Anonymous cyclist sues USADA

By Steve Medcroft

The Associated Press reported on Friday that an unnamed cyclist filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking an injunction to prevent USADA from testing a backup urine sample the agency took during the 2006 racing season even though, as the suit claims, the A sample for the rider returned a negative result.

Since international rules dictate that an athlete can only be considered to have returned a sanctionable positive doping test if both the A and B sample return positive results, the suit claims that the order of a B test following a negative A test amounts to harrassment of the rider.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 'John Doe' by the same legal team that represented Floyd Landis in his doping case before USADA, is asking for a jury trial to recoup damages the cyclist claims he suffered when USADA notified race organizers and a testing lab that the rider was under suspicion of doping.

Landis is reported to have told the Associated Press that he is not the plaintiff in the suit levaing the identity of the rider, and the race from which the testing was ordered, a mystery.