Jonathan de Villiers
Landis in his Strasbourg hotel room two days before the start of the Tour de France, demonstrating the time-trial position that he calls the Praying Mantis.
Posted on 07/09/2006 9:57:08 PM PDT by nutmeg
(This article will appear in The Magazine on July 16.)
‘‘That’s the one,’’ Floyd Landis said, his index finger tapping rapidly on a glossy page. ‘‘That’s what I want.’’
It was a lovely June evening in Murrieta, a small city in Southern California, and it was 10 days before the start of the Tour de France, the most prestigious and grueling of all cycling races. Landis, one of America’s hopefuls in the race now that Lance Armstrong has retired from the sport, was sitting on his patio, eating a piece of Greek-style pizza and shopping for a new hip.
Actually, he was not shopping so much as hunting. As Landis looked through the pages, his lean 5-foot-10, 150-pound body shifted hungrily, his muscles flickering beneath his tan Harley-Davidson T-shirt and blue jeans. His gaze was sharp and intense; his reddish hair stuck out in spots, as if it were electrified.
Landis, who is 30, slid the booklet, an annual report from a joint-replacement manufacturer, across the table toward Brent Kay, his doctor. Together they gazed at the silvery ball-and-cup assembly identified as the Durom hip system.
‘‘Nice, huh?’’ Landis said, and it was hard to argue. In the oversize photograph, the Durom was a glistening, precision-milled orb. It resembled a Henry Moore sculpture or perhaps an expensive set of drawer pulls.
‘‘Sure, it might look good,’’ Kay said, drolly setting himself up for the inevitable bike-shop bon mot. ‘‘But do they make it in titanium?’’
‘‘They’d better!’’ Landis’s face beamed with a fierce smile, his voice rising with mock indignation. ‘‘I wouldn’t want anything to slow me down!’’
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Landis in his Strasbourg hotel room two days before the start of the Tour de France, demonstrating the time-trial position that he calls the Praying Mantis.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2006 list.
Floyd is the favorite now to win the Tour, trading at 30% at Tradesports, with the next rider trading at 7%.
By all accounts, Floyd is a great guy, and really easy to root for. That he is doing so well with avascular necrosis of his hip is amazing.
If Landis wins the tour it will be Americans winning 11 of the last 21 years.
Wow, I just read this today, and now I'm REALLY ready to root for him! Incredible. Thank you for posting the article, and for all that you do for us Tour fans.
I thought Italy won the Tour de France when that French dude got kicked out.
I know... I can't imagine how he is doing this, and how he will last until July 23rd. Go Floyd! :o)
This is beyond belief. This guy is a monster.
I doubt the Tour fans care much about where someone is from, except you know it's nice for the french to have someone french winning or battling for the yellow jersey. Still, it's stranger than fiction how dominant americans have been this past 20 years.
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