Mennonite Weekly Review

Floyd Landis may never shake the label of cheater. The pro cyclist, whose Mennonite upbringing became a key part of his backstory as a famous athlete, failed to clear his name of charges that he violated anti-doping rules when he won the 2006 Tour de France.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on June 30 upheld a ruling that the Lancaster County, Pa., native used artificial testosterone to fuel his victory in cycling’s most prestigious race.

This appears to be the final word on Landis’ doping case. Stripped of his title, his place in sports’ hall of shame is sealed.

But some who have closely followed the two-year saga remain convinced Landis is innocent. In a vigorous public defense, Landis and a team of doctors, scientists and lawyers cite hundreds of errors and inconsistencies by the French lab that analyzed his drug test. The Court of Arbitration for Sport conceded that the lab used some “less than ideal … practices.”

Mennonites who stand in the pro-Landis camp might be dismissed as being biased toward one of their own if there weren’t so many others who also find his defense compelling.

“Trust But Verify” (http://trustbut.blogspot.com) collects news, research and commentary about the Landis case “with a bias toward Floyd.” Landis’ book, Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France, describes his rise from a sheltered life in a conservative Mennonite family to the top of the cycling world and presents exhaustive information to refute the doping allegations.

According to the Lancaster New Era, “Landis presented an overview of [his] defense … at a series of town hall-style meetings early last year… . He sold out the Ephrata Performing Arts Center for two nights in March 2007, when friends, family and fans came to hear his side of the story.”

Athletes caught using performance-enhancing drugs usually claim innocence, so Landis’ protests understandably fall on skeptical ears. Others say it’s impossible to know whether Landis is just another cheater or a victim of a seriously flawed drug-testing system. Still others hear in his defense the ring of truth.