Floyd Landis convicted in French court

A French court convicted American cyclist Floyd Landis in absentia Thursday for his role in hacking into the computers of a French doping lab.

Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence.

The WADA-accredited lab in the town of Chatenay-Malabry south of Paris uncovered unusually high testosterone levels in Landis' samples from the 2006 Tour.

Prosecutors argued that Landis and coach Arnie Baker masterminded a plot to hack into the lab's computer system to obtain documents as part of an effort to defend the cyclist's name.

Landis, in an email to the Associated Press after the trial opened last month, wrote that he had no information about the case except through the press, and was never summoned or contacted by the court, despite its claims to the contrary. He denied any connection to hacking.

In an email to The Times last year, when the arrest warrant was issued, Landis said: "I can't speak for Arnie, but no attempt has been made to formally contact me. It appears to be another case of fabricated evidence by a French lab who is still upset a United States citizen believed he should have the right to face his accusers and defend himself."

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Whom does the public believe, Lance Armstrong or his detractors?

-- Houston Mitchell

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Floyd Landis. Credit: Dianne Manson / Associated Press.