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American Landis closing in on stunning Tour victory

MONTCEAU-LES-MINES, France (AP) -- American Floyd Landis is all but assured of winning the Tour de France after regaining the overall lead Saturday.

The individual time trial, won by Ukraine's Serhiy Honchar, shaped up as the decisive stage in one of the most topsy-turvy Tours in years.

"I could not be happier," Landis said, adding he had been nervous before the stage. "It's one of the best days of my life."

The Phonak team leader reclaimed the yellow jersey from Spain's Oscar Pereiro, who started Saturday's race against the clock with a thin 30-second lead over Landis. The 30-year-old Landis moved up from third to first, gaining 59 seconds on the now second-place Pereiro.

"I am very lucky," said Landis, who's riding with an arthritic right hip, an injury from a 2003 crash that he hopes to correct with surgery this fall. "I'm a person who works hard and never gives up. Otherwise, I'm just a human being."

With such a lead, Landis is in prime position to take home the maillot jaune -- barring disaster in Sunday's ride into Paris -- in the first Tour since fellow American Lance Armstrong's record seven straight victories.

Honchar, like he did in the seventh stage time trial, dominated the 35.4-mile course from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines, finishing in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 46 seconds. German rider Andreas Kloeden was second, 41 seconds back. Landis placed third, 1:11 off the Honchar's pace. Pereiro was fourth, 2:40 behind.

Kloeden's strong ride Saturday moved him from fourth overall to third at 1:29 back, dropping Spain's Carlos Sastre to fourth. Sastre entered the stage second overall, but he crossed the line 4:41 back of Honchar, falling to 3:13 behind Landis.

Landis and Pereiro have traded the yellow jersey four times since the American first claimed it in Stage 11.

"Hopefully I won't give it away again," he said with a smile. "But I do think it's over now."

With Lance and now this guy. I bet the French were kind of hoping with Lance out of the way, they would have a shot at winning their own bike race. I guess not.

Finally, a sport Americans can win at!

Those pesky Americans, they just don't give up. At least its not an important sport like Football!:p

Finally, a sport Americans can win at!


Well that and the Olympics. The US almost always gets the most medals in the Summer Olympics and usually gets second most (behind Germany) in the Winter Olympics.

:D And we just won it

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205166,00.html

Tiger just won the British Open also. :thumb

Geez I hope this isn't really the case, but it sure doesn't look good for Landis.

Team to dismiss Landis if excessive level of testosterone confirmed

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race, his Phonak team said Thursday on its Web site.

The statement came a day after the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, said an unidentified rider had failed a drug test during the Tour.

The Swiss-based Phonak team said it was notified by the UCI on Wednesday that Landis’ sample showed “an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone” when he was tested after stage 17 of the race last Thursday.

Landis made a remarkable comeback in that Alpine stage, racing far ahead of the field for a solo win that moved him from 11th to third in the overall standings. He regained the leader’s yellow jersey two days later.

“The team management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result,” the Phonak statement said.

Phonak said Landis would ask for an analysis of his backup “B” sample “to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake.”

Landis has been suspended by his team pending the results. If the second sample confirms the initial finding, he will be fired from the team, Phonak said.

Landis awaiting 'B' sample test results Saturday

PARIS -- Tour de France champion Floyd Landis, whose initial doping tests turned up positive for an elevated ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, gets another chance to clear his name when a second set is expected to be released on Saturday.

However, the 30-year-old cyclist and his lawyer have previously acknowledged that they expect the "B" sample to show the same ratio found in the "A" sample last week.

Michael Henson, a spokesman for the cyclist, confirmed Tuesday that a urine test on Landis after the tour's 17th stage turned up an 11:1 ratio -- far above the 4:1 limit allowed. A 1:1 ratio is average.

The "A" sample was provided July 20 by the cyclist after he zoomed his way back into contention by winning a tough Alpine leg with an epic ride that will long be remembered by race fans.

Landis has insisted that his body's natural metabolism -- not doping -- caused the elevated result and said he would undergo further tests to prove it.

But a New York Times report cast doubt on that defense. The newspaper cited a source from the UCI, cycling's international federation, saying that a second analysis of the "A" sample, called a carbon isotope ratio test, had detected synthetic testosterone in Landis' system. The newspaper said the person at UCI had knowledge of the result.

The "B" sample, collected from Landis at the same time as the "A" sample, will be unsealed in the presence of Landis' lawyer and tested at the same Chatenay-Malabry lab near Paris.

If it comes back negative, the cyclist would be cleared.

If the tests confirm the "A" sample results, Landis could become the first winner of cycling's premiere race to lose the yellow jersey in a doping case. Should that occur, Tour runner-up Oscar Pereiro of Spain would be declared the winner.

Landis has already been suspended by his Phonak racing team pending the final results and could be fired. He could also face a two-year ban from racing.

Although UCI counsel Philippe Verbiest confirmed that an isotope test had taken place, he declined to provide details.

UCI president Pat McQuaid said he had not seen the test results but emphasized that Landis was presumed innocent until found guilty and guaranteed the cyclist would be given the chance to defend himself before an arbitration panel before any penalties would be imposed.

"It could take weeks," McQuaid told The Associated Press by telephone.

He added that even if the "B" sample confirms the "A" results, no penalties would be decided "until the disciplinary process is completed." That process could also drag out if Landis decides to appeal a UCI ruling before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said results from the "B" sample were expected to be released Saturday morning.

Landis was traveling Tuesday within the United States, his spokesman said, without specifying the destination.

"We're waiting for conclusive results," Henson added, but he declined to comment about whether synthetic testosterone had been found in the first sample.

McQuaid, too, would not confirm whether synthetic testosterone was found in Landis' "A" sample.

"It's big news, certainly," he said, "but it doesn't change the protocol. It's not our policy to give out details about such cases."

The Tour began and ended under the specter of doping -- a plague that has consistently dogged cycling. On the eve of the July 1 start to the race, nine riders including prerace favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were sent home after being implicated in a Spanish doping probe.

Asked about the Landis case, Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said: "I sure would hate to be the brand manager for cycling right now."