ended years of denials and admitted he doped, and he accused Armstrong and others in the cycling world of doing the same.

Armstrong won six of his seven Tour de France titles with the U.S. Postal Service team.

Landis’ claims have already sparked a reported probe by U.S. authorities into doping in professional cycling.

Federal investigators, who have met with Landis, are investigating whether Armstrong or anyone else committed fraud or conspiracy in connection with the alleged doping.

Under the whistle-blower law, the government can intervene in Landis’ suit, essentially pursuing the case on its own behalf. If it doesn’t, Landis is free to carry on the action on his own.

As a whistle-blower, Landis could collect up to 30 percent of any money the government recovers if fraud is determined.

“This news that Floyd Landis is in this for the money reconfirms everything we all knew about Landis,” Armstrong spokesman Mark Fabiani said Friday in a statement.

“By his own admission, he is a serial liar, an epic cheater, and a swindler who raised and took almost a million dollars from his loyal fans based on his lies. What remains a complete mystery is why the government would devote a penny of the taxpayer’s money to help Floyd Landis further his vile, cheating ambitions. And all aimed directly at Lance Armstrong, a man who earned every victory and passed every test while working for cancer survivors all over the world.”

Mobile version

• 1. Alessandro PETACCHI, (ITA) Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 4:36:12
• 2. Mark CAVENDISH, (GBR) HTC-Columbia, at 0
• 3. Juan José HAEDO, (ARG) Team Saxo Bank, at 0
• 4. Andreas STAUFF, (GER) Quick Step, at 0
• 5. Tyler FARRAR, (USA) Garmin-Transitions, at 0

Alessandro Petacchi took full advantage of a perfect lead out from his Lampre team to win the seventh stage of the Vuelta a España on Friday - [Read more]

Txema González, a Spanish massage therapist on Team Sky, died Friday in Sevilla, evidently from the same virus that has affected riders on the British-backed team.

González had been in a hospital in Sevilla since falling ill Sunday. There was no official word on his cause of death, but he died during the course of Friday’s seventh stage at the Vuelta a España.

Riders were not aware of the news until they arrived at the Team Sky bus at the end of the stage in Orihuela.

A native of Vitoria in Spain’s Basque Country, González raced as an amateur and worked with Euskaltel-Euskadi and Saunier Duval before joining Team Sky.

Speaking on Spanish TV, Vuelta race director Javier Guillén expressed his condolences.

“We just found about it. It’s disastrous news,” Guillén said. “We had heard that he was in bad condition, but we never expected this. We never could have imagined this would have happened. He’s part of the cycling family, part of the Vuelta. We will honor his memory tomorrow morning before the start, that’s the least we can do. This is very, very sad news.”

Team Sky officials had kept the news under wraps, but Spanish journalists noticed that the veteran assistant was not on the race as planned.

Three Team Sky members have pulled out of the Vuelta since Sunday’s start. Juan Antonio Flecha was admitted to a hospital overnight, but started Friday’s stage only to abandon midway through the race.

Earlier this week, John Lee Augustyn and Ben Swift pulled out with a mysterious virus that’s sweeping through the team.

The source of the virus is not clear, but Team Sky officials have ruled out food poisoning.

Check back later for more details of this developing story.

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The 2010 USA Cycling cyclocross nationals in Bend, Oregon, will feature a longer course than last year, with a new bridge/spectator underpass plus some new off-camber corners.

Organizers of the December 8-12 event, held in Bend for the second consecutive year, released a map of the new course and a preliminary event schedule on Thursday.

The new 2010 race course is similar to last year’s, with a staircase run-up and two barriers, and several technical sections. This year the course is approximately 500 yards longer, includes three straight-aways, three off-camber sections, and a ride-over bridge that will also serve as a spectator underpass entrance to the in-field and beer garden.

“The new course will have similar technical challenges as the 2009 course, but now includes long straight-aways and additional off-camber features that will challenge every type of rider and will definitely produce worthy national champions,” said Brad Ross, the race director.

Organizers released an event schedule that includes a variety of competitions, entertainment, cultural and social meet-ups, in addition to five days of racing.

“This year’s ‘cross nats will be a five-day nonstop celebration of the cyclocross lifestyle,” said Doug La Placa, president and CEO of Visit Bend.

