Monday, March 13, 2006
The First American Pretender
Floyd Landis’ overall at Paris-Nice this weekend secures the Mennonite’s place as at least an outside contender as successor to Lance Armstrong’s mantle. While Jan Ullrich still is considered by many to be the preliminary Tour favorite (if only because he remains the only active rider to have won the Tour), and riders such as Ivan Basso, Alexandre Vinokourov, Gilberto Simoni, Danilo DiLuca, or even a young gun like Damiano Cunego have better palmares, Landis has one advantage: as an American, he is the only one who could possibly replace Lance in Nike’s great marketing machine (or in a less jaded view, in the hearts of American cycling fans).
Granted, Landis is not without American competition. Levi Leipheimer has been a solid if unspectacular rider the past few years, and his Gerolsteiner squad certainly has been able to challenge its domestic rivals T-Mobile. And lest we forget, there is always “The Man,” George Hincapie. No really. Stop laughing. People are actually serious about him, apparently.
But Landis’s early wins sets him apart in the eyes of a cycling public eager for any signs that not all was lost when Armstrong hung up his wheels. Caveats that these days early season form is anything but an accurate predictor of summer performance be damned, Landis does give some hope that the Stars and Stripes will fly again in Paris.
At the same time, such pressure will certainly prove an enormous challenge for Floyd to overcome. Just as Lance struggled in his early career with expectations of being the next LeMond, early American successes will be met with even more pressure now – given that Lance’s accomplishments were of such a greater magnitude than Greg’s. That another domestic race – the Tour of Georgia – figures large in Landis’ Tour preparations (and presumably in those of many of the other US riders as well as Discovery), will likely serve only to increase the pressure.
But Landis will also be laboring under another burden, which – like Lemond’s legacy – was also a problem for Lance: the shadow of doping. The day after his win, a young Swiss teammate was suspended from Phonak for failing a mid-February drug test. Not EPO this time but testosterone, this is only the latest in a long line of drug allegations involving Phonak riders. It was only a year ago that the UCI originally declined to offer a ProTour spot to Phonak because of the number of drug scandals involving the team. Now with this latest revelation, continued performances by Landis will be met as much with suspicion as admiration. (See also, anything done by Bjarne Riis’ riders at CSC.)
How Landis handles the twin psychological burdens of American expectations and drug allegations will have as much to do with his preparation for Tour competition as will the physical training regimen between now and July.
Granted, Landis is not without American competition. Levi Leipheimer has been a solid if unspectacular rider the past few years, and his Gerolsteiner squad certainly has been able to challenge its domestic rivals T-Mobile. And lest we forget, there is always “The Man,” George Hincapie. No really. Stop laughing. People are actually serious about him, apparently.
But Landis’s early wins sets him apart in the eyes of a cycling public eager for any signs that not all was lost when Armstrong hung up his wheels. Caveats that these days early season form is anything but an accurate predictor of summer performance be damned, Landis does give some hope that the Stars and Stripes will fly again in Paris.
At the same time, such pressure will certainly prove an enormous challenge for Floyd to overcome. Just as Lance struggled in his early career with expectations of being the next LeMond, early American successes will be met with even more pressure now – given that Lance’s accomplishments were of such a greater magnitude than Greg’s. That another domestic race – the Tour of Georgia – figures large in Landis’ Tour preparations (and presumably in those of many of the other US riders as well as Discovery), will likely serve only to increase the pressure.
But Landis will also be laboring under another burden, which – like Lemond’s legacy – was also a problem for Lance: the shadow of doping. The day after his win, a young Swiss teammate was suspended from Phonak for failing a mid-February drug test. Not EPO this time but testosterone, this is only the latest in a long line of drug allegations involving Phonak riders. It was only a year ago that the UCI originally declined to offer a ProTour spot to Phonak because of the number of drug scandals involving the team. Now with this latest revelation, continued performances by Landis will be met as much with suspicion as admiration. (See also, anything done by Bjarne Riis’ riders at CSC.)
How Landis handles the twin psychological burdens of American expectations and drug allegations will have as much to do with his preparation for Tour competition as will the physical training regimen between now and July.
