The latest commentary on Landis and Lance

Dick Pound, former Olympic swimmer, is known best as the Inspector Clouseau in the professional cycling community. Pound was appointed to run the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) for nearly ten years after WADA was formed in response to the huge doping revelation in pro cycling known as the Festina scandal. Yesterday, VeloNews published an interview with Pound where he commented on the latest doping news regarding both Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong. Here are a few quotes:

Regarding the Floyd Landis' confession, Pound said:

“I think it is great,” ... “Back in 2006, when the story first broke, I did an op-ed in one of the Canadian papers suggesting that if Floyd was really as interested in helping cycling and doping-free sport as he said he was, he could do more good for the sport by ’fessing up, explaining what happened than doing the usual deny, deny, deny. It comes a little late, but I see it as a positive development.”

Here are his thoughts regarding Lance Armstrong and doping:

Pound said that, in one sense, he’s “bored” by the long-running stories involving Landis and Armstrong, adding that evidence of doping was already readily apparent to those who looked carefully.

“Most of the people who have looked at all of the facts have already come to the conclusion that (Armstrong) was already a user,” Pound said. “I don’t know whether that arrow has left the bow already or not. I think a lot of people really admire what he’s doing for cancer and stuff like that … there is, if you will, another song on his CD, whereas guys like Floyd don’t have that.”

Pound is the first to admit to a degree of animosity between himself and the seven-time Tour de France winner, who has always denied doping.

“Yeah, there was hostility, for sure,” Pound said with a laugh. “For one thing, he’s always thought he could huff and puff and blow the house down and I don’t respond very well to that. There were always daggers drawn.”

I found it interesting that Pound implies that if you've objectively looked at the evidence, you should have already concluded Lance is a doper. Boring stuff if you've taken a look at the evidence...I wonder if the federal investigators who are investigating Lance for fraud are bored yet? I suppose we should hear sometime this summer....