Mobile version

Even more solutions for cyclists plagued by mystery noises on their rides - [Read more]

The Gateway Cup in St. Louis, the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont and the Steamboat Springs Stage Race in Colorado highlight the Labor Day weekend - [Read more]

While professional cycling is most certainly an occupation for my colleagues and me, it is work in an entirely different capacity than the majority of jobs out there. Cycling is an all-engrossing profession that consumes so many aspects of our lives, from … well, consuming and therefore what we eat to fuel five-hour training rides, to the amount of rest and downtime that directly influences our performance at work; there’s the virtually non-stop aspect of travel and operating out of a suitcase, as well as the facet of work that results from moving one’s entire life to seemingly the opposite end of the globe to pursue the sport — and job — that we love.

The progression of cycling in my life has been relatively straightforward. First were my days in elementary school riding a bike with friends simply in the pursuit of freedom, then years later I was reintroduced to cycling — this time as a sport — during my time in college. Amateur and then professional racing followed this chapter of my life all across North America, which has segued now into professional cycling at the pinnacle of the sport on a global scale. Throughout this progression, cycling has always brought me a great deal of enjoyment and simple joy.

At the end of the day, I still love my job. The feelings are very similar to the pleasure that was first elicited when I started riding decades ago and then when I began training regularly as a racing cyclist more recently. I still embrace that sense of freedom and love the adventures and world travels that cycling has allowed me. I recognize that my profession is a relatively unique one and it’s something I really embrace and feel privileged to have.

Pardon the randomness of this next statement, but stay with me here. Removing all of the sporting aspects of my life, one of my absolute favorite moments in life are the two-to-three minutes just prior to landing an airplane as I return home from a race or event. All the headaches and banging my head against the wall in the airport are quickly forgotten in these brief seconds. Gazing out the window the ground below is near enough to recognize my favorite training roads, the punchy climbs that I’ve toiled over countless times, and the best coffee shops where I’ve downed my share of unctuous caffeinated goodness.

I can sometimes actually see my house or apartment, I recognize town centers, and see the landmarks that I’ve ridden by time and again. It’s a surreal vantage point — look closely enough and I can see people walking and cars driving, but it’s just far enough away that it somehow seems like a miniature toy village and somehow not real, like watching an episode of the Truman Show.

I’ve lived all over the globe, from New Hampshire to Vermont, North Carolina and Colorado, California, Spain, and Switzerland. I’m spoiled to have experienced this many amazing places, but every single time I’m in a plane in the final approach, I anxiously stare out the window and experience the same nostalgic (or maybe just plain crazy) feeling. I don’t know if you will experience this same wistful sensation that’s elicited when I do this, but I recommend you at least give it a try and request the window seat on your next flight home.

(Related: All Ted’s columns)

This year Ted King is in his sophomore year with the Cervélo TestTeam. After getting a taste for the European peloton with the U.S. espoir national team in 2005, King returned to the United States for three successful years of domestic pro racing. The 27-year-old is a native of New Hampshire and despite his affinity for hearty servings of coffee, he is slowly adapting to the smaller European portions. Slowly. His diaries appear monthly on VeloNews.com; between the scanty portions we serve up, you can follow Ted at www.Cervelo.com/team and www.iamTedKing.MissingSaddle.com. Those of you content with 140 characters or less can track his activities at www.twitter.com/iamtedking.

Giro marketers chose Livigno, Italy as the venue to introduce to the world their new line of seven shoe models - [Read more]

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• 1. Thor Hushovd, Cervélo TestTeam, in 3h 36 20
• 2. Daniele Bennati, Liquigas-Doimo, at 0
• 3. Grega Bole, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 0
• 4. Allan Davis, Astana, at 0
• 5. Filippo Pozzato, Team Katusha, at 0

Thor Hushovd won the sixth stage of the Vuelta a España, easily taking a sprint into Murcia on Thursday.

Omega Pharma’s Philippe Gilbert retained the overall leader’s red jersey.

The Cervelo rider beat Liquigas’s Daniele Bennati and Lampre’s Grega Bole to the line in a sprint finish at the end of the 151-kilometer ride from Caravaca de la Cruz to Murcia in southeastern Spain.

Check back soon for results, photos and a complete stage report

Coach Frank Overton shares some of his favorite cross workouts - [Read more]

Getting fired up for `cross at Germany’s massive Eurobike trade show in Friedrichshafen - [Read more]