French judge, seeking to question cyclist Floyd Landis, issues national arrest warrant

A French court spokesperson confirmed Monday that a national arrest warrant has been issued against U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis in connection to a case involving alleged stolen computer data from an anti-drug laboratory.

French judge Thomas Cassuto is seeking to question Landis about his alleged connection to a  hacking operation that targeted computers at a French anti-doping laboratory. Cassuto also issued a national warrant for Arnie Baker, a longtime Landis coach and adviser.

Pierre Bordry, president of the French anti-doping agency, erroneously told reporters earlier Monday that Cassuto issued an international warrant. Bordry said the judge issued the warrant Jan. 28 after Landis failed to respond to Cassuto's summons in November.

Bordry also accused Landis of having a link to the computer hackers.

"Landis used the hacked files for his defense," said Bordry, referring to Landis' appeal at an arbitration hearing in California in May 2007. "He wanted to show the lab made mistakes in handling the tests."

Landis, 34, was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory after testing positive for high levels of testosterone. His appeal of the decision was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

We'll have more on this soon at latimes.com/sports

-- Austin Knoblauch

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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