Tales: New American hero?

ByEurosport

Published 24/07/2006 at 14:58 GMT

While American fans draped in US flag-capes lined the Champs Elysées to pay tribute to Lance Armstrong's successor on Saturday, can Floyd Landis replace the seven-time champion in the hearts of his countrymen?

CYCLING 2006 Tour de France Floyd Landis American Flag stage 20 slideshow

Image credit: Reuters

The soft-spoken Pennsylvanian won the 2006 Tour de France with a spectacular come-from-behind victory, befitting any great sports hero in the United States.

But Lance's accomplishments seem to have a stronger resonance among Americans, even a year after the Texan retired from the sport.

Ratings for Tour in the United States dropped 50% from 2005 in the first two weeks of the post-Lance era.

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And anyone strolling along the Champs Elysées on Saturday was likely to see Huas many spectators clad in Norwegian flag-capes celebrating the achievements of Thor Hushovd, winner of the first stage of the Tour and ultimately the final stage in Paris, as their American counterparts celebrating Floyd's greater accomplishment.

The yellow LiveStrong bracelets of Lance Armstrong's cancer charity were out in abundance, however.

CYCLING 2006 Tour de France lance armstrong livestrong yellow bracelet

Image credit: Reuters

And as for marketing concerns, the Paris Nike Store on the Champs had four jerseys for sale in its window: the yellow leader's jersey, the polka-dot climber's jersey, the green sprinter's jersey, and the blue, grey and white Discovery Channel kit of Lance Armstrong's former team.

Granted a Nike logo appears on the Discovery kits, but Landis' yellow and green Phonak jersey was obviously not a major draw.

"I think anybody who can beat cancer, and is a survivor like that is such a symbol, such an inspiration," said San Diego's Nancy Parinello, echoing what has been part of Armstrong's enormous appeal in the States: his battle with testicular cancer and comeback to the podium.

"That deserves a lot of respect," Parinello said, wearing a red-white-and-blue sequined top and standing with a group of American fans about 50 metres past the finish line.

Parinello was in her eighth year of visiting the race and said she would keep returning for as long as possible, even if Armstrong was no longer an attraction.

CYCLING 2005 Tour de France Lance Armstrong Photo Palmares

Image credit: Imago

"Eight years ago we just came, we didn't know who Lance was," Parinello said. "We just came to see the Tour de France, because we love all the riders, and anybody who can do this race deserves all the respect you can have."

Many of the Americans in the crowd said they were first-time visitors of the Tour, which could either indicate that support is strong and fresh, or that people who have come to see Armstrong in the past stopped coming in 2006.

Hope springs eternal

Still, Floyd Landis' victory in this Grande Boulce is a hopeful sign that the sport will be able to keep Americans interested, even without Armstrong.

"I think it's great, it's obviously good for US cycling," Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer told eurosport.com at the start of Stage 20.

George Hincapie, who conceded that he was disappointed with his own Tour performance for Discovery Channel, was happy to see an American in yellow for the eighth straight year.

"Floyd is my old roommate so we spent a lot of time together, and he rode an amazing race so he deserves it," Hincapie said.

Shouts of 'Go Floyd' could also be heard on each of Landis' eight loops around the Champs Elysées.

"We came all the way here to see Floyd win the Tour. We knew right from the start he'd be the winner," said a first-time visitor from Fair Haven, New Jersey, who was at the race with his wife and two sons.

CYCLING 2006 Tour de France Floyd Landis Arc de Triomphe stage 20 champs elysees slideshow

Image credit: Reuters

"We all miss Lance Armstrong, because we all miss a true champion who will go down in the record books as the greatest champion, but we have an American winning the race so we're very happy," he added.

"I think Floyd is just a really nice guy," said 12-year-old Dylan, who stood on a chair with Parinello's group.

"He's just a cutie," she chimed in.

Whether that could also make him an inspiration to his compatriots remains to be seen.

Lance and Leblanc kiss and make up?

"'Nous aimons les Français,' it means we love the French," a senior American spectator was overheard teaching a younger fan on Sunday.

Whether or not the French and Armstrong love each other is still slightly up in the air, though the American has testified as much in the past.

Armstrong did apparently concede to meet outgoing Tour director Jean Marie Leblanc on Saturday, a symbolic gesture he had originally said he would decline in light of the bad blood between the two after Leblanc lent credence to accusations that the American had used EPO in his first Tour victory in 1999.

CYCLING 2006 Tour de France Leblanc

Image credit: Reuters

"I don't think so," Armstrong replied last week when asked if he would get together with Leblanc and other organisers. "I think I'll hang out with my friends and my team-mates before I hang out with them."

When the story broke in the French newspaper L'Equipe last August, Leblanc called the charges "proven scientific facts" and said that Armstrong owed an explanation to the Tour.

The explanation of each side apparently sufficed for Leblanc, who said that he left the meeting with a sense of "mutual respect."

"We all explained ourselves well, and we all agreed that, until proof of the contrary, Lance Armstrong has not lost any respect for the Tour de France," Leblanc told eurosport.com.

INTERVIEW: Leblanc praises Lance meeting

Discovery wants Floyd back?

As a part-owner of Discovery Channel, Armstrong still has a stake in the team's performance, and he says he wants former US Postal team-mate Landis back.

"We've always been interested in Floyd, he's a damn good rider," Armstrong told The Associated Press. "We would take Floyd back. We've pursued him for some time now."

Armstrong and Discovery sporting director Johan Bruyneel will have to wait for this year's Maillot Jaune, as Landis extended his contract another year with Phonak after the victory.

And finally....

Over the last three weeks, we've had a lot of fun with the 2006 Tour de France caption contest, and we hope you all have too. Our final stage winner appropriately comes from an American, John Henderson in Henderson, Kentucky. "Okay, short straw has to tell Moreau and Dessel that the top French riders don't get to participate in the awards ceremony."