Jul 8, 2006
Landis Emerges
(pic from Yahoo!)
Floyd Landis did not dominate the first Time Trial of the Tour de France, but he performed better than any other GC contender which puts him in a great spot. Second place would probably have other guys stomping their fists on the handlebars, but Gonchar was far and above all of the competition with a blazingly fast Time Trail. Floyd seemed happy to get second, even though he describes thevent as an ass kicking. Floyd is in a very good spot despit having one T-Mobile guy ahead of him and three others breathing down his neck. It is a German fest in the top ten with Kloden, Sinkewitz and Gerolsteiner’s Markus Fothen all trying to make up for Germany’s loss in the World Cup. Michael Rogers is sitting only eight second behind Landis.
Being in second place with a tough-to-control second week is probably the best spot for Landis. T-Mobile will have to work for Gonchar since they would like to keep the Yellow Jersey and the standing may not shake up that much for a few days. Meanwhile Floyd’s Phonack team can keep supporting Floyd making sure he is in the right spots at all times, while T-Mobile has the burden of the Yellow for a few days.
Change in the Praying Landis position.
Incidentally, Landis’ TT position had to go through a last minute change. If you notice the TT bars are tilted down and Floyd’s hands are not in front of his face as they were during the prologue TT. Seems that the UCI had a last minute change of heart about the position and decided that Floyd needed to move his arms down a bit. Landis took the situation in stride, as you cannot do anything else really other than be DQd.