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Landis in Madrid, plans Vuelta visit

Embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is in Madrid to meet with his Spanish attorneys on Monday, VeloNews has learned.

Sources at Phonak confirmed that Landis is in Spain and is expected to be at the start of Sunday’s final stage of the Vuelta a España. Landis was also reportedly enjoying Madrid’s notorious nightlife and was seen at a local nightclub by journalists.

Calls to Landis’ Spanish cell phone and his attorney, Jose Maria Buxeda, were unanswered Saturday afternoon.

The 31-year-old is battling allegations that he doped to win July’s Tour when post-stage urine tests taken after his stage victory into Morzine revealed unnaturally high levels of testosterone. Landis is facing a two-year racing ban and the loss of his Tour crown if he cannot prove his innocence.

Landis has insisted he’s innocent of doping charges leveled against and vows to clear his name and keep his Tour victory. The case is currently before the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for consideration.

Phonak, meanwhile, is wrapping up its last grand tour with just five riders left on the team. Sport director Juan Fernandez said he didn’t know if Landis was going to show up Sunday or not, but he said no one is happy the fallout of the Landis’ doping scandal.

New sponsor iShares pulled the plug on a multi-million dollar, three-year deal to extend the team’s contract in the wake of Landis’ failed doping test.

“We are all on the street at the end of this race,” Fernandez told VeloNews. “Some of the riders are finding jobs, but some won’t. And the others of the team, the mechanics, the masseurs, the staff, everyone is looking for a job.”

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Fernandez, who helped resurrect the Festina team in the wake of the Tour doping scandal that bore the team’s name in 1998, said he hasn’t found a job yet for next season. “Whether or not Landis can clear his name, the damage is already done,” he said. “The sponsor has ended and everyone will be without a job. We’ll do a few more races on the ProTour calendar, but this is the last race for almost everyone here.”

The Landis case, meanwhile, likely won’t see any quick resolution.

Last week, Landis’ U.S. attorney Howard Jacobs said he intends to request the dismissal of the doping case against client based on “inconsistencies in the testing protocol and methodology” used to show that the 2006 Tour de France was positive for testosterone.

Jacobs said he will file a formal request with USADA asking that the anti-doping agency drop the allegations against Landis and cease further disciplinary action.

Jacobs’ office noted that upon “review of 370 pages of documentation provided by the LNDD laboratory at Chatenay-Malabry, Jacobs and a team of scientific experts have found inconsistencies in the testing protocol and methodology that support Landis’ innocence. Jacobs received the official document package on August 31.”

“In our review of the documents detailing the tests on both the ‘A' and ‘B' sample, we have found evidence that supports our request for USADA to drop the doping charges against Landis,” said Jacobs. “While I cannot comment on the full details of our findings, we now have the foundation for a very strong defense should the case proceed to arbitration.”

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