Floyd Landis: Champ Or Cheater?

In New Book, Says Lab Results Were Wrong And He Has Never Been A Doper

(CBS)  Last year's Tour de France winner Floyd Landis says he's done everything he could think of to persaude the world that he didn't use illegal substances to help him win the grueling bike race.

He just published a book, in which he tries to further his cause, called "Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France."

"The purpose of the book is to explain the whole process, over and above telling the story about my life," Landis told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "Because people only have really a small picture of my life. They know about the tour and about the doping charges but they don't know anything about the rest. I want them to get the whole story."

Landis became an instant celebrity when he battled back from behind during the grueling mountain stage despite having a severely injured hip. But after the race, French authorities announced he tested positive for synthetic testosterone in urine taken on the day of his comeback.

Landis adamantly denied the charges from the beginning. Facing the loss of his title and a two-year suspension, he has aggressively attacked the French lab and the United States anti-doping agency. Landis, with the help of donations, has spent $2 million on his defense, says that the positive test result is based on flawed research. He said that if that research were applied in the United States, Switzerland and Australia, he would not have been found positive. Landis said the French lab only found a skewed ratio, but never identified testosterone.

"They never identified by their own rules what they were looking at was at the testosterone," he said. "That's the main defense in the case."

The panel has yet to make a decision about Landis's fate but the USDA has never lost an arbitration hearing.

In May, he presented his case in a nine-day public arbitration hearing. Landis' defense team hammered away at the USDA and the prosecution countered with incriminating evidence against the cyclist. But it was the former Tour de France champion, Greg LeMond who shocked the courtroom when he testified that Landis's manager called him and threatened to expose the fact that LeMond had been sexually abused as a child.

"I figured this was intimidation to keep me from coming here, thinking that I feared being exposed that I was sexually abused somehow," LeMond said in court.

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Landis also appeared with Smith on The Early Show on Wednesday. Among other things, Smith questioned Landis about his claim that he was pressured to reveal information that might point to the alleged use of illegal substances by multiple Tour winner Lance Armstrong. To see the Wednesday segment, click here.

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After the results became public, LeMond urged Landis to come clean in a phone conversation. Landis said he told LeMond that he had nothing to hide. Also during that conversation, LeMond told Landis that he was abused as a child and Landis said he wasn't sure why LeMond confided in him.

"First of all, there was nothing that I could do to even help him with it, whatever it was that he's been through," Landis said.

But Landis had difficulty saying why his manager threatened LeMond that way. He sidestepped the issue and called it "terribly unfortunate situation."

"There was no good that came out of that for either side," Landis said.

Another problem that casts doubt on Landis' credibility is the fact that he was getting ready to join a new cycling team and was in need of a hip replacement. But he didn't let the new team know the full extent of his injury.

"I wanted the chance to race that year and it was going to become clear very quickly whether it was going to be a problem or not," Landis said. "And I decided at whatever point it came clear that I wasn't going to be able to compete at the level I was expected to and paid to do, I was going to have to just tell them that was it, but up until that point there had been no one who tried to race with a hip like that so it would have been very difficult to say it's going to be OK."

To read an excerpt of "Positively False," click here.

"Positively False" is published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment, a division of Simon & Schuster, which is part of the CBS Corporation, as is CBSNews.com.

[rashid821]

Look deep into his eyes and you will know that not only he's a cheater but also a liar!

[rushman71]

The French were sore losers. They would do anything they could to make us look bad.

[rushman71]

rashid821: I'm looking; can't see anything but another winner falsely accused of wrong doing.

[ioweign]

I believe him. The French are a peculiar race!

[mitch0927]

rashid821, you know this guy personally, or are you someone that can look deep into a 2D picture and know if someone is lying? Come on, you can come up with something better than that. Since the French helped us during the Revolutionary War, they have needed us for everything else. The only mistake we made was when we took over their problems in Vietnam. If we would have just backed off and say, "it's your problem, you deal with it." The French have always been in the middle of something and eventually needed either the U.S. or England to bail them out. I doubt he cheated or lied.

[mayaderen-2009]

Oh for god's sake! There's a lot more to be concerned about in this world than who won a bicycle race! And stop blasting the French already - I have only had excellent treatment from the French whenever I have visited their country. They are classy, chic, and decent. (No, I'm not French) Stop bickering and start to see the good in each other.

[r-u-kidding]

It's a bicycle race....who cares????

[mnelsonix]

Puke. He won. The test is flawed. The French HATE Americans...H8! Puke. Face it, He won. Let it go frog eaters. BTW Snails are not tasty chow.

[mitch0927]

mayaderen,
You're treated that way because you are a tourist and they like it when people from other countries spend money.

[dukeudevil]

I really want to believe Floyd. However, so many have lied only to later tell the truth that it is getting more and more difficult to believe any of the opposing sides. (And unfortunately, even science seems confused.) I do know, from my own experiences, that doping and cycling once went hand-in-hand. Is it different now? Let us hope so.

And for those who think it's only a bike race, try riding your bike for just 5 miles at 30 mph. Hell, do it for only 3 miles at 25 mph. Then when you almost die from trying, remember that these guys can do it for hours and hours. So yea, they're doing nothing exceptional at all. Doh!!!

It's not just a bike race; it's sport and competition. (In fact, there is more money involved with a single Tour de France than with several Super Bowls.) I'm betting those who see it as only a bicycle race have never exercised in any way whatsoever throughout their lives.

Full disclosure: I'm a bicycle racer. And yes, I doped.

[slim1h2o]

Looks to me he's gained weight, from that picture. Guess he isn't riding much lately.

[hwk_i67]

Personally,

It looked like he took the shotgun defense: Blame anything and everything and hopefully someone will believe it:

It was the drinks I had the night before.
The test was flawed.
It was my vitamins.
Someone must have given it me without my knowledge.
There was an earthquake. A flood. A friend came in from out town. I didn't have cab fare. It's not my fauuuuuuullllllt!

[heyyopauly]

CHUMP,
But then tell me about a winning cyclist that doesn't dope..
now there would be a story if you can find one!

[jdubs63]

YAWN

[incog-nito]

Lots of cyclists dope in the tour. Landis won. That's what I call a level playing field.