You could say Floyd Landis and Dick Pound are in a p*ssing match (many puns intended).
Angry at quotes from a New York Times Magazine article on Sunday, Floyd Landis strikes back with force. News24.com here reports Landis' letter to the editor of the New York Times, and Wired Magazine, found here. First the news report:
New York - Drug-tainted Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has hit out at World Anti-doping (Wada) chief Dick Pound in an open letter published in the New York Times and Wired magazines...
But now Landis has hit out at Pound for branding him as guilty before his case has been closed - he is appealing a ban.
"Dick Pound's recent defamatory and absurd public comments - in the midst of a process where the highest ethical standards should support a fair and just outcome - highlight the dramatic and systematic problems with global anti-doping enforcement and adjudication," said Landis.
Landis was critical of Pound's quotations:
"He was 11 minutes behind or something, and all of the sudden there's this Herculean effort, where he's going up mountains like he's on a goddamn Harley," said Pound...
"It's a great story," added Pound. "Wonderful. But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is."
Turning to Landis's alleged testosterone results, which included a high testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio, Pound said crudely: "I mean, it was 11 to 1! You'd think he'd be violating every virgin within 100 miles. How does he even get on his bicycle?"
Landis Added:
"Mr Pound should conduct himself in a manner more consistent with the seriousness of the unsubstantiated allegations against me and the damage they have caused to a great number of people.
Floyd Landis' critique of Pound's comments do point out a lack of professionalism, in 'the boss'. Pound knows not to mouth disparaging remarks about a person whose case/career is in process with WADA...or at any point, especially to a journalist.
A world class sporting event now turns into a 'urinating match'; this will damage both sides in the end.
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