Ex-Phonak team manager John Lelangue blasted Floyd Landis in an interview with AFP and said he feels personally “betrayed” by the American Tour de France winner.

In one of his first public interviews since the collapse of the Phonak team following the Landis doping case, a bitter Lelangue expressed his confidence in the anti-doping controls, adding that the American shouldn’t count on any support from him.

“I suffered an enormous deception, a true human betrayal on the part of Landis,” Lelangue told AFP. “I told him at the time that I believed the tests and I believed the results and that he would have to defend himself, without my support, that it was his business and not anything to do with Phonak.”

Landis is proclaiming his innocence despite facing the prospect of a two-year racing ban and the loss of his Tour crown if he loses in his bid to clear his name. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency isn’t expected to hear the Landis case until March.

Lelangue, meanwhile, said he had only superficial contact with Landis since the end of July and the pair never speaks about the case.

Like many of the team staff and some riders, Lelangue found himself without a job when new sponsors, iShares, balked on its sponsorship deal last summer following the Landis case.

A former Tour de France official, Lelangue was brought in during the 2005 season by former team owner Andy Rihs as part of a housecleaning at Phonak in the wake of the 2004 doping scandal involving ex-rider Tyler Hamilton.Lelangue said the Landis case has been all the more painful because he invested so much in Landis’ progression as a Tour contender.

“I was the first one to believe in [Landis] as a team leader. He’s the rider that I followed the closest. Last year, I was with him at all the races, at all the training camps, I relied on him utterly, but ultimately my trust was ridiculed,” Lelangue said. “It’s all the more serious because Floyd knew about my vision and of my ethical values.”

The 36-year-old Lelangue is now working with Belgian television and didn’t discount a return to cycling. He was linked to a deal to join Unibet.com, but Lelangue said he’d like to wait a year or two before trying to find a new project within cycling, ideally with a “Belgian team with a French heart,” as a sport director.

“This affair doesn’t spoil my love of cycling. I am still optimistic about our sport, one that is certainly rotten by a minority,” he said. “Every time a cheater falls, I tell myself that it’s necessary to move forward to find hope for the future.”

Not all ‘Puerto’ riders finding soft landing
While riders such as Ivan Basso have snagged contracts for the 2007, not all riders implicated in the Operación Puerto investigation have enjoyed the same benefit of a doubt.

Two more riders linked to the Spanish investigation have been foiled by the legacy of the still unresolved case that continues to have widespread ramifications as the peloton rolls into the 2007 season.

Spanish rider Carlos Garcia Quesada has officially been dropped by new ProTour team Unibet.com while Jorg Jaksche looks to have lost a chance to join continental team Volksbank following pressure from race organizers.

The new ProTour team said Thursday it cut ties with Garcia Quesada, who was suspended from the team last summer.

“Unfortunately, he did not cooperate in any way on any basis and even refused to be transparent with the medical department of the Unibet.com cycling team,” the team said in a statement Thursday, Reuters reported. “There was a breach of trust and Unibet.com made it clear to Garcia Quesada that on this basis there was no possible future together and told him to look for another team in 2007.”

Also this week, continental team Volksbank said it has officially cut off negotiations with Jaksche following pressure from Tour of Germany organizers who have insisted that no riders implicated in the Puerto investigation will be allowed to start.

Both Jaksche and Garcia Quesada were among more than 50 riders to have been linked to controversial Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and an alleged blood-doping ring.

So far, no sanctions have been handed down against any of the riders for lack of concrete evidence. Spanish authorities insist the investigation is still officially open and charges could be filed against Fuentes and others accomplices. No legal charges can be filed against any athlete, however, but there remains a chance for sporting sanctions if more evidence is uncovered.

Last week, Jacksche was among seven riders from the ex- Liberty-Würth/Astaná team filed suit against team owners Manolo Sáiz and Pablo Anton of ActiveBay in an attempt to receive salaries.

