David Witt, 57, was a former cyclist who introduced Landis to road racing – and to his wife Amber. He was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head and alone in his car at a parking garage in San Diego on Tuesday.
The death was yesterday ruled as suicide. What led Witt to taking his life is still unknown.
Witt and Landis, 30, were close friends. They roomed together when Landis moved from his Mennonite family home in Pennsylvania to California in 1998. They were also best men at each other’s wedding. Witt, who was in France with his wife to watch Landis win the Tour in July, had been upset by the American’s positive test for testosterone.
But a friend of Witt’s was quoted as saying other issues may haveplayed a role. It is thought Witt was struggling with financial and business problems at his and his wife’s new restaurant.
“It could have been a few percentages of the whole maybe, or just another negative thing that he was depressed over,” said Dwight van Slycke.
Whatever the answer, Witt’s death has turned an already sorry chapter in the sport’s history into a saga of Shakespearean proportion, sending shockwaves around the cycling world. Retired Tour stars PhilAnderson and Stephen Hodge were among those stunned to hear of it in Australia yesterday.
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