One If By Landis

Yesterday, Floyd Landis, lead rider of the Phonak team, had the bad day he said he had to avoid. He had lost eight minutes to the leader, Oscar Pereiro, after holding a slim ten second lead, and fell from first to eleventh. It was the second day in the tough three day mountain stages. Landis's team was unable to support him.

This, most felt certain, was the blow that would knock Landis from the podium on the final day at the Champ d'Elysees. Eight minutes may not seem like much, but when Lance Armstrong held a lead of seven minutes, it seemed like an eternity. He could hold that lead with a vise grip.

Landis was considered the favorite, with Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso out of the race due to a doping scandal. Pereiro thought, for sure, that Landis could win this outright when he applied pressure at the right point.

Landis made one day seem like an eternity. If he were to come back, he had to be aggressive today. He had to win the stage. And that seemed far from likely given yesterday's poor showing. Landis won the stage more than five minutes ahead of second place, and he might have even stretched it further. Even so, with his remarkable charge, he is now in third place, a mere 30 seconds behind.

There is a time trial on Saturday where Landis hopes to be able to reclaim the lead. Much like Armstrong, Landis's strength lies in the mountain stages and time trials.

Landis would not likely have taken this strategy were he not so far behind, trying to push his way to the lead, and gain back as much time as possible.

There are a few stages left, and all is not assured yet. However, Landis made an incredible recovery, and kept hopes up that maybe he's ready to take control.