One of road cycling’s most famous dopers-turned-whistleblowers, Floyd Landis is peddling CBD oil with his new brand, Floyd’s of Leadville. We wondered why he chose such a controversial route.
Floyd Landis, 42, is a former professional bike racer. He’s famous for claiming the 2006 Tour de France title, only the third non-European to do so, before testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
For years Landis denied the allegations but came clean in 2010. He later made waves as a whistleblower on pros doping, including the famous outing of Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who Landis rode with during his tenure on the U.S Postal Team. The two recently settled a lawsuit. Landis alleged that Armstrong had essentially defrauded the government under a multi-million-dollar bike team sponsorship contract with the U.S. Postal Service.
Amid the chaos, Landis has been quietly pursuing a new passion, the purported healing powers cannabidiol (CBD). We caught up with him in Leadville, Colo., where he has put down roots — and grown a business. He founded Floyd’s of Leadville after choosing cannabis products to alleviate lingering pain. For him, CBD was a nonaddictive alternative to opioids. And he’s hoping others will see it that way too.
Interview: Floyd Landis On Floyd’s of Leadville — Life
GearJunkie: Like “dope” in sports, CBD has mixed messages in the marketplace. Why’d you decide on this business, which comes with a set of challenges all its own?
Landis: I saw the possibilities of CBD and what it is doing for people. Like a lot of people, I was suffering from nagging pains from injuries as well as some anxiety issues. I had a hip replacement in August 2006 and have been in a lot of pain since then. I was prescribed too many opioids, and taking CBD made a whole lot more sense than taking a bunch of opioids.