Floyd Landis has won the Tour de France which finished in Paris today. It was an amazing race with a spectacular return of an American to the lead of the worlds most grueling sports event. 2,200 miles and 89 hours in the saddle riding against 170+ of the best conditioned athletes.
Landis was favored to finish high in the rankings but his hopes were smashed during Stage 16 in the Alps when he finished over 8 minutes behind the lead, surrendered the leader's jersey, and was written off by the pundits.
He was seen struggling to make the hills and looked like he wouldn't finish the stage. At the end of the day many thought that he would probably withdraw from the race altogether.
The next day he returned to the race with new determination amid rumors that he had every intention of regaining the lead - an impossible task against such talented riders.
Some even pled with him to not break away from the pack and challenge the new leaders. Floyd told them he was going to break and they had two choices, ride or follow. He told reporters that his poor performance the previous day had also been a failure of his obligation to his team and their hard efforts to get him to the race lead.
What happened during Stage 17 in the French alps was nothing short of historic. Riding the best ride of his life, when it mattered most, Floyd Landis, the mennonite kid from Lancaster, PA, hammered the course and finished with a stage win. He returned to within 30 seconds of the overall race lead. A feat unheard of in the Tour de France.
In an interview after the Stage win he was asked how he felt about winning his first Tour de France Stage win. "I don't care, I came here to win the Tour de France and I'm not done fighting".
Landis followed with a top finish in a time trial win the next day, and today rode into Paris - to win the Tour de France. The worlds toughest sporting event.
Floyd Landis, worlds greatest athlete and the guy that refused to quit - when everyone told him he was finished. Born Fighting.