Congratulations Floyd Landis!

Mr. Landis grew up in Farmersville, PA - less a town than a state of mind. He had to wear sweatpants in his first bike race because his religion forbids the wearing of shorts. His parents had to watch his Tour victory from a neighbor's house because they don't own a television.

The Mennonites' beliefs only seem crazy to those without the proper perspective. Wrapping your children in C-4 and sending them off to blow up cafes and employment agencies in the name of your god is really crazy. (Actually, that no-television thingee makes a lot of sense.)

ESPN.com (via AP): Landis continues American dominance at Tour

PARIS -- The craziest Tour de France in memory ended Sunday the same way the last seven had: with an American wearing the yellow jersey, this time with a Landis instead of a Lance.

Floyd Landis kept the Stars and Stripes on top of the Tour de France.
After stunning feats of willpower and woeful cracks of concentration, Floyd Landis' arthritic hip held up and he held on for the ceremonial ride over the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysées.

"I kept fighting, never stopped believing," Landis said after leaving the winner's podium with his daughter, Ryan.

But plenty of race fans surely had their doubts, especially after his wild ride in the Alps last week.

Landis had tried to apply Armstrong's meticulous strategy for winning, but that went awry when he flat out cracked in the final climb of Stage 16 on Wednesday, giving up a lead and falling 8 minutes, 8 seconds behind Spain's Oscar Pereiro.

All but written off, he managed a stunning rebound the very next day in the last mountain stage, pedaling like a madman and closing the gap to 30 seconds.

So astounding was the turnaround that race director Jean-Marie Leblanc, who has overseen this event 18 years, called it "the best performance in the modern history of the Tour."

The comeback was read by many as a master stroke, instantly enshrining Landis in cycling's pantheon alongside greats like five-time Tour champion Eddy Merckx of Belgium for his show of both human frailty and superhuman courage in the span of 24 hours.

The 30 seconds put Landis, who hails from eastern Pennsylvania's Dutch country, in position to win by outpacing Pereiro in the final time trial Saturday.

Also, congrats to the guys at Green Mountain Cyclery in Ephrata, PA (more of a town than a state of mind) for giving Floyd his start.

If anyone wants to bet against Floyd coming back from his imminent hip replacement, I'll take all the action I can get...