Courtroom Twists Muffle Landis' Doping Denials

Floyd Landis took the stand to defend himself at his arbitration hearing.

ByABC News
January 8, 2009, 12:22 AM

MALIBU, Calif. -- May 21, 2007— -- Taking the stand in your own defense is often viewed as a risky maneuver. Floyd Landis, however, had little choice Saturday.

Landis has spoken out frequently and freely in the months since he was accused of using synthetic testosterone to help him win last year's Tour de France. Clamming up now, at a public hearing he requested, surely would have been seen as suspect by fans and cynics -- not to mention the three arbitrators who will decide the case.

After listening to more than five days of testimony intended to build the case against him, the 31-year-old Landis got his first chance under oath to tell his story his way, to firmly deny using performance-enhancing drugs and portray himself as a person of character.

When his lawyer, Howard Jacobs, concluded the questioning by asking why the panel should believe him, Landis had an answer ready.

"People are defined by their principles and how they make their decisions," Landis said deliberately, slowing his usual rapid-burst speech pattern. "To me, bicycle racing was rewarding for the pure fact that I was proud of myself when I put the work into it and I could see the results and get something out of it.

"It wouldn't serve any purpose to cheat and win the Tour, because I wouldn't be proud of it. That's just not what the goal was, from the beginning."

But Landis' message was diluted by a lengthy detour into the sordid incident divulged at the hearing two days ago.

Jacobs led Landis through the events of Wednesday evening, when Landis' friend and business manager, Will Geoghegan, placed a threatening call to three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond, who was set to testify against Landis the next day.

Landis' account answered some questions, but left others yawning open. His image will not be enhanced by the revelation that he was in the same room as Geoghegan -- an unspecified distance away, at the other end of a dinner table in a banquet room at their hotel in nearby Calabasas -- when Geoghegan made his call.

When Geoghegan's cell phone rang a minute later, Landis heard him say LeMond was calling back.