Back In The Saddle?

A French lab's mistakes are giving traction to cyclist Floyd Landis 's doping defense

FLOYD LANDIS knows how to rally—ask the riders he blew by during the epic stage 17 surge that propelled him to a win in this year's Tour de France. He may be staging another, equally unexpected comeback, this time from the failed drug test that could cost him the Tour title. Last week the French daily Le Monde confirmed what Landis 's agent alleged last month: The French lab that said Landis tested positive for testosterone during the Tour mislabeled his B sample.

The lab admitted the error but said it doesn't mean the positive sample didn't belong to Landis . Still, the mistake could cast doubt on the test results and bolster Landis 's appeal to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Landis defenders are also noting that a hacker broke into the lab's system and swiped data relating to his case. Says Landis 's attorney Howard Jacobs, "There's a general sloppiness that's unacceptable."

An entire pack of disgraced cyclists is on the rebound. A Spanish judge has ruled that evidence from Operation Puerto—the May raid on a Madrid clinic that led to the seizure of steroids, EPO and frozen blood, and the banishment of 13 Tour riders—can't be used to discipline cyclists until the investigation is completed. That could take more than a year, leaving the riders free to ride for now.