Landis loses lead at Tour de France
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-20 08:46 He surprised many Tour fans last week by announcing that he was
riding with increasing pain in a right hip that had been damaged in a 2003
crash, and planned to have surgery on it this fall. It raised the prospect that
Landis - like cancer survivor Armstrong - could overcome adversity and win cycling's
premier race.
Landis insisted the hip wasn't a factor Wednesday.
Pereiro, meantime, has been one of the biggest surprises at the Tour. Even
though he was a Top 10 finisher the last two years, he had come in primarily as
a support rider for Illes Balears teammate Alejandro Valverde, who crashed out
in Stage 3 with a broken right collarbone.
Overall, Pereiro holds a 1:50 lead over Sastre in second, and 2:29 ahead of
Kloeden in third.
Like Pereiro, the other two are also former support riders for their fallen
team leaders: Kloeden for Ullrich at T-Mobile; Sastre for Basso at Team CSC.
Landis says he thinks all three have a shot at the title with a final Alpine
stage Thursday and a penultimate individual time trial Saturday.
The race ends Sunday on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
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