THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Canadian cyclist Michael Barry says he’ll sleep well despite doping allegations levelled against him by former teammate Floyd Landis.
Landis made the allegations Thursday in a barrage of messages that also implicated several other cyclists and contained the strongest doping allegations yet against star cyclist Lance Armstrong.
Barry, a three-time Olympian from Toronto, flatly denied the allegation that Landis made concerning him.
“I was shocked by the allegations when I found out yesterday,” Barry wrote in an email to The Canadian Press. “They are completely untrue.”
“I have never taken banned substances and have always been an advocate for clean cycling and sport,” Barry wrote.
Landis confessed to years of cheating himself in a series of emails sent to sponsors and sports officials.
The emails alleged that Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France champion, not only joined Landis in doping but taught others how to beat the system and paid the former president of the International Cycling Union to keep a failed test quiet.
“We have nothing to hide,” Armstrong said at an impromptu news conference before the fifth stage of the Tour of California.
“Credibility,” the seven-time Tour de France winner said in Visalia. “Floyd lost his credibility a long time ago.”
Landis alleged Barry was part of the group of athletes on the U.S. Postal Team, led by Armstrong, who doped to improve their performance.
In emails obtained by the Associated Press, Landis wrote: “While training for that Vuelta I spent a good deal of time training with Matthew White and Michael Barry and shared the testosterone and EPO that we had and discussed the use thereof while training.”
Barry, who now rides for Team Sky, responded to the Landis allegations from Italy where he’s competing in the Giro d’Italia.
Canadian Cycling Association officials said in a statement they were aware of Landis’s accusations and that “The rationale for Mr. Landis deciding to make this revelation at this time can only be known to him.”
“The comments of Mr. Landis date back to his decision to engage in prohibited substances and practices almost a decade ago,” the statement said. “Substantial improvements in detection and much enhanced testing protocols and activity are in place today to eradicate doping from the world of professional cycling. The fact that Mr. Landis was caught in 2006 supports this conclusion.”