(This article originally appeared in the Monterey County Herald on April 11, 2007, the eve of the Tour of California and a month prior to Landis' USADA hearing in Malibu, California.)

Four years ago this week, Floyd Landis began his comeback to professional cycling on the opening day of the Sea Otter Classic. The race was a disaster; Landis fared considerably better.

Race officials, seeking to expand the event outside of the Monterey Peninsula, began the 13th annual event in Redwood City. The race course wasn't secured properly and stage results were eventually nullified.

Three months earlier, Landis crashed while pedaling home from a health club workout near his Murietta, Calif., home and suffered a broken hip. The Sea Otter Classic as his first competition following weeks of rehabilitation. He walked with a prominent limp, but he completed the race.

As the 17th annual event begins today at Laguna Seca Raceway, Landis no longer limps. But since his Tour de France victory last July, his career has been disabled.

It happened quickly. In the 16th stage of the Tour de France while holding a slim race lead,  Landis nearly collapsed on his bike while beginning the finishing 10-mile ascent. He fell from first to 11th place, more than eight minutes behind.
 
Yet the next day Landis returned revitalized. He rode to an even more unexpected 17th stage solo victory, winning by more than 5 1/2 minutes.

The ride, which many experts cited as the greatest single-day effort in race history, catapulted Landis through the standings toward the overall race title he solidified three days later in Paris.

Then everything changed. A few days later, results from Landis' urine tests following his 17th stage win revealed a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone nearly three times the legal limit.

The situation quickly worsened:

* Landis was released from Team Phonak, a squad beset with numerous other drug-related controversies. The team subsequently folded;

* In mid-August, Landis' father-in-law, David Witt, 57, a former roommate who introduced Landis to his future wife, committed suicide;

* Late last September, Landis underwent hip surgery to repair a degenerative problem that had plagued him since his 2003 broken hip.

Although still legally the Tour de France winner, race officials said they no longer consider Landis the 2006 titlist.

Landis now awaits an expected weeklong hearing before the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) beginning May 14 at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

The hearing will be the first time since a 2004 ruling that an athlete facing drug accusations will have their case heard in a public forum.

If exonerated, Landis could return to elite level cycling next season. If he's not, Landis would be officially stripped of his Tour de France title and he faces as long as a four-year suspension.
    
Question:  What has this situation been like for you and your family?

Floyd Landis: They've been through something I could have ever imagined. Nothing is the same. It's hard for someone to imagine that you could live in America and be subjected to a justice system like this. It's not a justice system. It's a sham. But it's been stressful for them and it's been stressful for me. But here we are. Sometimes in life, good people get hurt. We'll be alright, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Q: Where are you in terms of your fitness?

Landis: Well, the hip's not preventing me from doing anything. I've just been spending a lot of time on this case, so I'm not in the shape I would like to be, but I'll be alright. I don't have a program. I ride a few days a week if I'm lucky.

Q: You've been riding a bicycle half of your life and for an athlete of your level, does not riding change you or the way you feel?

Landis: No. It's strange to explain. I'm just so consumed by everything else. Because I'm not doing it (riding), I don't even have time to think about it. Obviously, I would rather be doing that, but here we are."

Q: When your test results were announced and you were accused of doping, why didn't you scream and holler from the first day? I saw that great look of defiance your face, as did everyone else, when you won stage 17. You looked defiant. I think people knew then that even this nice, quiet guy could get angry. So, if you didn't do what you're accused of doing, why didn't you get on a mountaintop and scream?

Landis: I would hope you just don't bel
ieve me because you look at me and I say I didn't do it. Please don't do that. There's plenty of more information and reason for you to believe me. We've put together everything we have available to us and there's at least an  adequate explanation to why people should take a look at this, the evidence against me.

In my opinion, that's far more important than people taking a look at me and saying 'I don't think he did it.' I hope you don't just believe everything someone tells you because you'd be confused. I don't want anyone to believe me because they think 'that guy couldn't possibly have done it.' That's not good logic. And it's not necessary in this case because there's scientific evidence.

If people fault me for not getting angry, I don't know what to say about that. If I would have gotten angry it wouldn't have solved anything. Here we are nine months later,  I still don't have all the evidence against me, but I'm doing my best to educate people who want to know what they truth is. I have no desire for people to believe me just because they think I'm a good person. For me, that wouldn't make me feel good.

Q: Last February, during the Tour de California, you traveled to different cities and talked with people. You were bombarded, but you were the same happy-go-lucky Floyd. What was the reason you went to the various cities during that race?

Landis: That is my way of being defiant, demonstrating I didn't do it. Getting mad doesn't serve any purpose at this point. I have to stay focused on finding a solution. I have to show them I'm not going to take this. I'm not going way, ever. That's why I won the Tour because I wouldn't quit. And I won't quit until this is over. It's not in my nature to just get irrationally angry about things. I am angry about it, but I'm focused on what needs to be solved.

Q: What would be the best outcome of this for you?

Landis: The best outcome would be that no one has to go through this system again. System isn't even the right word. Nobody should have to go through this 'set up' again. There's no way an innocent person can defend themselves. It needs to change.

Q: When the Tour de France begins, you won't be there, of course. What will that be like for you? Have you thought about it and will you follow the Tour anyway?

Landis: I haven't spent anytime thinking about it. I'm not going to be there racing no matter what, so I really don't care what happens. I have to deal with this . . . That's the project now, so bike racing is nonexistent. I doubt if I'll even watch it (the Tour).

Q: More and more the public perception is that athletes will do whatever it takes to win. How do you respond when people say "they're all guilty?"

Landis: Look, it's one thing if the public thinks that 80-90 percent are guilty. If that's the case, there's no point arguing with them.  Certainly, 80-90 percent aren't caught, and the ones they do catch, I have to assume they (the public) believe are guilty. So just write those people off.

That's a pretty negative way to look at life in general. I mean, athletes happen to be talented at what they do, but they're just a cross-section of the people who think this way. If they cheat at their work, then I guess it's safe for them to assume that other people cheat at what they do. They're just people. If 90 percent of people cheat at their jobs, so be it. There's no reason to believe that there's more cheaters in sport than there is anywhere else in life. If you think that 90 percent of the people in this world are lying and cheating you, then I feel sorry for you.

Q: You have a book coming out about in June. What's it about, and why did you decide to write it?

Landis: It's written in the first person with the help of Lauren Mooney (a cycling magazine editor). It's more or less done now. It's more of a book about my life. The final chapters are about the Tour. But it starts at the beginning and goes to the end, or whatever you call this . . . hell. It starts at the beginning and goes straight to hell (laughter).

Q: If you are exonerated, will you go back and compete in the Tour de France again?

Landis: Yes. I would like to. I haven't put much thought into it. I haven't put any work into finding a team of any kind. Right now, this needs to get sorted out, so this year is not an option. So there's no point in worrying about. But yes, I would like to do it again.

Q: If you're not exonerated, what will you do then, retire?

Landis: I really don't believe I would wait four years to race again. It's not that important to me.

Q: Your hearing will be the first as an open hearing. How do you feel about it?

Landis: I don't believe I will have an objective hearing. I don't feel I'm going to have a chance to have a fair trial. And I need to have the world see that I didn't do it. And as long as everyone knows I didn't do it, they can convict me if they like. But everyone needs to see it.