In brief: Landis takes stand at arbitration
Floyd Landis took the stand in his arbitration hearing Saturday in Malibu, Calif., repeatedly denying he’d taken testosterone, saying it “wouldn’t serve any purpose for me to cheat and win the Tour.”
For 75 riveting minutes, Landis gave a detailed breakdown of his career, then outlined the strategy he used for his amazing comeback in Stage 17 of last year’s Tour de France.
Speaking under oath, he said the only banned substance he has taken during his career has been cortisone – medicine he used to treat his injured hip, which had been approved for his use by cycling authorities.
Landis, who is accused of using synthetic testosterone, tested positive after that 17th Tour stage.
The hearing room was rapt, finally getting a chance to hear Landis speak under oath about the allegations he has denied since news of his positive “A” sample was leaked 10 months ago.
At the end, attorney Howard Jacobs asked him why the three arbitrators who will decide his fate – whether he becomes the first Tour de France winner stripped of the title for a doping offense – should believe him.
“They should believe me because people are defined by their principles and how they make their decisions,” Landis said. “To me, bicycle racing was rewarding for the pure fact that I was proud of myself when I put the work into it. It wouldn’t serve any purpose for me to cheat and win the Tour because I wouldn’t be proud of it.”
“Alessandro Petacchi won the flat seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia in Scarperia, Italy, in a sprint finish while Marco Pinotti kept the overall lead.
Petacchi completed the 158-mile course – the longest of the 21-leg race – in 6 hours, 14 minutes, 44 seconds. The Team Milram rider, who also won the third stage of the race’s 90th edition, beat Thor Hushovd and world champion Paolo Bettini.
Tennis
Top two in final
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal rallied to win their semifinals and set up a showdown between the top-ranked players for the Hamburg (Germany) Masters championship.
Nadal defeated Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to extend his clay-court winning streak to 81 matches and Federer beat Carlos Moya 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Federer has gone four straight tournaments without a title, his worst run since he became No. 1 in February 2004.
Nadal, No. 2 in the world, has a 7-3 career record against Federer, including 5-0 on clay.
“Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic will play for the Italian Open title in Rome.
Kuznetsova, seeded second, beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2. Jankovic, seeded third, routed Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-3 in the other semifinal of this clay-court warm-up for the French Open, which begins next weekend.
Miscellany
Taylor keeps title
Jermain Taylor outpointed Cory Spinks in a split decision at Memphis, Tenn., for his fourth straight defense of his middleweight championship.
Taylor had winning scores of 117-111 and 115-113 from two of the judges, and the third had it 117-111 for Spinks.
“Didier Drogba scored during extra time to give Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the first FA Cup final in the new Wembley Stadium in England.
Chelsea has four cup titles and joins Arsenal (1993) and Liverpool (2001) in becoming the third club to win both cups in the same season.