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...after his big-time bonk, Landis, who suffers from a degenerative hip condition that will require replacement surgery, staged the most spectacular comeback in Tour de France history. He blazed over three steep, lung-burning mountain passes, shredding the field to win the day's 125-mile race by nearly six minutes and pull into third place in the overall standings, just 30 seconds behind ex-teammate and leader Oscar Pereiro of Spain. "He went from the penthouse to the outhouse to the moon," says Ventura. Saturday, as expected, Landis sprinted past Pereiro and Carlos Sastre, also from Spain...
...That set up a Sunday coronation in Paris, along the Champs-Elysees. By custom, there's no racing on the final day if the leader has a significant advantage. Thus, an American was set to win an eighth straight Tour de France title. (A certain Texan named Armstrong won the last seven...
...Landis's win was a dream result for the Tour. For a few days at least, the comeback overshadowed yet another cycling doping scandal that eliminated several of the pre-race favorites, like Germany's Jan Ullrich and Italy's Ivan Basso. Their withdrawals could take nothing away from Landis's alpine achievement. "That was just crazy - the most impressive thing I've ever seen," says Jonathan Vaughters, who has been riding and coaching on the pro cycling circuit for the last 13 years. "It was like throwing a Hail Mary from one end zone to the other with...
...caught short-handed again - he ate a ton on Wednesday night, and his teammates and he packed 70 water bottles for his miraculous Thursday trip. Some riders think his "bonk" could actually have helped him. "When you suffer that kind if implosion," says Thierry Gouvenou, a French ex-Tour cyclist who now works as a pacer on many stages, "you often overcompensate afterwards: get really rehydrated, charge up the calories, get extra rest. You have all this extra wind you put into your sails to give lift...
...Even the French, no friend of American cyclists, admire Landis's panache. "Can he become the kind of star who gets people excited?" asks Gouvenous. "Why not? He sure did this week." After all, he went bonkers on the Tour de France field...