July 19, 2006Landis amazing in defeatSeven hours ago Floyd Landis appeared poised to become just the third American to win the Tour de France. Then the bottom fell out. Landis blew up on the day’s final climb, lost tons of time and said goodbye to any hopes he had of inheriting the throne vacated by Lance Armstrong. I try not to miss any mountain stages so I was watching the live coverage as Landis imploded. It was gut-wrenching. As his rivals pedaled away, Landis was helpless, grimacing and staring at the road ahead of his front wheel. It was reminiscent of that scene in 1982 when triathlete Julie Moss staggered and crawled the final stretch of the Hawaiian Ironman. When he finally finished Landis didn’t say much as he was hurried into a team car. But later, in an interview that can be seen here, he met the press. And he was amazing. The guy walked in with a smile on his face. Landis, who has shown refreshing modesty in all of his interviews during the Tour, said ignoring the situation wouldn’t change things. He didn’t make excuses. He said he had a bad day on the wrong day. He said he’ll keep fighting, even though he knows he’s got little hope of winning. Landis faces hip replacement surgery at the end of the season. It could end his career. I bet it doesn’t. |
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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