PARIS _ Floyd Landis won the Tour de France on Sunday, keeping cycling's
most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.
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Phonak's team rider Floyd Landis of the U.S., wearing the leader's
yellow jersey, celebrates as he takes his lap of honor around the Champs
Elysees after winning the 93rd Tour de France cycling race after the final
stage between Sceaux-Antony and the Champs-Elysees in Paris, July 23,
2006. [Reuters] |
The 30-year-old Landis cruised
to victory on the Champs-Elysees, a day after regaining the leader's yellow
jersey and building an insurmountable lead in the final time trial.
Landis picked up where another American left off last year, when Lance
Armstrong completed his seventh and final Tour triumph.
"I kept fighting, never stopped believing," Landis said, shortly after he
received the winner's yellow jersey on the podium, joined by his daughter, Ryan.
With the victory, Landis becomes the third American - joining Armstrong
and three-time winner Greg LeMond - to win the Tour.
"I'm proud and happy for Floyd," said Armstrong, who watched the finish on TV
from a hotel room near the Champs-Elysees. "He proved he was the strongest,
everybody wrote him off."
"I'm very proud that an American has won again."
Landis had a solemn expression on his face and held his cap in his hand as
the "The Star-Spangled Banner" played. When the anthem was over, he broke into a
smile and waved to the crowd.
Landis, who plans to undergo replacement surgery this fall on an arthritic
right hip, said he hopes to be back next year.
"Right now that's the plan," Landis said.
He dedicated his win to Andy Rihs, owner of his Phonak team.
Without Armstrong's dominance, the Tour was blown even more wide open on the
eve of the July 1 start when prerace favorites Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich -
along with seven other riders - were sent home after being implicated in a
Spanish doping investigation. Ullrich was fired by his T-Mobile team last
Friday.
Sunday's champagne and Landis' fifth yellow jersey of the Tour were possible
thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime ride Thursday in the Alps that put the Phonak
team leader back in contention, one day after a disastrous ride dropped him from
first to 11th, more than eight minutes back.
