Landis Regains Lead, Is Poised to Win Tour
Sunday, July 23, 2006; Page E01
PARIS, July 22 -- American Floyd Landis has given the Tour de France its greatest roller coaster ride in years.
In Saturday's final time trial through the Burgundy countryside, the 30-year-old Landis reclaimed the top overall position for the fourth time in 19 days of racing.
Photos
Tour de France Floyd Landis won the Tour de France on Sunday, keeping cycling's most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year. TOUR DE FRANCE Floyd Landis's second drug test confirms inappropriate levels of testosterone, setting him up to become the first Tour de France champion to be stripped of his title for doping.
Essay: Driven to win, Landis may lose it all.
If Landis is stripped of the title, runner-up Oscar Pereiro is the likely new winner.
Former riders and cycling fans react to the news about Landis.
QUOTE SHEET"I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone. I was the strongest man at the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion." -- Landis, in a statement.
"It goes without saying that for us Floyd Landis is no longer the winner of the 2006 Tour de France." -- Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme.
"Now I consider myself the winner." -- Spanish cyclist Oscar Pereiro, who likely will be named the Tour winner if Landis is stripped of the title.
"God Bless, Went Camping." -- Sign posted in the front yard of Landis' parents, Paul and Arlene, in Farmersville, Pa.
"It'll cause the folks trying to explain this to have to shift their ground from it being due to natural causes or beer or Jack Daniels. There's the usual parade of explanations. I think probably they wish they hadn't made some of them." -- Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"Obviously, the credibility has been tested for many years. Cycling does have the most stringent testing, it's still not enough for me. There's a code of silence that needs to change. There's a change in Europe with UCI in a positive way. Unfortunately, it took something of this stature to wake people up, with the Tour winner to lose the title." -- Greg LeMond, three-time Tour winner.
"One of the most critical issues facing sport at every level is the issue of doping. Our position on this is unequivocal: If you dope, you are absolutely not welcome on the United States Olympic Team." -- Darryl Seibel, U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman.
"It's awful. It's ugly. It harms the Tour de France and sports in general. In any event, it's all just a circus, and the circus will carry on." -- Jean-Louis Cailhol of Nancy, France.
PHOTOS Photos: Check out the scenes from the start of the race in Strasbourg to the finish line in Paris.
ON OUR SITEFLASHBACK Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive Tour de France and bids goodbye to competitive cycling.
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Though Landis is poised to become the third American to win the Tour de France Sunday in Paris, his 59-second lead over Spain's Oscar Pereiro, the potential for errors and the unexpected twists of this year's race leave just enough suspense to make the final stage a true test of skills and perseverance rather than a largely celebratory victory lap down the Champs-Elysees.
"I could not be happier -- it's one of the best days of my life," Landis said in an interview with France 2 television after slipping into the leader's yellow jersey. "Hopefully I won't give it away this time. But I do think it's over now."
Landis has lost the yellow jersey each of the three previous times he claimed it during this Tour de France.
Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar won Saturday's time trial -- a 35.4-mile course through the hedge-lined lanes and small villages of the Burgundy wine and cattle region -- in 1 hour 7 minutes 46 seconds. German rider Andreas Kloeden was 41 seconds behind in second place; Landis was third by 1 minute 11 seconds, and Pereiro placed fourth, 2:40 behind.
Landis, who was raised in a Mennonite family in Pennsylvania, holds the overall lead because of his cumulative time over 19 days of racing and the additional points he won at various stages of the Tour. Landis's victory would be the 11th by an American; Greg LeMond won three (1986, '89 and '90) and Lance Armstrong seven straight (1999-2005).
"I told everyone in January that we were going to do it," an exuberant Landis told TV crews at the finish line Saturday in Montceau-Les-Mines. "There were times when it looked a little less likely, but I kept believing."
Just three days ago, in the second stage of the grueling Alpine stretch of the race, Landis's chances for victory looked doomed. After winning the yellow jersey Tuesday, he all but collapsed on Wednesday, dropping to 11th place and more than eight minutes behind the leader. Colleagues and commentators alike were writing his Tour de France obituary and speculating that his degenerative hip condition may have contributed to his dismal performance. Landis is scheduled to undergo hip replacement surgery in August.
But on Thursday he resurrected his chances with a Herculean effort that won the final Alpine stage and vaulted him to third place overall, turning an already competitive race into the kind of cliffhanger that has been rare for the Tour de France in recent years.
The yellow jersey hasn't changed torsos so many times since the 1987 Tour de France. Seven riders have worn it, prompting the French to dub this year the " Tour Fou " -- the crazy Tour.
Armstrong's retirement last year opened the race to a new champion. The day before this year's race began, several of the top contenders -- including the four riders who finished behind Armstrong in 2005 -- were pulled from the race by their teams because of allegations they used illegal drugs and other medical enhancements.
