Landis used the same word, “agenda,” in a round of interviews a day earlier. But when asked who might be manipulating the results or the timing of the releases, Landis replied, “I don’t have a theory on that. All I’m saying is that circumstantial evidence points to something other than just clearly enforcing the rules.”

After a horrible stage 16, Landis won stage 17 in the Alps, a remarkable comeback that put him back in contention to win cycling’s biggest race. He said he won that stage and wrapped up the race because of hard work — and nothing else.

“I put in more than 20,000 kilometers of training for the Tour. I won the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia,” Landis said in an interview Sunday. “I was tested eight times at the Tour de France, four times before that stage and three times after, including three blood tests.

“Only one came back positive. Nobody in their right mind would take testosterone just once. It doesn’t work that way.”

Landis said the media knew the result of each of his urine samples before he did, including the original July 27 revelation of the “A” sample positive. On Saturday, cycling’s world governing body announced that the backup “B” sample also was positive.

Landis also gave interviews Monday on all four network morning shows.

“I don’t know exactly what the truth is,” Landis said on NBC’s “Today” show. “The problem here, though, from the beginning was the fact that the people doing the testing didn’t follow their own rules and their own protocols and made this public before I had a chance to figure out what was going on, and I was forced in the press to make comments before I could get educated on this.

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“Had they followed their own protocols, this never would have happened in the first place.”

Landis defended his stage 17 effort, saying the comeback was less of an oddity than the positive sample.

The 30-year-old rider said his biggest mistake was reacting to media reports when the news broke, saying it gave an impression he was coming up with new explanations and excuses each day.

“I was just overwhelmed and I felt like I needed to say something,” Landis said. “It’s the first time I’ve been through something like this, so yeah, in hindsight, it was a mistake.”

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