Lancaster County native Floyd Landis has committed to a series of endurance mountain bike races this year while his doping appeal is being decided.
Landis accepted an invitation to compete in the 2008 National Ultra-Endurance Mountain Bike Series. The eight, 100-mile races will be held at different locations across the country. The closest will be the Wilderness 101 race on July 26, near State College.
According to Cyclingnews.com, a source close to Landis said he is committed to competing in the series whether or not his suspension is lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Landis is appealing the ruling of a three-arbiter panel which determined he used artificial testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France. Landis was stripped of his title and suspended through January 2009.
If successful in his appeal - to be heard in New York, beginning March 19 - his title would be reinstated and his racing license restored.
Landis has always maintained his innocence. He likely will argue in March, as he did at his USADA hearing last May in California, that sloppy work by the French lab led to a false positive.
To keep his form, Landis did two 100-mile mountain bike races last year. He did the Leadville 100 and the Shenandoah Mountain 100. The Shenandoah race, near Harrisonburg, Va., is part of the series. The Leadville race, in Colorado, is not.
Landis’ suspension bars him from competing in any UCI or USA Cycling- sanctioned races. The endurance mountain bike series is not sanctioned by either body.
