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Title: Tour de France: A magnifique finish for Landis
Source:
seattletimes.nwsource.com
URL Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003147841_tour24.html
Published: Jul 24, 2006
Author: By JAMEY KEATEN
Post Date: 2006-07-24 07:08:03 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 62
PARIS — The craziest Tour de France in memory ended Sunday the same way the last seven had: with an American wearing the yellow jersey, this time with a Landis instead of a Lance. After stunning feats of willpower and woeful cracks of concentration, Floyd Landis' arthritic hip held up and he held on for the ceremonial ride over the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysées. "I kept fighting, never stopped believing," Landis said after leaving the winner's podium with his daughter, Ryan. But plenty of race fans surely had their doubts, especially after his wild ride in the Alps last week. Landis had tried to apply Armstrong's meticulous strategy for winning, but that went awry when he flat-out cracked in the final climb of Stage 16 on Wednesday, giving up a lead and falling 8 minutes, 8 seconds behind Spain's Oscar Pereiro. All but written off, he managed a stunning rebound the very next day in the last mountain stage, pedaling like a madman and closing the gap to 30 seconds. So astounding was the turnaround that race director Jean-Marie Leblanc, who has overseen this event 18 years, called it "the best performance in the modern history of the Tour." The comeback was read by many as a master stroke, instantly enshrining Landis in cycling's pantheon, alongside greats like five-time Tour champion Eddy Merckx of Belgium for his show of both human frailty and superhuman courage in the span of 24 hours. The 30-second gap put Landis, who hails from eastern Pennsylvania's Dutch country, in position to win by outpacing Pereiro in the final time trial Saturday. And by the time he was done, the race was reborn — injected with the drama and swashbuckling flavor of years past, something that was lacking for nearly all of Armstrong's seven victories. Not that the two men won't be inextricably linked. A former mountain biker, Landis toiled for three years as a U.S. Postal Service team support rider for Armstrong — then broke out on his own to lead the Swiss Phonak squad. Now, Armstrong wants him back with the Discovery Channel team, of which he is part owner. "We've always been interested in Floyd, he's a damn good rider," Armstrong said. "We would take Floyd back. We have pursued him for some time now." Landis' loyalties may be elsewhere: He dedicated the victory to Andy Rihs, the owner of the Swiss Phonak team. As things stand now, he hopes to ride again. It all depends on how he fares after hip replacement surgery this fall to ease pain in the arthritic joint still aching from a 2003 crash during a training ride. President Bush telephoned Landis with his congratulations. "You embody great courage. Everybody's proud of you. You showed amazing strength and character," said Bush, who also invited the winner and his family to the White House. Landis becomes the third American to win the world's most prestigious bike race, behind Armstrong and three-time winner Greg LeMond. Landis' 57-second margin over Pereiro, who was second, was the sixth-smallest in Tour history, and the tightest since LeMond's record-low 8 seconds over Frenchman Laurent Fignon in 1989. Germany's Andreas Kloeden was third, 1:29 behind Landis. Norway's Thor Hushovd won the final stage of the three-week race, a 96-mile route from Sceaux-Antony to Paris. He had also won the Tour prologue on July 1. For the finish Sunday, Russia's Viatceslav Ekimov, 40, led the peloton as it arrived for the first of eight laps on the famed Paris avenue to honor him as the Tour's oldest rider. It was his 15th Tour — one shy of Dutch cyclist Joop Zoetemelk's record. Australia's Robbie McEwen won the green jersey given to the best sprinter for a third time, and Denmark's Mickael Rasmussen earned the polka-dot jersey awarded to the best climber for a second year. Italy's Damiano Cunego, 25, won the white jersey as the best young rider. Though Landis learned key lessons from Armstrong — for example, how to build a team around a single rider — he insists his drive was different from Armstrong, a cancer survivor. "Lance made it clear that he was motivated by showing people he could do something when they thought he couldn't," Landis said. "To me, I don't think so much about whether people think I can or I can't. "It's just that I was a competitive personality to begin with. I'm not trying to prove anything to the world." The major moments in this year's topsy-turvy Tour de France: Friday, June 30: On the eve of the start to the three-week race, nine riders — including 2006 Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso of Italy and 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich of Germany — were sent home, implicated in a Spanish doping investigation. Saturday, July 1: Norway's Thor Hushovd wins the Tour prologue, edging out American George Hincapie by less than a second in the short individual time trial. Sunday, July 2: Hincapie takes the leader's yellow jersey from Hushovd by earning two bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint, becoming the fourth American rider to wear the prized shirt. Monday, July 3: Australia's Robbie McEwen wins Stage 2 — the first of three stage victories in this Tour — en route to earning the green jersey awarded to the race's best sprinter. Saturday, July 8: Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar demolishes the field to win the Stage 7 time trial. American Floyd Landis finishes second, 61 seconds behind, and climbs to second overall. Thursday, July 13: In Stage 11, Landis takes the yellow jersey for the first time, placing third behind Russian stage winner Denis Menchov and American Levi Leipheimer in the second and more difficult of two days in the Pyrenees. Friday, July 14: Ukraine's Yaroslav Popovych wins the first stage of this Tour for seven-time winner Lance Armstrong's former Discovery Channel squad. Saturday, July 15: Oscar Pereiro of Spain, who began Stage 13 in 46th place overall, overcomes a 28-minute, 50-second deficit to Landis and seizes the yellow jersey after placing second to Germany's Jens Voigt in the ride from Beziers to Montelimar. Tuesday, July 18: Landis regains the yellow jersey, outpacing Pereiro in Stage 15 to finish fourth at the famed L'Alpe d'Huez, the first of three grueling days in the Alps. Wednesday, July 19: Landis struggles almost pitifully in Stage 16's final ascent, losing the lead and falling to 11th overall — 8:08 behind Pereiro, again in yellow. "I don't expect to win the Tour at this point," Landis says. Thursday, July 20: In the ride of his career, earning comparisons to cycling's all-time greats, Landis stuns the field with a solo victory in Stage 17, the final Alpine ride. He moves up to third overall, just 30 seconds behind Pereiro. Saturday, July 22: On the eve of the race finish, Landis places third in the time trial — won by Honchar — to regain the yellow jersey, outpacing Pereiro by 1:29 and holding a 59-second lead overall. Pereiro places fourth and slips to second overall. Sunday, July 23: Landis wins the Tour de France after an easy ride to the finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, becoming the third American to win cycling's most prestigious title. The Associated Press 
Floyd Landis, center, is joined on the winner's podium in Paris by third-place finisher Andreas Kloeden of Germany, right, and second-place rider Oscar Pereiro of Spain. Landis' victory was the eighth straight by an American rider. Ups and downs
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