U.S. Officials Still Trying to Get Lance Armstrong

Floyd Landis, last year's Tour de France winner who is currently under a cloud of suspicion regarding his own possible drug use, was offered a deal if he'd only rat out seven time winner Lance Armstrong:

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — Floyd Landis claims the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s lead attorney approached his lawyer offering “the shortest suspension they’d ever given an athlete” if Landis provided information that implicated Lance Armstrong for doping.

At a news conference Thursday to preview his upcoming arbitration hearing, Landis said he made the Armstrong allegations public not because he planned to use it as evidence when testimony begins Monday, but to show the lengths USADA will go to in prosecuting athletes.

“It was offensive at best,” Landis said. “It speaks to the character of the prosecution.”

There have been lots of accusations against Armstrong, but nothing ever proved. He could actually be an exemplary athlete, but USADA seems intent on proving his feats of strength as tainted and thus ruining both his reputation, and the reputation of U.S. Cycling in general.