Joseba Beloki, Unai and Aitor Osa, David Etxebarria, Jacksche, Eladio Sánchez and Ramírez Abeja are riders seeking money from the troubled team ownership. Sáiz, of course, was among five people arrested last May as part of Operación Puerto. The team has since lost its title sponsor as well as its spot in the ProTour league, though no legal actions have been initiated against the once-powerful Sáiz.

The seven riders - who claim they are due back pay from the final three months of last season – are the only former team riders who haven’t been able to find contracts with other teams for the 2007 season.

Mancebo calm at Relax-Fuenlabrada
Francisco Mancebo – one of the ‘Puerto Nine’ who were kicked out of the 2006 Tour de France – is back in the saddle with Spanish continental team Relax-Fuenlabrada.

The Spanish climber had an acrimonious split with Ag2r following the Puerto scandal, but after more than seven months without competition, Mancebo recently finished third overall at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.

“It was a big happiness to return to get on the bike with a race bib after all that had happened, it was like a victory,” Mancebo said in an interview with the Spanish daily Marca. “It was like when I first became a professional, it was a happiness without words.”

Mancebo recounted how he almost quit cycling following the frustration of not being able to race the Tour and then the Vuelta a España. When Ag2r finally fired him, Mancebo was only able to land a contract with the modest Relax-Fuenlabrada despite not having any formal sanctions imposed against him.The team will hope to earn a berth in the Vuelta, but that remains to be seen if organizers of the Spanish tour stick to their guns to ban riders implicated in the Puerto investigation.

“My objective is the Vuelta, but for the team, the tours of Aragón and Asturias are also very important along with the Spanish national championships, so I will try to be in form in April and May,” he said. “Of course (I’d like to win the Vuelta). In other years, I wasn’t too far off and without the Tour this year, I will arrive fresher, like Vinokourov in 2006. I am no Vinokourov, but I am convinced I can do well.”

Asked if he had anything to regret, Mancebo replied: “No, I have nothing to regret. What’s happened has happened and I don’t want to look backward, but instead forward. I wouldn’t change anything in my professional career, I haven’t made any errors and I don’t want to complicate my life by thinking about who’s guilty, if it’s me, the national guard, the government … I want to think about the future and return to enjoying cycling.”

Fuerteventura-Canarias set for ’07
New Spanish continental team Fuerteventura-Canarias was officially unveiled Thursday in Madrid with a 17-rider lineup with ambitions of earning a berth in the Vuelta a España.Many of riders were part of the former Kelme-Comunidad Valenciana legacy that dissolved at the end of the 2006 season. Ex-Comunidad Valenciana sport director Vicente Belda has been one of the team’s advisors and his son, Davide Belda, is part of the new team.

The team won a CAS challenge against the UCI last week to allow it to race this season. The UCI said the team didn’t meet deadlines for required documentation.

Team manager Jorge Sastre described the team as “young and hot” and hopes with the likes of David Bernabéu, Iker Flores and Eladio Sánchez the team will be a factor on the Spanish racing calendar. The team has already earned slots in the Ruta del Sol as well as the tours of Valencia and Murcia.

“It cost us a lot to get here, but they are young riders and I am sure from the first day we are going to make the team’s presence felt,” sport director Oscar Guerrero told Europe Press. “The team will be a mix of Kaiku and Kelme, with a warrior attitude. We are going to put a big fight.”

Fuerteventura-Canarias for 2007
Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga, (Sp)
Vicente Ballester Martínez, (Sp)
David Belda, (Sp)
David Bernabéu, (Sp)
José Adrián Bonilla, (Sp)
Oleg Chuzhda, (Sp)
Javier Cherro, (Sp)
Manuel Díaz, (Sp)
Iker Flores, (Sp)
Rodrigo García, (Sp)
Iker Leonet, (Sp)
Manuel Lloret, (Sp)
David Muñoz, (Sp)
Palomares Villaplana, (Sp)
Antonio Piedra Pérez, (Sp)
Javier Ramírez Abeja, (Sp)
Eladio Sánchez , (Sp)