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Landis Regains Lead, Is Poised to Win Tour
While the open field has made the event more exciting for cycling aficionados, the loss of many of the sport's biggest names has dragged down television and Internet viewing ratings worldwide, including a more than 50 percent decline in U.S. audiences.
But the last few days -- and the potential for an upset at the finish line Sunday -- have turned the Tour's fortunes.
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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"This is a super Tour de France!" an enthusiastic announcer for France 2 television shouted as Landis crossed the finish line.
The French network, which has provided daily live coverage of the world's most famous race, put viewers inches away from the panting racers and into their earpieces as they monitored the directions issued from coaches in chase cars.
"No risks in the last turn!" John Lelangue, general manager of Landis's Phonak Hearing Systems team, shouted into a microphone as he drove behind Landis in a car. "Slow down! Slow down! Slow down!"
As Landis slowed and negotiated the turn, Lelangue broke into a wide grin: "Good job! Come home!"
Landis looked like a giant praying mantis clad in a lime green and yellow skin suit, elongated helmet, body bent in an aerodynamic crouch and yellow-gloved hands gripping upright handle bars.
He flew across the finish line seconds later, a broad grin on his face as he was engulfed by a swarm of team officials and news photographers.
"I think I'm a person who works hard and I don't like to give up," Landis said later. "Otherwise I'm just another human being."'
