PARIS — A French judge has issued a national arrest warrant for U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis in connection with a case of data hacking at a doping laboratory, a prosecutor’s office said.
Judge Thomas Cassuto is seeking to question Landis about computer hacking dating to September 2006 at the Chatenay-Malabry lab, said Astrid Granoux, spokeswoman for Nanterre’s prosecutor’s office. The laboratory near Paris had uncovered abnormally elevated testosterone levels in Landis’ samples collected in the run-up to his 2006 Tour de France victory, leading to the eventual loss of his title.
Earlier Monday, France’s anti-doping chief, Pierre Bordry, had mistakenly described the arrest warrant as international. Granoux stressed that the warrant is only applicable on French soil. It is possible in such cases to issue an international warrant at a later date.
The American cyclist challenged the drug test results before an arbitration hearing in California — claiming that computer files were mishandled and erased — but he was stripped of his Tour de France title and banned for two years.
“Landis used the hacked files for his defense. That’s how we discovered the whole scheme,” Bordry said. “He wanted to show that the lab made mistakes in the handling of the tests.”
Landis did not immediately respond to a phone call and an e-mail seeking comment.
The French judge issued the warrant Jan. 28 because Landis did not respond to a summons in November, Bordry said.
“Apparently the judge traced the case back to the beginning,” Bordry said. “I can’t say I’m happy with this news because I would have preferred there was no Landis case.”
Cassuto also issued a national warrant for Arnie Baker, a retired doctor and longtime Landis coach and adviser, the prosecutor’s office said.
After discovering the hacking, the French lab upgraded security to protect its computer systems.
Landis’ urine samples were tested at the lab and found to contain elevated testosterone- to-epitestosterone levels, less than a week after he won the Tour de France.
On July 20, 2006, the Tour’s 17th stage, Landis started more than eight minutes behind leader Oscar Pereiro after losing the yellow jersey to the Spaniard the previous day. But Landis produced an amazing ride during the mountainous stage to cut Pereiro’s lead to 30 seconds before taking the title. Landis’ samples taken after that stage revealed a testosterone/epitestosterone ratio of 11:1 — nearly three times the 4:1 limit.
