Floyd Landis takes on the cannabis market

The controversial former racing cyclist Floyd Landis is also joining the legal cannabis industry, creating a company that will sell vaper products, CBD products and space food, cannabis-infused edibles.

In particular, it plans to offer products made from’cannabis oil (CBD and THC) from established growers using a CO2-based extraction system. Its press release states that “its vaper products or to eat are crafted for an enhanced consumption experience and are carefully prepared by licensed pharmacists to maximize the many health benefits of recreational cannabis.”

Landis won the 2006 Tour de France but was forced to relinquish the title after a positive doping test. He denied it for years but confessed in 2011, leading Lance Armstrong to eventually confess to doping.

Since leaving the professional circuit, Landis has embarked on a legal battle with Lance Armstrong, but seems to be starting a new career as a producer of high-end cannabis products in Colorado.

Landis' company, Floyds of Leadville, named after a mountain in Colorado, has its website. It will open on June 30 with an inaugural party at Denver's Club Vinyl.

“I'm very excited about this new phase of my life. The cannabis industry is growing rapidly and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to play a role in it,” Landis announced in his press release.

Landis sees his role in two ways, firstly as a producer of high-end products, and secondly as a supporter of’alternatives to addictive painkillers. He often suffered chronic pain due to osteonecrosis in his hip. Landis underwent hip replacement surgery in 2006.

“L’therapeutic use of cannabis can't be ignored. For years, I depended on opioid-based painkillers to treat my hip pain. With cannabis, I manage my pain better and have a better quality of life. We need to give people healthier alternatives.”

Recreational use of cannabis is legal in Colorado since 2014, creating a multi-million dollar industry. Anyone over the age of 21 can grow, possess and consume small quantities of cannabis, with many different types of product now available.