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Floyd Landis to launch Floyd’s of Leadville pro cycling team. Seriously.

Written by Tyler Benedict Oct 04, 2018 3:29 p.m. ET

Floyd Landis Floyds of Leadville pro cycling team

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Coming in 2019 might be just what the U.S. pro cycling scene needs to re-inject a little interest into racing. Former pro Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his Tour de France championship immediately after winning it, is making a comeback of sorts. After launching his eponymous CBD-enhanced sports nutrition and recovery product line in 2016, he’ll be title sponsoring a new pro cycling team for the 2019 season. Info is limited for now, but here’s the PR…

PRESS RELEASE: Former Tour De France champion Floyd Landis has confirmed the start of a new professional cycling team, Floyd’s Of Leadville (FOLPCT). Although the official roster for the team has yet to be finalized, FOLPCT is predicted to have a number of athletes available in the aftermath of longtime US pro teams like Jelly Belly-Maxxis and UnitedHealthcare losing their primary sponsorships for 2019.

Landis’ company Floyd’s of Leadville will serve as title sponsor for the new team, which will be based out of Canada. Landis launched Floyd’s Of Leadville in 2016 to sell hemp and CBD products designed to alleviate soreness in athletes, inspired by the former racer’s own long journey competing and living with chronic pain.

Creating this new pro team is an act of good faith on his part, and an effort to regain trust after the scandals of the Lance Armstrong years. “I understand I hurt the cycling community,” Landis said. “Now I’d like to take all proceeds I made from the settlement and put it back where it belongs, on the development of aspiring pro cyclists.”

The Floyd’s of Leadville team roster is expected to be announced in the coming months.

Tyler Benedict

11,186 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Ripnshread

5 years ago

I’ve always liked Floyd. Thought he got caught up in winning and all the bs that was happening with that at the time. Was disappointing. This seems like a good move. And its freaking hilarious that a doper is making products that straight up have dope in them.

Gillis

5 years ago

Reply to Ripnshread

There is no THC in his products. Just non-psychoactive CBD oil.

Marc Smith

5 years ago

Reply to Gillis

just to be clear, he dispenses thc products in his stores but he creates cbd products for athletes

Eggs Benedict

5 years ago

Nice. This should send the Never Forget crew right over the edge.

Peter J. Sirman

5 years ago

Word I heard is they took over the sponsorship of the Silber team.

Gillis

5 years ago

Reply to Peter J. Sirman

Same DS I believe, not sure about equipment, riders, etc.

Marc Smith

5 years ago

Reply to Gillis

Before death Silber had an agreement with Garneau for the following year but that fell apart. Not sure exactly what the ownership is as the actual Silber group was Scott McFarlane

BeardPapa

5 years ago

Sticking his name on a team is perhaps not what the dying domestic racing scene most needs, credibility-wise. Refunding the $ donated to his Fairness Fund seems like a more atone-y sort of atonement. But then he wouldn’t get to keep peddling his snake oil. Like with the Fund. Hard habit to break it seems.

Yeah I’m adddicted to bikes

5 years ago

Reply to BeardPapa

Hilarious!

geospatialagent@gmail.com

5 years ago

Go for it Floyd!!! I was a little worried about him. Ever been to leadville. It’s not a town for a PA boy. Glad he is getting back up on his feet.

TruckNutZ

5 years ago

Getting your $4 back ain’t helping the struggling domestic scene, having a supported team will… (deleted)

Ryan Madison

5 years ago

All the doping nonsense aside, take a look at his picture. He’s holding some generic looking aluminum bike with no pedals and some cheap ass gevenalle shifter, and standing in a railyard…? I’m just curious what was going on that day. Silly Floyd

dbeens

5 years ago

Reply to Ryan Madison

the bike is a squid cx bike. a well made usa frame a lot of very good cx riders ride. the shifters? theyre the trp hydo version (not real cheap) and lots of people use them as theyre great for cx. I guess if you could put 2 and 2 together youd assume he was a a cx race… gasps.

martini

5 years ago

Reply to Ryan Madison

So what? he’d still be able to rip your legs off with it.

Sevo

5 years ago

Reply to martini

Exactly.

5 years ago

Reply to martini

maybe. Unless they enforce doping rules. In which case my grandmother could beat him on a kid’s tricycle. He always has been a cheat, and will never be anything but a cheat.

The first 5 words of this press release are a blatant lie. Landis is no more a TdF champ than I am. Way to give back and restore trust.

ronshev

5 years ago

Reply to Ryan Madison

The bikes looks like a Squid? Strong well-built luminum frames made by Ventana just outside of Sacramento. http://www.squidbikes.com

Record11Carbon

5 years ago

Reply to Ryan Madison

Duh, no pedals so that his ‘other’ customers (who get the THC products) can just ride off with his bike….

Gears4Good

5 years ago

Reply to Ryan Madison

Far from generic. Basically, Squid is anti-generic.
https://www.squidbikes.com/

Rob

5 years ago

Someone should tell Floyd his bike has no pedals

Sevo

5 years ago

As one person quite high up in racing and who sponsored teams once told me when I asked how we stop doping I got this reply:

“The rules are there to keep riders safe. If they are passing the tests, they are taking the correct measures to be safe and that is the spirit of the rules: rider safety.”

No one in the top 20 spots is “clean”. Hell USADA once had the numbers as high as 80% of the pro Peleton was on something 12 years ago.

This is not new either. Early days of the tour riders took morphine and cocaine to numb the pain or put some spring in their step. A Belgium study showed Eddy Merckx’s own career ups and downs coincide perfectly with new drugs and the tests that followed for them.

Read Joe Parkin’s book “Dog in a Hat” sometime for some perspective on it at the lower levels of the sport.

It’s naive to think any of our cycling heroes on the road were clean and free of any doping. No one wants to watch a slow race. Don’y Believe me? See how long the original Tour courses were compared to now. They were shortened to speed things up.

Sevo

5 years ago

Reply to Sevo

So in short. I’m 100% behind Floyd. Love that he choose to sponsor a domestic team as it’s needed.

Tom S

5 years ago

Reply to Sevo

^^^ this is the truth.
To believe there was a short lived “doping era” where no doping existed before and has magically been eliminated since, simply lacks critical thinking. Cycling (and every other sport) has a long history of bending the rules, cheating, doping and anything else that will give competitors in the amateur to the Pro/Olympic level an advantage . It’s human nature.
Pro level cycling is no more real than the WWF or the NFL. Take it for what it is, entertainment.

Bikemike

5 years ago

Maybe a coincidence that Floyd is sponsoring a Canadian based team at almost the exact same time as Cannabis becomes legal in Canada.

Mike

5 years ago

Wow! Completely wrong. Anyone who brings a lawsuit against a fellow in the same sport should be banned forever. Doping is one thing, but peeing in your own pool and involving the outside world to decide pass judgement is wrong. Super bad form!