It took too long for me to come clean - Landis

Wed, Sep 29 10 05:37 AM

Floyd Landis took too long to come clean about his doping offences, local media on Wednesday quoted the disgraced drug cheat as saying.

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive drug test, spent four years and more than $1 million, much of it raised from fans, protesting his innocence before confessing to doping offences in May.

The 34-year-old American's confession was also accompanied by accusations of cheating against his former team mates, including Lance Armstrong, that sparked a United States federal investigation into alleged doping.

"I made the judgment, probably the wrong judgment, that I wouldn't be believed if I told what I knew about cycling," the Herald-Sun daily quoted the former Postal Service rider as saying.

"It was easy to rationalise the cheating, telling yourself you weren't hurting anybody. If I could accomplish one goal it would be to change that thinking," he said.

Landis was speaking at a conference focusing on doping in the port city of Geelong, near Melbourne, ahead of the road world championships that open in the same city on Wednesday.

The American's invitation angered the world championships' organising committee, who withdrew their backing for the conference and accused it of providing a 'soapbox' for the drug cheat to sling mud.

Landis did not comment on his accusations against Armstrong and other riders, citing the ongoing federal investigation.

Record seven-times Tour de France champion Armstrong, who has never failed a drug test, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and says his accuser has no credibility.

The road world championships will be held in Geelong from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3.

Source: Published>