Fans back Floyd Landis in Wheaton, but ...

They wouldn't be surprised if cyclist is found to have cheated in 2006 Tour de France

BY JAMES FULLER
jfuller@dailyherald.com


(Tanit Jarusan/tjarusan@dailyherald.com)

Floyd Landis emerged from last year's Tour de France with both a yellow jersey and a heap of controversy about doping on his shoulders, but local cycling fans stood by him Monday even while bracing for disappointment.

Landis appeared at Borders in Wheaton Monday to sign his new book, "Positively False."Not one person would say Landis was, no doubt, a cheater in a non-scientific poll of people coming to see Landis.

That's not a shocking outcome for a crowd that gave Landis a standing ovation, bought every copy of the book in the store and then waited in line more than two hours to have it signed.

Perhaps more interesting was why they support Landis.

A good portion of the crowd, especially enthusiasts who turned out in bicycle shorts, believe there were flawed methods in the doping test Landis failed.

That's the same argument Landis has put forward for the past year. Some fans had other theories.

Tom Johnson, of Wheaton, said he'd believe in Landis' innocence even if Landis had illegal drugs in his system.

"It wouldn't shock me if someone put something in his drinks without him knowing," Johnson said. "It's not like the stuff is hard to come by. Someone probably did it in exchange for $25."

Kellyanne Thomas' view was similar to many others in that, as a fan, she wants to believe Landis is innocent. But she wouldn't be shocked if Landis was guilty.

Indeed, the names of Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds came up more than once, indicating cynicism about baseball's steroid scandal has already numbed fans to the possible fall of another sports hero.

Thomas, of LaGrange, cited Landis' visible anger when he crossed the finish line and immediately after as very counter to the man she met at the book signing, and a possible sign of " 'roid rage."

"It's the only thing that, if I hadn't seen that, I'd have no reason for suspicion," Thomas said.

Others said there's so much confusion now that there's no way anyone will ever know for sure if Landis cheated or not.

Steve Lindeen of Wheaton said Landis has given the testing methods enough of a black eye with his accusations of shoddy labs and tainted measurements that even a final court ruling against Landis can't be trusted. A ruling in favor of Landis wouldn't be definitive, either, but decidedly better for cycling, he said.

"He says he's innocent," Lindeen said. "For the good of the sport, I think that it's very important he's innocent because he's said he is."