TEMECULA // With his two-year doping ban having almost run its course, Floyd Landis is excited and also a little nervous as he contemplates his return to the sport at next month's Tour of California. The American cyclist, 33, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after failing a dope test, has missed the thrill of competition and is eager to bury the memories of his protracted bid through the courts to prove his innocence.
"I have done just one thing the last 15 years of my life and even the last two years dealing with all the drama, all of that still revolved around cycling so I can't say it ever really left my mind," Landis said after a training session with his OUCH cycling teammates. "I almost feel a little bit nervous because it's been so long since I raced. "I didn't think about it too much because I was focused on other things but then I started planning and focusing on the races and visualising what it was going to be like, and I am getting really excited - more than I have been in a long time."
Landis, whose doping ban ends on Friday, believes he is in good physical shape for the Tour of California which runs from Feb 14-22. "My fitness now is comparable to other years in the wintertime," he said. "I have quite a few climbs here that I do in training and I would time myself and those are similar to when I was racing and preparing for the Tour de France. "But there are some things about racing you can't simulate.
"In a race, the peloton dictates how hard you get to ride: you don't get to decide yourself when you are tired. So that part, I guess, will come with time. "All things considered, it's as good as it could be right now." Asked whether he had any plans to compete in this year's Tour de France, Landis replied: "I wouldn't rule out trying to get back to Europe at some point, but right now, I don't have a plan to do so."
Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after winning the 17th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, having produced an astounding comeback after a poor performance had all but knocked him out of contention in the race. * Reuters
