Floyd Landis has been a busy, busy man these past few months.
He announced that he’s joining the OUCH presented by Maxxis professional cycling team, which is a revamp of the HealthNet Maxxis team from 2008.  Then, he challenges CAS’s (Court of Arbitration for Sports) ruling that stripped him of his Tour de France victory, stating that the system is inherently biased against the accused.
OUCH Sports Medical Center, the team’s new title sponsor, is the center that did Floyd’s hip resurfacing surgery in 2006, which will be using Floyd’s return as a showcase for what their medical team is capable of doing.  They’ve dubbed him the bionic man, so look for that theme to play through the marketing.
Most of HealthNet’s 2008 riders will carry over to the new team, including National Racing Calendar champion Rory Sutherland, Tim Johnson, Roman Kilun, Karl Menzies and John Murphy. The team is owned by Momentum Sports Group and will be managed by Mike Tamayo.
Click “more” for the rest of the story…
Floyd’s suspension is up at the end of January, which gives him a full season for 2009, including the Tour of California, which he won in 2006 and starts just two weeks after his suspension ends, and possibly a slot to compete against former teammate Lance in the Tour de France.  As if the TV ratings weren’t already going to be high enough!
Floyd’s challenge seeking to vacate CAS’s ruling comes after Landis’ attorneys found evidence that some of the arbitrators that handled Floyd’s case had conflicts of interest that would have influenced the outcome of a prior appeal.
More information can be found here:
- Cycling News - Landis, ex-Health Net together under OUCH
- Velonews - Floyd Landis will ride for OUCH
- Velonews - Landis turns to U.S. courts to challenge CAS
Oddly, if you type in floydlandis.com, it redirects to OUCH’s website.  If you want to find out about Floyd, you need to visit his foundation’s website, which, unfortunately, hasn’t had current press releases since Sept. 2007.
