In fact, the cheese-eating surrender monkeys weren’t anywhere near the winners’ podium:
Floyd Landis won the Tour de France on Sunday, keeping cycling’s most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.
The 30-year-old Landis cruised to victory on the Champs-Elysees, a day after regaining the leader’s yellow jersey and building an insurmountable lead in the final time trial.
“I kept fighting, never stopped believing,” Landis said, shortly after he received the winner’s yellow jersey on the podium, joined by his daughter, Ryan.
Landis picked up where another American left off last year, when Lance Armstrong completed his seventh and final Tour triumph.
With the victory, Landis becomes the third American — joining Armstrong and three-time winner Greg LeMond — to win the Tour.
Sunday’s champagne and Landis’ fifth yellow jersey of the Tour were possible thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime ride Thursday in the Alps that put the Phonak team leader back in contention, one day after a disastrous ride dropped him from first to 11th, more than eight minutes back.
Oscar Pereiro of Spain finished second overall at 57 seconds back, and Germany’s Andreas Kloeden was third, 1:29 behind Landis.
Norway’s Thor Hushovd won the final stage Sunday of the three-week race. He had also won the Tour prologue on July 1.
And, yes, I realize I’m being a sore winner, but I don’t care. The French rather consistently place themselves at the bottom of my “favorite European countries” list (a list with a long bottom, and a short top).
Enough with the French — huge kudos to Floyd Landis, who not only pulled off an impressive victory on its face, but who also returned from a terrible one day ride. I’m most impressed.
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First one’s a fluke, second one’s a coincidence, third one is a…trend. This must really, really gall the French. I think that I will go pour myself a nice drink, sit on the deck and wait for wailing and gnashing of French teeth to begin. Oh, sweet victory!
Shame on you for being a sore winner. You should be a proud and arrogant winner. I know I am.
Making fun of the French is an American past time, Book. Go ahead and enjoy it.
Here’s another example of making fun of the French. The military does it quite more often than most I believe.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/07/brokeback_frenc.html
Now all we need is a soccer team that can kick French butt.
Ymarsakar,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That is hilarious.
I don’t think the French actually worry about it much. When was the last time an actual French rider won the Tour, anyway? It must have been in my lifetime, but I don’t recall…
But they’re used to this by now. After all, last year’s Formula 1 world championship-winning car was indeed Renault – but the car’s assembled in England, the team’s run by an Italian, and the driver’s were (and are) a Spaniard and an Italian, and the standard language of the team is English.
Sacre Bleu!!!
They worry about it, because they tried to accuse Lance Armstrong of doping, which they know French atheletes certainly does dope. When an athlete relies upon doping as a crutch, they can no longer push themselves to their limits and past.
Before 9/11, I remember California winning the international wine festival, beating France.
I was thinking the same thing, Ymarsakar! They accused Lance of doping, so what will stop them from claiming Floyd Landis doped?
And the best part is that he kicked their butts with a bad hip–he’ll soon be undergoing hip replacement surgery.
I don’t know, I suspect the French will be thinking that the best part is that Landis was actually on drugs to win…