Word on the street earlier today was that the Floyd Landis arbitration hearings formally closed yesterday. Over at Trust But Verify comes news that the word has been confirmed. And, additionally that the clock goes for 10 calendar days, which means that the decision must be announced by the 22nd, or a week from Saturday.
Now, that’s the date the decision must be finished by. But that’s not to say it couldn’t come sooner. If it does, it may give us all a glimpse of how important this last meeting the arbitrators had with Dr. Francesco Botré was to the crafting of the final ruling by the men entrusted with judging the case. If you’re the betting sort, now’s the time to be placing bets on what day the decision will come down. I’m offering no predictions, as my track record for prognostication is decidedly mixed.
Let’s hope that the opinion the arbitrators write is well documented, the reasoning is clear and straight-forward, and that they confront the issues head-on. After waiting almost four months for a ruling, both sides ought to at least get that much. But that’s especially true for Floyd Landis. His future has been hanging in the balance. He deserves better than what the system has given him the last 13 months.
Meanwhile, In Missouri …
The Tour of Missouri (a/k/a Rant’s home state) rolls on. Yesterday’s race, from Clinton southwards to Springfield, played into the hands of George Hincapie of the Discovery squad. Early on in the race, a 12-man breakaway formed, gaining as much as 17 minutes on the main pack. At the end, the break still had 14 minutes or more on the main field. The previous day’s winner, Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota-United team, missed the break, thus ending his chances for a victory in the race. Given the large time gap after Wednesday’s race, Hincapie’s 11 breakaway companions appear to be the only threat to the overall title.
Today’s stage was an 18-mile technical time trial/rolling hill climb around the Branson, MO area. Hincapie’s teammate Levi Leipheimer took the stage, with Hincapie coming in 6th. His time was good enough to widen his lead in the general classification to 1:40, which barring any bad luck could be enough to win the overall classification when the race rolls into St. Louis on Sunday.
Tomorrow’s stage finishes in Columbia, MO, home of the University of Missouri. Notable graduates of Mizzou (as it’s called) include Sheryl Crow, Brad Pitt, and some guy who writes a blog and goes by the online moniker “Rant.” (Which, by the way, was bestowed on me by TBV. Got to give credit where credit is due.)
The race from Lebanon, MO to Columbia is the longest stage of the series, at about 133 miles. The second half of the race is going to be near constant rolling hills. I know those roads well, having ridden them during my college days. These guys are in for a challenging ride.
Very likely, George Hincapie should hold onto his lead. The Discovery team ought to be able to control the race and rally around their man in the leader’s jersey. It would be a good way for the team, and Hincapie, to close out the season. With George Hincapie’s bad luck at the Tour of California knocking him out of the Spring Classics, winning the inaugural Tour of Missouri would be a well-deserved victory.
Lets see….10 days, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes a day…..I won’t sleep for 14,400 minutes. Hell, I’ll lose my job over this.
Shouldn’t it be against the law to hold a bicycle race around Branson, Missouri, unless you are riding one of those big tricycle models wearing Depends?
Re the Tour of Missouri:
I purpose (as a resident of the state) that Missouri became the cycling capital of the US, if not the world. Next year we should not only host the ToM, but also the Tour of California (based in Moniteau County). There has been talk of a Tour of Texas; we could hold that in Missouri too. How about a Tour of Mexico, or Washington, or Oregon? All could be held here in the Show Me State.
William,
We could even have a Halloween race running through Frankenstein, too!
William – do you happen to have a handy WADA accredited lab in Missouri? If not – be sure to call Dickie Pound – I’m certain he would love to get in on the action….But then again he may just be TOTALLY INVOLVED with “dealing” with a recent real story that a transsexual has been racing in the Netherlands! – This would be under the agissis of WADA, no?
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You know – It just hit me – you know what Missouri really needs – its a good spin reporter – Is Walsh available…sorry Rant…you just ain’t the “sensational” reporter type…Not if we really want dirt, dirt, dirt and more dirt! – OH! I see a “loophole” — Rant – have you ever heard of a “pen name”?…I think you could pull it off dude.
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Just…I’m worried about your health – 14,400 minutes – I think thems just TOO MANY MINUTES … Somebody make a call to the UCI – we got to “shorten” this particular stage – – – I don’t want Just “tempted” to go and do something to “cheat”…I feel strongly that cafine will never get him through…okay – maybe IV drip form – but then there’s that risk factor…I think we are just going to have to shorten the stage from 14,400 minutes….What do you think? !4, 050? – also this would NOT interfere with any other endurance marathon type racing that Just could be doing to entertain the rest of us couch potatoes…Just – I’m contacting your Mother! Boy – are you gonna hear from her….
We could even have the Tour of Missouri end in Paris!
M Whitney,
Indeed, we could. Is there a street there called “Champs-Élysées”? If not, we could always rename one of the roads there…
Just — I’m there with you. My refresh button is going to break. I want to know, but then there’s that second before I check first thing in the morning for news, where I almost like not knowing, so I can keep hoping for justice and FL back on a road bike in 08.
Everyone — our Tour of CT was canceled the last two years for lack of sponsorship. Can we hold that in MO too? We’ll call it the prologue. We are a small state, afterall.