The Landis Has Eagled

Ah, mixing my metaphors.

Today it became official. Floyd Landis won the Tour de France. He had never done better than ninth in any previous attempt. Had Basso or Ullrich been in the race, they would have been considered favorites. The doping scandal at the beginning of the tour knocked them out, and relative unknown, Floyd Landis became the odds-on favorite.

Reporters of the even tended to focus on a few things from Landis's past. First, he was raised Mennonite in Pennsylvania, and rejected his upbringing to race. Second, his hip condition that will require hip replacement surgery soon afterwards. Third, his collapse on Wednesday, July 19, that left him more than eight minutes behind the leader, with three stages left and essentially no time to mount a comeback, then the bold move on Thursday, July 20, after everyone had said he was out of it, where he charged on a solo win, beating the next competitor by nearly six minutes, and moving to third place, a mere thirty seconds behind leader Oscar Pereiro, himself, not considered the favorite. Then, Saturday, July 22, Landis taking third in the time trial, a minute and a half faster than Pereiro, enough to secure a 59 second lead.

Everyone decided with a minute lead, Landis would become champion. The final day is usually ceremonial, provided the two leaders are separated by about a minute or more. If they had been separated by twenty second or thirty seconds, there would have been a competition.

This is the unusual kind of etiquette not seen in other sports, the kind of etiquette which says that if someone falls off their bike, that the others wait until they recover, and do not take advantage of the mishap. Such etiquette makes some sense, since it would encourage riders to be a little dirty, to knock the leader off the bike. This etiquette means that such a strategy would be fruitless.

The French seemed to have embraced Landis more than they ever embraced the chilly Armstrong. He seems more down-to-earth, his willingness to fight at the end, when all seemed lost, his ailing hip. Landis is thirty years old. This is not that unusual among cyclists who must often work their way up the ranks to lead their teams.

When Lance won his seventh tour, he was nearly 34, which means he won his first in 1999, he was nearly 28.

Whether Landis can win other tours depends on his recovery from hip surgery, and how well Basso and Ullrich compete. Ullrich won the tour once in 1997, two years before Lance won his first of seven. Ullrich has placed second a bunch of times, so one wonders how long he can continue to compete near the top of cycling. Were it not for Lance, we might be talking about Ullrich's dominance over the years. Many people think Ullrich is talented enough to win, but bright enough? Driven enough?

Today also marked another major win for Tiger Woods. After failing to make the cut at the U.S. Open, the first major after his father's death, he had a one stroke lead over the field entering the final round. He had never lost when leading in the final round. He had also never won when trailing in the final round.

Although Chris DiMarco, his main rival, made a game attempt at winning, Woods took the win by two strokes.

Woods won his eleventh title at the British Open, still seven short of Jack Nicklaus, whose record seems well within reach, should Tiger win between 1-2 events per year.

Although I normally like following Woods, I found the story of Landis and his win more compelling, perhaps because, much like the World Cup, the event takes place over weeks, and you can trace the fortunes and failures over a long period of time. It's been a wild ride, and the adulations are likely to continue.