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Shane Frederick

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June 15, 2009

Doping athletes don't have uphill climb with fans

By Shane Frederick

The bike-racing fan was giddy Saturday afternoon in downtown Mankato as she pointed toward the right shoulder of her Minnesota Bicycle Festival/Nature Valley Grand Prix T-shirt.

There, scribbled in black ink, was the signature of the most famous rider in the men’s field, Floyd Landis.

For a fan of the sport in America, you might not be able to get a better autograph — short of sticking a Sharpie in Lance Armstrong’s hand.

Landis won the 2006 Tour de France, only to have his title stripped after he was found to have failed a drug test. A synthetic testosterone was found in his samples, according to a French lab.

Landis maintained innocence and fought the charges in court but didn’t win. Besides getting his Tour victory taken away, he was banished from competitive cycling for two years.

After getting an artificial hip, Landis began a comeback in January.

“It’s progressing,” he said after Saturday’s Mankato Road Race. “I’ve had a lot of time off. I had my hip resurfaced, and that’s kept me from training as much as I hoped. ... I don’t have a timeline.”

Landis said the ultimate goal is to get back to the Tour de France where he could try to erase the stigma of his doping scandal.

“I’d like, in the near future, to get back to the Tour de France; that’s what I hope to do,” he said. “I don’t think it will be much longer. My fitness is almost there.”

Landis will have his fans — like the one who got his autograph Saturday after he finished the Mankato race 31st, 27 seconds behind the winner. (After Sunday’s final stage in Stillwater, he ended up 16th in the overall standings, 1:41 behind the winner, his teammate and defending Grand Prix champion Rory Sutherland.)

One might wonder why those folks continue to root for someone who has been in exile for allegedly cheating his way to the top of his sport.

Then again, maybe it’s not a case of whether or not they believe him to be innocent or guilty. Maybe they think he’s more than served his time.

He got the yellow jersey and the mantle passed on from Armstrong stripped away in shame. Then the 33-year-old was cast off for two of his prime racing years. Finally, when allowed to race again, he was trudging up Main Street Hill in Mankato, not the Alps in Italy or France.

Compare that to the alleged, admitted and caught cheaters in America’s popular sports.

Suspected steroid user Barry Bonds remains the home-run king. Admitted steroid user Alex Rodriguez got a hero’s treatment by Yankees fans and ESPN upon hitting a home run in his first at-bat of this season. Manny Ramirez, who tested positive this year, will miss 50 games this season before taking back his place in the Dodgers’ outfield.

Vikings fans are rooting for the Williams Wall — starting defensive linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams — to win their appeal of a four-game suspension from the NFL for testing positive for a banned substance as to not hinder hopes of a potential Super Bowl run.

And, like Landis, the Williamses will be in Mankato this summer, signing autographs for their own adoring fans.



Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Read his blog at www.mankatofreepress.com/hockeyblog.

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Shane Frederick