Landis signs with Bahati Foundation team

American pro Floyd Landis has signed with the Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team for the 2010 season.

Landis had been linked to the controversial Rock Racing outfit financed and owned by Rock & Republic jeans impresario Michael Ball, but when Ball's squad failed to gain a Pro Continental or Continental racing licence from the Union Cycliste Internationale, Landis was forced to look for other options.

The Bahati Foundation aims to help children in inner-city and deprived neighbourhoods, and was created by Rahsaan Bahati. Originally from Compton, California, Bahati becaome one of America's most prodigious track cycling talents as a junior and went on to win the 2008 US Criterium National Championships.

Cycling has given me so many opportunities that I wouldn't otherwise have had, and I look forward to helping provide the same opportunities for less fortunate kids," said Landis in a team statement. 

Bahati's new signing will be officially introduced to the public on Friday, March 12, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France win after failing an anti-doping test for abnormal testosterone levels. He has always maintained his innocence and has undertaken a public campaign to clear his name.

Landis rode on Lance Armstrong's US Postal squad during the 2002-04 seasons before switching to Phonak in 2005. He has overall wins at Paris-Nice, Tour of the Algarve, Tour de Georgia and Tour of Calfornia in his palmares.

After serving a two-year ban from competition for the doping infringement, Landis returned to competition with the American OUCH-Maxxis team in 2009.

Landis found himself back in the headlines in February when news emerged that an international arrest warrant had been issued for him relating to the hacking of a French anti-doping laboratory's computer system.

Related links

Arrest warrant issued for Landis

August 2006: Landis out to prove innocence

July 2006: Landis suspended following positive test