Landis dobs on ex-teammates. If true - and proven to be true - what happens next?

Why confess after so much effort was expended on denials? Why implicate just about everyone he has ever ridden with? Armstrong, Hincapie, Leipheimer... and Bruyneel of course. Is it revenge, or a need to clear his conscience? It's an amazing co-incidence, to have Dave Z leading the ToC right now and to be named by Landis along with the all-star cast of past colleagues.... mind you, at least one of these emails reportedly date back to April 30.

Apart from the riders implicated in various forms of abuse, there is a report of money paid to silence a positive finding against Armstrong. Of course this is really nothing new, similar allegations have been made by many people - except that it's a former team-mate saying it. Whilst these are untested allegations it does signal a major drama for the sport in the coming months.  


Report: Landis admits doping and fingers Armstrong - Yahoo! News

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping but had always denied cheating, sent a series of e-mails to cycling officials and sponsors acknowledging and detailing his long-term use of banned drugs, the newspaper said.

The report said Landis wrote in the e-mails that he started doping in 2002, his first year racing with the U.S. Postal Service team led by Armstrong.

Landis also admitted to doping in an interview with ESPN.com.

Landis also accused American riders Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie and Armstrong's longtime coach, Johan Bruyneel, of involvement in doping, the Journal reported.

A state of general unease

Does anyone else feel uneasy about this? Is it just me? Am I just a doubter by nature?

From Cyclingnews.com:Spanish media reported Wednesday that current Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was close to signing with Astana. Along with Contador would come Johan Bruyneel in a management role. Both Bruyneel and Contador are free to find new teams effective December 31, when their current Discovery Channel team comes to an end.

Maybe it's fate and it will all turn out for the best.

Bad taste for Bruyneel, what about us?

If Le Tour was a win for Disco and Contador it still left some bad tastes in many mouths... and for Disco's win to be followed by the sponsorship pullout and total disbandment of the team verges on... well, it's unusual, to say the least. And Bruyneel himself moving to the trouble-plagued Astana outfit? Possibly with Contador? Does anyone feel uneasy at all, whether justified or not?

Johan Bruyneel had some interesting things to say to CN here: Johan Bruyneel accompanies his star rider Alberto Contador to the USA for the Discovery Channel team's final race this weekend, the Tour of Missouri, bringing the Tour de France champion and a tinge of bitterness along for the end of an era. After eight years directing the organisation which was more successful than any team in modern memory, Bruyneel has eight Tour de France victories to remember but leaves with a bad taste in his mouth. Bruyneel became familiar with the whispers of doping which follow every modern Tour winner, having stood by Lance Armstrong as he fended off one doping accusation after another through press releases and lawsuits, but this year's Tour was too much."They have not let me enjoy Contador's victory in the Tour," the Belgian told Marca, complaining of the accusations of involvement with Operación Puerto which followed the Spaniard's victory. "With that atmosphere, it has been the worse Tour of my life," Bruyneel lamented. Not one month after the end of the Tour, the team's owner, Tailwind Sports, announced it would end its bid for a new title sponsor, effectively disbanding the organisation. Bruyneel hastily announced his retirement along with the news. He blamed the atmosphere surrounding Contador's win for his decision. "All of that was the main reasons why I did not desire to continue.