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August 07, 2006 - Image 16

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Publication:
Michigan Daily Summer Weekly, 2006-08-07

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. 16 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 7, 2006

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PORT

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Landis loses Tour sponsor

Penn State coach Joe Paterno was one of the many Big Ten coaches who gave their
condolences to the Walker family during Big Ten Media Day in Chicago last week.

WALKER
Continued from Page 13
coaches fight it out on the gridiron every
Saturdayhoping tooutlasttheircounter-
part on the opposing sideline. Even though
these coaches live off of the competition,
they also identify with each other.
At the kickoff luncheon, all 11 coaches
stood at the podium and addressed the
state of their respective team. But instead
of just going through the motions, they
had fun coming together as a unit. I saw
there was more to these guys' lives than
winning Big Ten championships. They
actually liked to have fun, too.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller said he didn't
have new jokes because his Boilermaker
team last year was a big enough joke.
Paterno told Carr that he had a three min-
ute and not a three minute and two second
limit on his speech. Carr responded by
declaring next year's luncheon an 80th
birthday party for Paterno with a Paterno-
funded open bar.
But it wasn't all lighthearted jokes.

Each coach expressed regret over the
loss of one of their own, Randy Walker.
A choked up Hoeppnerconfessed he
had to call Walker's brother on his drive
to Chicagojusttotalk. Zookremembered
when his Fighting Illini, winless in the Big
Ten, played Northwestern at the end of last
season. Walker told Zook before the game,
"Zooky, you got to enjoy this." Fitzgerald
relived the last time he saw Walker alive.
He was at the office,and Walker asked
about his kids and his upcoming vacation.
While the coaches were happy to
welcome Wisconsin's Bret Bielma and
Fitzgerald to the coaching ranks, they also
expressed sadness at Walker's departure.
As the last slide of a charismatic Randy
Walker faded from the screens, I realized
what those 11 coaches came to under-
stand. You can't take life for granted, so
you have to have fun and enjoy it.
Just take it fromthe beaming smile of
Randy Walker.
- Wright can be reached at
kpwrc@umich.edu.

PARIS (AP) - The Tour de France
no longer calls him champion. His
cycling team cut him loose.
About the only chance Floyd Landis
has of keeping his prized yellow jersey
will now likely be decided by an appeals
process that could drag on for months.
Landis was discredited and dis-
owned in short order Saturday when
elevated levels of testosterone showed
up in his "B" or second doping sample
- as it did in the initial "A" sample
released last week.
The samples also contained synthet-
ic testosterone, indicating that it came
from an outside source.
If stripped of the title, Landis would
become the first winner in the 103-year
history of cycling's premier race to lose
his Tour crown over doping allegations.
Landis again denied cheating.
"I have never taken any banned sub-
stance, including testosterone," he said
in a statement. "I was the strongest man
at the Tour de France, and that is why I
am the champion.
"I will fight these charges with the
same determination and intensity that
I bring to my training and racing.
It is now my goal to clear my name
and restore what I worked so hard to
achieve."
The International Cycling Union, the
sport's governing body, said it would
ask USA Cycling to open disciplinary
proceedings. Documentation from the
positive tests will be forwarded to the
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which will
turn it over to a review panel. USADA
will ultimately decide if a penalty -

likely a two-year ban - is appropriate.
Landis can accept the decision or begin
an appeals process, which can take up
to six months and involve the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.
UCI lawyer Philippe Verbiest said
Landis would officially remain Tour
champion pending that process. The
decision to strip him of his title rests
with UCI.
"Until he is found guilty or admits
guilt, he will keep the yellow jersey,"
he said. "This is normal. You are
not sanctioned before you are found
guilty."
But the Tour itself wasted no time in
distancing itself from the American.
"It goes without saying that for us
Floyd Landis is no longer the win-
ner of the 2006 Tour de France," race
director Christian Prudhomme told
The Associated Press.
Prudhomme said runner-up Oscar
Pereiro likely would be declared the
new winner.
"We can't imagine a different out-
come," he said.
Reached in his hometown of Vigo,
Spain, Pereiro saw it shaping up that
way, too.
"Now I consider myself the winner,"
he said, while acknowledging that the
final decision was up to the UCI and
subject to a legal challenge by Landis.
Pereiro said he regretted not being
able to celebrate properly - in Paris,
wearing the winner's yellow jersey.
"I would have liked to have lived that
day; it would have been the best day of
my life as a sportsman," he said.

Pereiro also felt badly for Landis.
"I consider him my friend. It sur-
prised me and hurt me to hear what had
happened to him," he said.
The results of the second test come
just two weeks after Landis, a 30-year=
old former mountain biker, proudly
stood atop the winner's podium on the
Champs-Elysees, waving to thousands
who cheered him on.
Within 45 minutes of the "B" sample
announcement, the Swiss-based team
Phonak fired its captain for "violating
the teams internal Code of Ethics,"
Phonak stood by Tyler Hamilton
throughout his blood-doping case two
years ago; Landis,.however, is getting
no support.
"This will be his personal affair,
and the Phonak team will no longer be
involved," a statement said.
Testosterone, a male sex hormone,
helps build muscle and improve stam-
ina. The urine tests were done July 20
after Landis' stage 17 victory during a
grueling Alpine leg, when he regained
nearly eight minutes against then-lead-
er Pereiro - and went on to win the
three-week race.
Both of Landis's "A" and "B" sam-
ples turned up a testosterone/epitestos-
terone ratio of 11:1 - far in excess of
the 4:1 limit.
Jacques De Ceaurriz, the Chatenay-
Malabray chief, said the synthetic tes-
tosterone was found in isotope testing.
"It's foolproof. This analysis tells the
difference between endogenous and
exogenous," he told the AP. "No error
is possible in isotopic readings."

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