American Floyd Landis, wins the 93ème édition Tour de France. For the eighth straight year, the French must listen to the Star Spangled Banner broadcast from the heart of Paris. America's national anthem. [Pause.] From the heart of France. [Pause.] Sweet.
Mr. Landis rode with a rotted right hip,* an affliction called osteonecrosis, bone death. In Mr. Landis' case, advanced. Massive femoral head collapse and with superimposed osteoarthritis. It is a condition of pain.
And it was never absent during Mr. Landis' Tour.
LANDIS FALTERS, FALLS OUT OF CONTENTION AT TOUR
American Says He 'Suffered From The Beginning,'
Plummets [From 1st Place] To 11th Place
LA TOUSSUIRE July 20, 2006 (MSNBC) - Landis began Wednesday’s 16th stage of the Tour de France with a lead of 10 seconds — and ended it more than 8 minutes behind new leader Oscar Pereiro of Spain, with Sunday’s finish in Paris approaching fast."It’s finished. He can’t win it any more," said [Johan] Bruyneel, Armstrong’s former team director.
Pereiro: "Floyd Landis seemed untouchable, but like everybody, he wasn’t immune to collapse. I’m really sad for him."
LANDIS CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD TO WIN IT
No One Gave American A Chance After Alps Meltdown, Except He Himself
PARIS July 23, 2006 (AP) - Yet the very next day [after his fall to 11th place], Landis attacked on the first climb back up the same mountain range, a 125-mile stage to Morzine-Avoriaz, and didn’t stop until he left his opponents out of breath and in denial. The gamble was so audacious, so hardheaded and risky that as word of Landis’ plan rippled through a peloton worn out after a week in the Pyrenees and Alps, several riders pulled up alongside and begged him not to try it."I just told ’em," Landis would recall, "Go drink some Coke, ’cause we’re leaving on the first climb if you want to come along."
That epic ride was still the talk of the Tour late into Saturday night, just a few hours after Landis effectively locked up the race with a third-place finish in the 35.4-mile individual time trial to Montceau-les-Mines [Stage 19].
"How crazy was that?" Armstrong said finally.
Rather than answer, [Belgian Eddy] Merckx, a five-time champion himself and a competitor so fierce he was nicknamed "The Cannibal," shook his head slowly in disbelief. A moment later, though, he lifted the right sleeve of his polo shirt and flexed his biceps.
"Strong," Merckx said, shaking his head again. "Just incredibly ... unbelievably ... strong."
L'AMÉRICAIN FLOYD LANDIS, GRÂCE À SA CONFIANCE,
GAGNE SON PREMIER TOUR DE FRANCE
[AMERICAN FLOYD LANDIS, THANKS TO HIS CONFIDENCE, WINS HIS FIRST TDF]
PARIS July 24, 2006 (Le Monde)
FANS CHEER LANDIS FOR PUTTING SUSPENSE
BACK IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE
PARIS July 23, 2006 (ESPN/AP)
THRILLING TOUR DE FRANCE LIFTS DOPING GLOOM
PARIS July 24, 2006 (ESPN/Newswire/Reuters) - Floyd Landis's thrilling Tour de France victory did much to dispel the air of gloom hanging over cycling's showpiece event after it began engulfed by another doping controversy.On the eve of the prologue, pre-race favourites Ivan Basso of Italy and German Jan Ullrich were forced to pull out and were suspended after being named in a doping investigation in Spain.
"Our only favourite is named suspense," said outgoing Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc, dreaming of a wide-open race after the retirement of Lance Armstrong who held the Tour in his grip for seven years. His wish was granted as the race remained unpredictable until the 19th of the 20 stages run over 3,653 kms in scorching heat, save a few drops of rain in Brittany.
"Floyd went like an eagle on the first climb [of Stage 17, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Morzine] and against that you can't do anything," said Spanish rider Carlos Sastre, no mean climber himself.
Leblanc's successor Christian Prudhomme added: "Landis's performance not only left its mark on the 2006 Tour, it also left its mark on the whole history of the race."
Landis Phonak team director John Lelangue was also instrumental in raising the intensity of the race.
"Lelangue brought a lot of freshness to the race. He persuaded Landis it was possible to attack from the start of the stage and resurrected fairy-tale cycling, old fashioned cycling, mythical cycling," Prudhomme said.
"When the action is of such quality, it can only delight media, supporters, organisers," added Leblanc.
LANDIS' MENNONITE TOWN CELEBRATES IN MUTED FASHION
FARMERSVILLE, PA July 23, 2006 (ESPN/AP) - Paul and Arlene Landis were so confident their son would win cycling's greatest race they didn't have to choose between going to church and watching it on TV at a neighbor's house."I'm glad we didn't have to make that choice. Church is very important to us," Arlene Landis said.
The couple and their neighbors in this tiny hamlet in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country were celebrating Sunday after Floyd Landis' unlikely victory, which keeps cycling's most prestigious title in American hands for an eighth straight year. Well-wishers also flocked to the Landis home... All who visited, friend and stranger, were greeted warmly by Paul and Arlene, who questioned their 30-year-old son's obsession with cycling when he was a teenager and were saddened when he chose to leave the Mennonite fold.
No podium spots for France, but two Frenchies finished in the top ten, Cyril Dessel (7) and Christophe Moreau (8). Chapeau, Monsieurs !
* ABC News Person of the Week, July 21, 2006:Doctors have compared his hip to a piece of rotten wood. Landis can't run, and walks with a limp. It's so painful that he can only manage to get on his bicycle from one side. But once on, he is very, very fast.
"Although Floyd goes through a lot of pain every day when he rides his bicycle, his dream of winning the Tour de France is by far and away something he will go through any amount of pain, any amount of training, any amount of sacrifice to get through," Landis' coach Robbie Ventura said.
PFFT (What is this?): American Tour 5 | Rayonnement français 2
Outstanding performance by Landis, and for once it should be noted (as you did Damian) that the French medias hailed his victory.
I personally find the Tour awfully boring and would never watch an entire stage.
Surprisingly poor results for Discovery Channel team by the way.
Counting the three victories of Greg Lemond, I think that US cyclists have won 11 of the last 21 races.
I’m sure the Professor will correct my math if it is incorrect! :)
Lemond = 3
Armstrong = 7
Landis = 1
3 + 7 + 1 = 11
Math is so much fun!
Bonjour,
Vomissant le sport je m' étais abstenu de tout commentaire sur "Pave" et sur Landis , je n'en pensais pas moins...
Mon intuition était donc fondée....
Après Armstrong , Landis quelle honte !
Mais cette fois les labos d' analyse français ont été efficaces.
1-1=0 !!!
Les Américains calculent donc modulo 11:
11=0 !!!
Good luck , Milton, to your country in Irak !!!
Rebonjour,
J' ajoute que Max Weber m' avait fait l 'éloge de LA MORALITE DES MENNONITES dans son "Ethique protestante et l' Esprit du Capitalisme" ...
Ethique des mennonites ?
Wouarf !!! Encore une arme de destruction massive !!!
Good luck ,Milton, to your country in Irak !!!!
Bonjour,
Professor, I think you’ve mixed up setoids with steroids ;)
