This year’s Tour de France, the fabled cycling race, started with a dispirited air as its top stars were forced out by a doping scandal on the eve of race day.
Pundits and tour observers wondered what kind of competition it would be without Germany’s Jan Ullrich and Italy’s Ivan Basso pushing the pace and bidding to succeed Lance Armstrong at the head of the pack. Armstrong’s retirement only contributed to the gloom.
As it turns out, it was an exhilarating race, as an unlikely American with a bum hip and a big heart showed the world what a persistent athlete can accomplish against the greatest odds.
Floyd Landis, whose joint is disintegrating with each pedal stroke, was thought to be out of the 2,267-mile race after a disastrous stage in which he lost more than eight minutes to the leaders – a seemingly insurmountable gap.
But Landis, who credits much of his focus and determination to his parents and Mennonite upbringing in Lancaster County, Pa., came roaring back in the 17th stage, the final day in the Alps, leaving commentators and his competitors in awe.
“Incredible,” said Oscar Pereiro, the race leader who watched his margin over Landis shrink to a paltry 30 seconds. “A Hannibal of modern times,” said a commentator for Outdoor Life Network. “The best performance in the modern history of the Tour,” said race director Jean-Marie Leblanc.
Landis, who long ago gave up the pious ways of Mennonites, reportedly stopped on the drive down the mountain after his historic stage and traded fans one of his yellow jerseys for a six-pack of beer.
“Today I thought I could show that at least I would keep fighting,” he said in his typically understated style.
The irony in Landis’ win is that when he is not on a bike, he could probably qualify for a handicapped parking tag.
He walks with a limp. He takes elevators. He valet parks at the mall and cannot run. His hip injury stems from a 2003 bike crash that cut off the blood supply to the head of his right femur, which has been withering and scraping away the cartilage in his joint. The pain is constant. Landis plans hip replacement surgery in the upcoming offseason.
In an era when doping scandals have become a depressingly familiar headline, Landis’ improbable victory and Tiger Woods’ tearful salute to his father at the British Open provided an inspirational weekend that buoys the spirit of those who love sport.
