May 21, 2007 (Malibu, CA) — Yesterday the Floyd Landis anti-doping hearings took a break so we took the opportunity to contact Patrice Brunet, the American Arbitration Agency (AAA) chairman of the Landis hearing. Brunet indicated that all three members of the AAA panel have equal weight in their decisions so a simple majority will decide the outcome. He also noted during earlier discussions that arbitrators have the power of judges in such a hearing. When asked about former TdF winner, Greg LeMond’s spectacular testimony this past week, Brunet would not comment on the relevance to the panel of this testimony. It has already been suggested by several pundits and media that LeMond’s testimony would likely have little if any affect on the panel’s decision which will be based more directly on the scientific issues of the case.

The hearings resume today (Monday) with testimony from Dr. John Amory, an endocrinologist at the University of Washington; Dr. Wolfram Meier-Augenstein, a Senior Lecturer in Stable Isotope Forensics at Queen’s University Belfast; and a cross examination of Floyd Landis.

Those wishing to watch proceedings of the Landis hearing can go to the Floyd Fairness Fund website: www.floydfairnessfund.org where streamed videos can be viewed. Donations to the Floyd Fairness Fund are being accepted there and a $75 donation will get you a personally signed thank you note from Landis while a $5,000 donation will get you a personally signed yellow jersey and VIP invites to Team Wiki events. A note on the website assures donors that the donation lists will stay confidential despite USADA pressure otherwise.

Pereiro Will Quit Before Providing a DNA Sample

Meanwhile, TdF runner-up, Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) was quoted Thursday saying: that he should not have to prove his innocence in the Puerto Affair and that he would rather quit professional cycling than give a DNA sample to authorities as reported in Spain’s El Mundo newspaper. There is increasing speculation that Pereiro might get pulled into the vortex of the Puerto doping scandal centering around Dr Eufemiano Fuentes. The Italian newspaper, Il Giornale, suggests that Pereiro is the cyclist identified as “Urko” in Fuentes’ notes, but this claim is hotly denied by the Spanish cyclist. “Urko” or “Urco” is the name of a mythological dog from Galicia, the region of Spain where Pereiro hails from.

A DNA sample would allow authorities to determine if some of the blood samples seized at Fuentes’ clinic belong to Pereiro. Pereiro has been watching the Landis hearing with great interest, because if Landis is found guilty of doping by the AAA panel, Pereiro would inherit the title of 2006 TdF champion.