"The Glory of Young Men Is Their Strength," said a marquee sign in the yard in Farmersville, Pennsylvania.

"Way to Pedal Floyd!" someone had added.

Friends and family were to gather at a neighbour's house later on Sunday to sample a big white cake that Landis's mother, Arlene, had made for the occasion.

Many had been in church during Landis's ride on the Champs-Elysees in Paris and would see the conclusion of his three-week journey for the first time during a replay on a neighbour's television.

"He has worked so hard for this," said his mother as she anxiously awaited a telephone call from her son, one of six children.