Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Legendary, Gutsy, Superb, Awesome, Possessed, Man on a Mission, Crazy, Spiteful, Revenege Seeking, Man on a Mission, Mr. Excitement, choose you moniker, adjective, whatever. This is the gutsiest move by any Tour contender in the modern era. Bernard Hinault was known for similar type moves, but nothing like this. From a complete crack yesterday to a gutsy move today, Floyd Landis is back in contention for the Tour de France. From one of the biggest cracks to the bigest comeback in a span of 24 hours. I expected Landis to recover and show some force today, but I did not expect him to almost get the Yellow Jersey back. The emphatic fist waving at the finish line by Landis was a sign that he is definatley back.

At the finish line, Landis told interviewer Frankie Andreu that he wants to win the Tour de France. This type of statement is very refreshing after the almost robotic domination of Lance Armstrong and the associated canned statements. Floyd has style, panache, and a hard head which are as much a key as Lance Armstrong psychological domination of the past seven years. Landis’ foray to gain back time was the result of a man who has nothing to lose and did not care about racing to protect a top ten finish. But the solo effort may have been the best option for Landis after yesterday’s crack. Landis has the team car at hand where he could get water bottles on demand. When he needed a bike change, there was not worry, the car was right there. The man who is a very good time trialer was basically time trialing through most of the stage, with some very good support.

Landis learned the lessons of yesterday’s crack and was seen always getting a water bottle from the car. When he was not dumping the bottle on his head, he would he holding it open with his hand. At one point I thought that the Phonak team car could run out of bottles to give to Floyd. The other concern was that Sinkewitz would stick on Landis’ wheel for the stage and sneak around for the win. That was put to rest as Sinkewitz could not keep the blistering pace of Landis up the climb of the Joux Plane. The final blistering descent saw Landis gain 30 seconds on second place Sastre who was trying to get the Yellow Jersey himself. Sastre missed by about 15 seconds.

Landis is now poised to still win the Tour de France. The race that many thought was Landis’ to lose, is now Landis’ to win. The next stage could be a chance to rest up for the Time Trial, but with CSC poised to get the Yellow by 15 seconds and a cat 2 climb in the mix, watch for CSC to shake things up in tomorrow’s stage. Sastre may not be as quick of a time trialer as Landis, but CSC wants the win too, and they have the fire power to further shake things up tomorrow.