Landis’ wild ride should end in glory today
MONTCEAU-LES-MINES, France – Floyd Landis’ wild ride through France should end in the sweetest way possible today on the Champs-Elysees – barring a crazy finale and as long as his hip holds out.
In this Tour de France anything can happen.
With yet another stunning comeback in the final time trial, Landis reclaimed the famed yellow jersey of the Tour de France leader Saturday along with a 59-second lead that should land him atop the victory podium in Paris.
The American would be picking up where another Yank left off just last year, when Lance Armstrong completed his seventh and final Tour triumph.
“I could not be happier,” Landis said. “It’s one of the best days of my life.”
The Phonak team leader, who trailed former teammate Oscar Pereiro of Spain by 30 seconds before the penultimate Stage 19, outpaced the Spaniard by 1 minute, 29 seconds in the race against the clock.
Overall, Pereiro fell to second, 59 seconds behind Landis, while German rider Andreas Kloeden, 1:29 back, pushed Spaniard Carlos Sastre off the podium into fourth.
Today’s ride could be the most anticlimactic moment of this unpredictable Tour, marked by Landis’ bizarre performance swings – from despair to elation – and news that he’s been riding with an arthritic hip.
Landis and Pereiro have taken turns wearing yellow four times since Landis first won it in the Pyrenees after Stage 11. Seven riders have worn the jersey this time – one short of the record.
“Hopefully, I won’t give it away again,” Landis said. “But I do think it’s over now.”
Landis became an instant legend among many cycling fans with his rage-fueled comeback Thursday, when he won the last of three Alpine stages to move from 11th to third in the overall standings.
After a strong ride Tuesday on the famed L’Alpe d’Huez ascent to take the leader’s jersey for the second time in the Tour, Landis planned a conservative, Armstrong-like strategy.
That didn’t work out.
Instead, he was forced to ride all-out after nearly crumbling in Wednesday’s uphill finish in La Toussuire – where he lost the lead and fell 8:08 behind Pereiro.
The performance left him feeling “humiliation and depression,” Landis said. A pep talk from five-time Tour winner and cycling icon Eddy Merckx, the father of his Phonak teammate Axel Merckx, helped.
A once-in-a-lifetime ride – “the best performance in the modern history of the Tour” according to race director Jean-Marie Leblanc – revived Landis’ sagging chances. In his first Tour stage win, Landis closed the time gap to an incredible 30 seconds.
Saturday’s time trial was the finishing touch.
Landis, who finished second in the stage 7 time trial, had been expected to do well. Pereiro, sensing his lead in danger, mustered a strong ride of his own, finishing fourth and 1:29 behind Landis.
It wasn’t enough.
“When the yellow jersey is on the line, people get inspired,” Landis said. “I think we all learned a lesson in persistence.”
Ukraine’s Serhiy Honchar won the time trial by dominating the field just as he had in the first time trial two weeks ago.
Honchar finished the 35.4-mile course from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 46 seconds. Germany’s Kloeden was second, 41 seconds back. Landis placed third, 1:11 off the winner’s pace.
Landis plans to have surgery this fall to ease the lingering pain in his right hip.
Armstrong, Leblanc meet
Lance Armstrong and Tour de France race director Jean-Marie Leblanc took a step toward reconciliation, meeting on the Discovery Channel team bus.
Leblanc met the seven-time Tour winner, and the pair spoke for several minutes, said Discovery press spokesman P.J. Rabice.
“Both came off the bus smiling and shaking hands,” said Rabice, who quoted Armstrong as saying “it was a good meeting.”
Last August, Leblanc said Armstrong had “fooled” the cycling world after French sports daily L’Equipe alleged he had taken the performance-enhancer EPO during the 1999 Tour – his first win. The relationship worsened last October when Leblanc announced the 2006 Tour route in Paris, calling it an exciting time for cycling with Armstrong retired.