PAPP DIDN'T EXACTLY COME HOME a changed man. Immediately after returning in August 2006, he thought about fighting his positive result from the Tour of Turkey. He hired a lawyer and, incredibly, had visions of racing in Europe again. "In my twisted worldview, if I could've beat the charges, I would've tried to get back onto Whistle," he says.

But Papp soon realized that the amount he could spend on his defense—he would be prosecuted by USADA—could never approach the estimated $2 million defense being mounted at that time by Landis.

In early 2007, a wavering Papp met with Travis Tygart, who heads up the Colorado Springs–based USADA. Tygart made soothing noises, telling Papp that coming clean promised him relief and redemption.

"Travis was lamenting the situation that I'd gotten myself into," says Papp. "He played good cop."

Ultimately, USADA asked Papp if he would testify at the Landis hearing. USADA hoped that Papp's admission, which would include testimony on the benefits he enjoyed while competing on performance-enhancing drugs, would undermine the Landis camp's defense, which included the argument that testosterone would be of little use in a multi-stage bike race.

Papp bit. He didn't care whether Landis was innocent or guilty. To Papp, Landis was peripheral: He thought the trial would provide an international platform for him to explain his own doping story. He saw something heroic in exposing the world to the horrors of European cycling's institutionalized practices, and he proved to be a bold and effective witness, describing with clarity how testosterone boosts recovery.

"I was excited because I no longer had to protect a system that in the end treated me no better than Michael Vick treated his dogs," Papp later told me.

Prior to the hearing, after conversations with USADA, Papp agreed to speak with lawyers at the U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego. He proceeded to out two crooked doctors, from California and Pennsylvania, who had previously prescribed him doping regimens.

Then, on May 18, Papp took the stand in a courtroom setting at Pepperdine University, in Malibu. USADA attorney Matthew Barnett made Papp recite all the performance-enhancing benefits that he'd experienced while using testosterone. He also asked Papp if he could've stayed on the Whistle team while refusing to take drugs. "No, absolutely not," said Papp. "It was very clear."

But defense attorney Maurice Suh, who got last licks, worked to discredit him. He portrayed Papp as a second-rate rider who would happily raid any medicine cabinet and couldn't possibly assess the performance benefits of a single drug like testosterone. Suh also tried to depict Papp as a drug trafficker. Papp explained that he'd gotten doctors around the world to prescribe his performance-enhancing drugs, and that it was legal to travel with prescription drugs.

"And then you brought it back to the United States?" asked Suh.

"That's correct," said Papp.

"And then did you sell them to other people?" asked Suh.

"Objection!" shouted Barnett.

Suh moved on, but he had landed a few punches. While it took four months for Landis to learn that he'd lost his case, largely due to scientific evidence, Papp's defeat was immediate.

The hate mail from cycling fans cascaded into his inbox. Feeling betrayed by a fellow pro, Landis asked aloud, "Who the fuck is that guy?" Biking bible VeloNews snorted that Papp had "earned his 15 minutes of fame," and the estimate was just about right. After Papp notched a couple of peripheral quotes in national newspapers and made a few comments on National Public Radio, the phone stopped ringing. Nobody called him a hero. Nobody took legal action against Whistle. Even Papp's mom, who was in the dark about her son's drug taking until the trial, looked past his unflinching admission and straight at his doping days.

"I was very sorry that he decided to go that route," says Marie, who acknowledges that she and her son continue to clash. "I must say, Joe makes his own choices."