No! No! No! Please, Floyd. Say it ain’t so! I hate myself for thinking this, but when the UCI announced yesterday that one rider had tested positive for a banned substance during this year’s Tour, I immediately thought the worst—was it possible that Floyd’s Stage 17 epic was simply too spectacular? Like, illegal spectacular? My (and plenty of other cycling fans’) worst fears were realized when Phonak confirmed today that Landis was indeed the rider in question, which accounts for his mysterious absence from two post-Tour crits in Europe.

It’s sad that when a rider does something special like Floyd on Stage 17—or Roberto Heras overcoming an awful crash in last year’s Vuelta to topple Menchov—we almost automatically begin to speculate that there might have been something other than that rider’s ability, heart, or desire involved. What about Basso’s virtuosic Giro performance? Who can look back at that now and not wonder (although the jury is still out)? It’s really too bad for the sport. I still love cycling. And I still think Floyd’s clean as well as the man. There’s got to be an explanation, like he was probably so pissed off and embarrassed the night after his Stage 16 implosion that his body simply made all that extra testosterone in his fury. I mean, come on, the only thing Floyd ever did wrong was wear bad sunglasses.