Thursday morning July 20, 2006 I sat in complete awe on the edge of my seat as Floyd committed to a 75 mile solo attack to salvage his previous days debilitating loss of over 8 minutes, which cost him 1st to 11th place.
Without question Floyd Landis had one of the greatest one day bicycle rides and comebacks in the very seasoned history of bicycle racing. This occurred no less than 24 hours after he completely collapsed with dehydration on the final climb of the day losing the leader position.
If you don’t follow cycling...and most Americans don’t.... let me first put this into historical perspective. The Tour De France has been raced since 1903. The first bicycle race ever, occurred some 35 years earlier in 1868 when an Englishman, Dr. James Moore, in Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris won riding with solid rubber tires. (Perhaps a Kos reader has an example of older Bicycle racing? Asia maybe?) In any case, cycling is an old sport which courses through the veins of the European masses like Football, Baseball and Basketball for Americans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Further raw perspective, Floyd climbed over five mountain passes on his own with only initial help from his teammates as he crushed the field of world class cyclist (he captured 5-7 minutes on all contenders) to move from 11th place to 3rd place, eventually finishing first to win the Tour de France. To be clear this means riding your bike 100 miles+ per day for three weeks with 2 rest days, oh yeah, and that small problem of riding most of it up 10-20 mile long mountain passes or on flat roads in excess of 35 miles per hour. It is one of earth’s true Herculean feats to win the Tour de France. Men have died trying.
To be ‘squeaky clean American clear’ this is like being down 5 runs in the ninth inning and winning, three touchdowns behind in the fourth quarter and winning or a 30 point deficit overcome in the final throws of an NBA championship.
This is a stunning world class miracle victory. As a lifelong bicycle racer myself I take great pride in snatching the Tour de France from the ‘Euro dogs’ as we call them in Mountain Biking. You see, Europeans eat our lunch on a regular basis in World Class cycling and to get the Grandest of Bicycle races, The Tour De France, is deep, sweet, American pride.
I savored it on that day when Floyd made that ride. I rode every pedal stroke with him, I was burning in my own gut when he charged off with 75 miles to go, I was so proud when he continued to take on water to avoid his previous days hydration problems, I was in anguish as he needed a late stage tire change. I was completely won over by him as an individual and competitor and I thank him for this moment in history.
Why?
Raw human ability to overcome the most crushing defeat at all odds is the not the American dream, it is the human dream, the human experience. All balled up in something I find to be a spiritual endeavor, cycling.
Floyd Landis is accused of injecting himself or perhaps his handlers doped him without his knowledge?
(Infamous pre-ride Beer)
http://www.velonews.com/...
In either case, today American cycling entered a new phase of shame as testimony in the Floyd Landis’ hearing before the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) enters the realm of ludicrous and absurd.
USADA is a non-governmental agency established in 2000. Responsible for implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code, which lists prohibited drugs, it was developed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which was established by the International Olympic Committee in 1999. All Olympic sports must adopt the World Anti-Doping Code.
http://www.velonews.com/...
One of only two other Americans to win the Tour de France, Greg LeMond, took the stand today. Interestingly enough LeMond has a history of confronting American Tour De France champions with allegations of cheating. LeMond provided testimony in a civil case between Lance Armstrong and a Texas-based insurance company. It begs the question...is LeMond trying to be the only American Champion? Why does he keep interceding in the affairs of the two other American Tour de France champions?
In an extreme and bizarre twist LeMond was threatened by Landis’ Business Manager last night in an apparent effort to derail his testimony today. Lemond said the following occurred on the phone last night.
LeMond said he was perplexed at first, but that changed to concern when the caller made direct references to the conversation about sexual abuse that he had with Landis last August. "He said ‘Hi Greg, this is your uncle. This is your uncle Ron and I'm going to be there tomorrow,'" LeMond recalled. "I said, ‘Who is this?' He said, ‘I'm going to be there and we can talk about how we used to hide your weenie.' I got the picture right away that there are very few people who know about that. I figured this was intimidation." The three-time Tour champ said the caller then hung up, and when LeMond redialed he got a voicemail message identifying the call recipient as "Will." LeMond said he tried calling back three more times, finally getting an answer from someone who identified himself only as "Bill." The conversation was inconclusive, so LeMond hung up and then called the police. A subsequent check of the number saved on LeMond's mobile phone showed that it belonged to Landis's business manager Will Geoghegan. http://www.velonews.com/...
I am afraid LeMond has overstepped his role and should seek to re-live his pent-up ‘Al Bundy’ passion for years past glory and do all of the American cycling fans a favor, get out of the limelight, you had your day. Let Landis have his. What the hell is LeMond thinking? Perhaps the greatest cyclist to ever live has sound advice for LeMond. Eddy Merckx said recently when asked by Belga, the Belgian news agency, if he would testify in the Landis case.
"What would I be going to do there?" Merckx said to the Belgian news agency, Belga. "I know nothing about this case, and I don't see what there is about it that I could help clear up. I even wonder why they invited me to come testify. I am completely extraneous to this story, and as far as that goes, I don't want to be mixed up in it, not up close, not at a distance. I have nothing to say about it, and I will therefore not go to testify." http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/12271.0.html
I am writing today because I lost some of my American pride. I know it is only sports. I know it is just riding a bike. It is also an American defeat and an American cheater if Landis is not exonerated. USADA is 34-0 when it comes to prosecuting doping cases. I know today Landis is innocent, he has not been proven guilty. American justice seems on a general slide from the principle of innocence until proven guilty! I cannot help but feel like Landis has been judged guilty by the European press and indeed citizens in there blood thirst for not allowing the Tour de France crown to reside in America anymore. America should stand beside his innocence and LeMond should be leading this --not contributing to his downfall. More fuel to the worldwide Ugly American Fire.
HIstory of Bike Racing