Tour: Landis Back In It!

After a disastrous day yesterday, Floyd Landis has pulled himself back into the Tour de France once more with an amazing ride in the Alps today. In yesterday's stage, the American cyclist cracked on the mountains, and fell some 8 minutes and 8 seconds behind Spaniard Oscar Periero. Many, including me, felt that Landis' chances of winning were dashed on the mountainside, but today he proved everyone wrong. He sprinted out to a lead on the first of three brutal climbs, knowing that he had a huge deficit to make up, and when he had crossed the finish line in first place, winning the stage, Landis had narroed the gap between him and the Yellow Jersey to just thirty seconds. Tomorrow the Tour leaves the Alps behind with a mostly flat, fast stage. It's unlikely that anyone will make a major move at the top tomorrow, as team tactics and relatively easy riding will make it easy to reel someone back in. But Saturday marks the final Time Trial of this years Tour, and Landis excels in Time Trials. Much better than Periero. That thirty second gap doesn't look like much at this point, and Landis has regained his status as the odds on favorite to wear Yellow when the riders enter the Champs Elyse on Sunday.

Words can't describe how gritty a performance Landis turned in today. He basically saw the huge gap between him and the Periero, knew what he had to do, and went out and did it. A lesser rider would have just packed it in, and finsished the Tour as best as he could, but Landis, who will have one of his hips replaced after the Tour is over, wasn't going to let that happen. Today's ride is already being hailed as one of the greatest in tour history, and certainly ranks up there with the legends of this sport. It's hard to convey to someone who isn't a fan of cycling or doesn't follow the tour, just how huge this performance was today.

This year's Tour started off in controversy as many of the top names were suspended, just days before the start, due to a doping scandal. In fact, the top four finishers from last year were not in the race at all, as Lance Armstrong retired after winning his seventh tour. This made for a wide open field, that has been very competitive, and very compelling to watch. We've seen some epic rides over the past few weeks, and we're not done yet. Sunday should cap a great Tour with a great champion, no matter who is wearing Yellow at the end.