Following his admission of doping and accusations of systematic doping aimed at several high profile cyclists and figures in the sport, Floyd Landis has secured the services of the law firm that has represented three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond.
The New York Daily News reported that Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, who most recently worked with LeMond during his dispute with the Trek Bicycling Corporation, is now representing Landis. "He's our client," Mark Handfelt, a partner at the firm, told the newspaper. The firm will advise Landis in the event he faces a criminal case or defamation lawsuit, and is already considerably familiar with Lance Armstrong, who will be the central figure in any potential case.
The International Cycling Union's (UCI) president Pat McQuaid confirmed that their general council has sent a letter to Landis regarding the accusations leveled at his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen. Landis claims that Verbruggen took money from Armstrong to cover up a positive doping result from the 2001 Tour de Suisse.
"They are asking him to cease and desist from making statements he's made about Mr. Verbruggen in the past few weeks because they are not true," McQuaid told the New York Daily News.
The sport's governing body admits to taking a $100,000 donation from Armstrong, but denies that the payment was made to cover up a positive doping result from the seven-time Tour de France winner. The money was used to purchase a blood analysis machine.
The newspaper also reported that "two people with knowledge of the situation" confirmed that Landis has also received a "strongly-worded" letter from the office of Verbruggen.
Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for a positive doping control, had maintained his innocence until last month. He went public with the allegations during the biggest race in the United States, the Tour of California.
He accused Armstrong and his longtime manager Johan Bruyneel of systematic doping, and implicated several former teammates from the United States Postal Service Team. He also named the management for his former Phonak team who now run the BMC Racing team.
Armstrong, Bruyneel, the BMC Racing team and some of the others mentioned have categorically denied all of Landis's accusations.
Recently Landis apologized to LeMond for an anonymous phone call made in 2007 on the eve of LeMond's scheduled testimony in Landis's doping case, something that could have led to him using the same law firm. LeMond was set to testify about a telephone conversation between the two where he claimed Landis tacitly admitted to the use of performance enhancing drugs. The caller said that he would reveal that LeMond had been molested as a child if he showed up for the trial. LeMond shared the secret of his childhood molestation with Landis as an example of how secrets were destructive. The phone number used to make the anonymous call was traced back to the cell phone of Landis's friend and manager Will Geoghegan by authorities.
Landis has been cooperating with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) criminal investigations unit, and has met with FDA special agent Jeff Novitzky, who was the lead investigator for the BALCO case. Armstrong's ex-wife Kristen has also been reported to be cooperating with the investigation.
According to the New York Times, the federal authorities in charge of the investigation are considering whether they can expand the scope to include conspiracy and fraud. Currently the charges fall within traditional drug distribution which typically have lesser penalties.
The authorities are trying to determine whether or not Armstrong, along with the owners, managers and former riders of his cycling teams conspired to defraud their sponsors by the use of banned substances to achieve financial gain, according to a source from the Times.
The years the United States Postal Service (USPS) sponsored Armstrong's team (1996-2004) are of particular interest to the investigators. If money from the sponsorship was used to purchase drugs, it would mean that the funding came from US tax payer dollars, and misappropriation of that money could complicate things should evidence support Landis's claims.