Le Tour Update
by RL PolicarMurrieta Man Landis is doing much better today!
He sounds pretty confident:
Floyd Landis produced an incredible comeback a day after saying he had lost the Tour de France, to claim the last mountain stage of the race from Saint-Jean de Maurienne to Morzine.
The Phonak rider, who cracked on Thursday’s Alpine stage, crossed the line five minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sastre (CSC).
Oscar Pereiro finished seventh 7:08 off the pace and retained the yellow jersey with a lead of 12 seconds over Sastre.
Landis, having climbed four daunting passes in five hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds at an average speed of 37.18 kph, cut his deficit from 8:08 to 30 seconds.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), I had a bad day. I was very disappointed because my team had worked well,” the 30-year-old told reporters.
“I had to make up for it, I had to show I deserved to be a leader.”
Asked about his chances of winning the Tour for the first time, Landis answered: “I’m very confident in my time trialing ability but I just have to wait and see.”
Landis kicks ass! Man, I was disappointed to see him crack yesterday, but today, he obliterated the field. Go Floyd!