Vive le Tour!

I haven’t posted about this years Tour de France, partially because I’ve been trying to get a handle on my feelings about the whole Operation Puerto debacle. I will say this; at least the sport of cycling is stepping up and actually doing something about the drug cheats, unlike some sports (baseball, football, etc.)
Anyway, the events of the last few days won’t allow me to keep my silence. I’ve never been a big fan of Floyd Landis, I don’t know why. Perhaps his quiet Mennonite ways were lost on me. That has changed in a big way.

First there was the restraint he showed after stage 13, dealing with all of the second guessing and nay-saying when his team allowed a breakaway to gain nearly 30 minutes, relinquishing the yellow jersey in the process. He regained the jersey with an impressive ride on stage 15’s climb of L’Alpe d’Huez.

Then there was the remarkable grace and class he showed when answering the media’s questions after stage 16 when he imploded, lost 10 minutes, the yellow jersey, and, most thought, any chance of winning le Tour.

Then came stage 17: No one would have blamed him if he had abandoned after the way he suffered on the last climb of stage 16, but Floyd had other ideas. In one of the most spectacular displays in recent Tour history, Floyd attacked 128k from the finish, gradually picked up and dropped the 11 breakaway riders ahead and soloed on for the stage win, erasing all but 30 seconds of his deficit and any doubts as to the depth of his character. This was truly the stuff of legends.

Allez Floyd! Allez!