Floyd Landis Sought: International Arrest Warrant Issued for U.S. Cyclist

The French authorities could never pin Lance Armstrong to the wall, but they are determined to make an example out of Floyd Landis. 

Landis, the winner of the 2006 Tour de France, was involved in a blood doping scandal that eventually cost him his Tour title and has now been issued an international arrest warrant.

The warrant dates back to a positive test for high levels of testosterone following the 2006 Tour de France.

Since then, the leading French anti-doping task force (AFLD) has been on a mission to prove that Landis, or his team, hacked into the agency's files back in November 2006, according to The Sports Network.

Now, the AFLD has issued an international arrest warrant for Landis after he and his coach Arnie Baker refused to show for a previously issued subpoena.  French authorities claim that an IP tracking of the hack to their system can be traced to Landis and/or Baker.

Landis fought the initial charge of higher testosterone levels (Remember his whiskey defense?) and he has since never admitted to any wrongdoing.  However, his case went before the American Arbitration Association where he lost in a 2-to-1 verdict.  An appeal was later upheld. 

Landis was later suspended for two years from competitive cycling before returning to action in mid-2009.

The level at which the French authorities are taking their pursuit of Landis can be viewed as a response to their failure to prove any cheating during Lance Armstrong's seven-year reign of the Tour de France.

The French anti-doping agency went after Armstrong for years but came back empty-handed every time.  Now the agency has Landis in their cross hairs.

He has already been stripped of his Tour title and that would seem to be enough. However, have the French overcome nearly a decade of American dominance in their annual, national race? It appears not.