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Title: Floyd Landis helps America conquer France ... again
Source:
msn.foxsports.com
URL Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5807566
Published: Jul 22, 2006
Author: Andrew Vontz
Post Date: 2006-07-22 21:04:15 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 226
Comments: 1
Floyd Landis pedaled with the fury of a French soccer player who just heard a particularly nasty yo-momma joke during the Tour's decisive Stage 19 individual time trial and flew his funky 'praying mantis' position to the race lead. Riding with his arms canted upward in front of his face in the special body position he has adopted in time trials to alleviate the strain on his hip injury, Landis crossed the finish line with his mouth contorted into a smile that was indistinguishable from a grimace. The normally affable Landis didn't headbutt anyone when he hobbled off his bike after finishing, but he did chuck a water bottle at a scrum of photographers and cameramen who invaded his space while he was still struggling to catch his breath. 36-year-old Sergei Gontchar of the Ukraine won Saturday's stage, his second individual time trial victory the race. The victories are the T-Mobile rider's first two stage victories in the Tour during his entire professional career. He did win the World Time Trial championship in 2000, but since then his most significant time trial win came in 2004 at the Giro d'Italia where he also finished second overall. Most Tour riders hit their athletic peak between the ages of 30 and 32 and experience a steady decline in performance as they age, but Gontchar has taken his riding to a new level in the autumn of his career. Perhaps Gontchar ate some extra nutritious muesli before heading to the start house this morning. Meanwhile, back in Germany, the former leader of Gontchar's T-Mobile squad, Jan Ullrich, has been fired (via fax no less) for his alleged involvement in the Operacion Puerto scandal. German authorities are considering filing fraud charges against Ullrich as well. When Landis first claimed yellow on Stage 11 he made it clear that he intended to ride conservatively and defensively in his quest to win the race as Lance Armstrong had done before him. When Landis allowed his former teammate Oscar Pereiro to gain thirty minutes in a breakaway, a move he's not likely to ever repeat again, the French media bemoaned the arrival of yet another champion who lacked panache, or flair. Just in case annihilating his rivals with what is now being called the greatest ride in the history of the Tour de France on Stage 17 didn't demonstrate his insatiable hunger to win, Landis' second-place finish in today's stage will give the French a little extra powdered sugar to garnish their french toast with tomorrow. The flat finale on the Tour's final day is a formality that normally ends with a field sprint or breakaway close to the finish line. Landis' Phonak teammates will form a rolling enclosure around their leader to protect him from any freakish mishaps and will toast one another with flutes of champagne during the ride to the podium ceremony. When the race winds its way into Paris and lands on the Champs Elysee for eight short laps, the action will heat up. Typically the race ends in a sprint or a solo breakaway that will have no impact on Landis' position. Unless a blimp crashlands on top of Landis during the race tomorrow, he will carry on America's tradition of winning the most important bike race in the world. While Landis appeared to have clipped a few millimeters off of his fiery goatee for today's stage, it seems inevitable that he will march to the top of the podium sporting his trademark Tulsa Trim Job. Instead of heading to Disneyland after the race to rule the teacups with Kid Rock, Landis will most likely make a beeline to his surgeon back in San Diego to have his right hip replaced. Landis hasn't disclosed what he plans to do with his old hip, but perhaps he should have it dipped in gold, wrapped in a miniature yellow jersey and mounted above his fireplace. Andrew Vontz is a Los Angeles-based journalist. He writes for Outside, Bicycling, the Los Angeles Times Magazine and many other publications. He can be reached through http://www.andrewvontz.com.
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#1. To: All (#0)
I don't believe it, a really deserving man winning after Lance Armstrong's domination of that stage race. It is nice to see such a decent guy win regardless of what his nationality is. It is people like him that makes cycling one of the top two of the world's most favorite sports. And insure the enduring vitality of it in a world that will see the rank and file bicycle replace some of the role automobiles have served in our daily lives.
“Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” Plato
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