Stage 17
 

Is anyone else watching this?!?!!?

C'mon Floyd!!!!

How does a guy go from cracking to blowing away the Tour?

I should be working but I was watching. Landis yesterday must hazve been shor on food. Notice how often he ate and drank today? I can't believe the pe,loton let hiom get away. What a stage and what a race. The ITT will be very exciting.

It's a long ITT, and he's demonstrably better than Sastre and Pereiro, non?

I said yesterday that he would need a spectacular day today to recapture. I never thought it would happen. He says he wants to win. I think he's gonna go for it.
I stand all amazed.

Here's a good report of the day.

http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/fr/1700/index.html

EuroSport had a physical therapist call in speculating that Landis suffered from heat stroke yesterday, explaining the constant dowsing of himself today to prevent a repeat.

Totally inspiring. When he attacked on the first climb the EuroSport guys didn't know what to say. They were part aghast, part admiring, part "what the fxxx?"

He's only down 30 seconds now with two stages and the ITT. EuroSport, before the race, showed what would have happened to the GC based souly on the first ITT. Landis would have picked up 1:30 on the rest of the leaders. He beat Sastre by 1:10 in the first ITT and Pereiro by 1:40.

What a day.

The ITT will be 57 K as opposed to the Rennes 52 K.

Here are the earlier results, at least some.

1023HONCHAR SerhiyUKRTMO01:01:43:6002071LANDIS FloydUSAPHO01:02:44:220à 00h 01' 01"3044LANG SebastianGERGST01:02:47:870à 00h 01' 04"4026ROGERS MichaelAUSTMO01:03:07:470à 00h 01' 24"5156LARSSON GustavSWEFDJ01:03:17:080à 00h 01' 33"6027SINKEWITZ PatrikGERTMO01:03:22:250à 00h 01' 39"7042FOTHEN MarcusGERGST01:03:25:370à 00h 01' 42"8021KLÖDEN AndréasGERTMO01:03:26:860à 00h 01' 43"9051MENCHOV DenisRUSRAB01:03:27:500à 00h 01' 44"10057POSTHUMA JoostNEDRAB01:03:28:010à 00h 01' 44"11061EVANS CadelAUSDVL01:03:32:990à 00h 01' 49"12096KARPETS VladimirRUSCEI01:03:35:280à 00h 01' 52"13018ZABRISKIE DavidUSACSC01:03:40:190à 00h 01' 57"14024KESSLER MatthiasGERTMO01:03:46:370à 00h 02' 03"15031MOREAU ChristopheFRAA2R01:03:47:060à 00h 02' 03"16025MAZZOLENI EddyITATMO01:03:48:210à 00h 02' 05"17079PENA Victor HugoCOLPHO01:03:52:580à 00h 02' 09"18014SASTRE CarlosESPCSC01:03:54:190à 00h 02' 11"19009SAVOLDELLI PaoloITADSC01:03:55:800à 00h 02' 12"20157LÖVKVIST ThomasSWEFDJ01:04:19:390à 00h 02' 36"21072GRABSCH BertGERPHO01:04:21:760à 00h 02' 38"22002EKIMOV ViatceslavRUSDSC01:04:23:830à 00h 02' 40"23097PEREIRO SIO OscarESPCEI01:04:24:520à 00h 02' 41"24003HINCAPIE GeorgeUSADSC01:04:25:670à 00h 02' 42"25178ROUS DidierFRABTL01:04:34:190à 00h 02' 51"26008RUBIERA José LuisESPDSC01:04:49:200à 00h 03' 06"27134CHAVANEL SylvainFRACOF01:04:49:550à 00h 03' 06"28139WIGGINS BradleyGBRCOF01:04:53:370à 00h 03' 10"29004MARTINEZ EgoiESPDSC01:04:56:670à 00h 03' 13"30016VANDEVELDE ChristianUSACSC01:04:57:470à 00h 03' 14"31184GRIVKO AndriyUKRMRM01:04:58:840à 00h 03' 15"32007POPOVYCH YaroslavUKRDSC01:05:00:410à 00h 03' 17"33033ASTARLOZA MikelESPA2R01:05:01:750à 00h 03' 18"34022GUERINI GiuseppeITATMO01:05:03:500à 00h 03' 20"35151CASAR SandyFRAFDJ01:05:11:600à 00h 03' 28"36129ZUBELDIA HaimarESPEUS01:05:15:440à 00h 03' 32"37146MILLAR DavidGBRSDV01:05:17:890à 00h 03' 34"38035DESSEL CyrilFRAA2R01:05:25:710à 00h 03' 42"39084BRUSEGHIN MarzioITALAM01:05:26:010à 00h 03' 42"40082BALLAN AlessandroITALAM01:05:32:910à 00h 03' 49"41101BOONEN TomBELQSI01:05:35:130à 00h 03' 52"42001AZEVEDO JoséPORDSC01:05:38:320à 00h 03' 55"43045SCHOLZ RonnyGERGST01:05:40:680à 00h 03' 57"44046TOTSCHNIG GeorgAUTGST01:05:43:550à 00h 04' 00"45006PADRNOS PavelCZEDSC01:05:45:350à 00h 04' 02"46171VOECKLER ThomasFRABTL01:05:47:310à 00h 04' 04"47186KNEES ChristianGERMRM01:05:54:990à 00h 04' 11"48064HORNER ChristopherUSADVL01:05:57:390à 00h 04' 14"49163BACKSTEDT MagnusSWELIQ01:05:58:140à 00h 04' 15"50177PINEAU JérômeFRABTL01:06:02:040à 00h 04' 18"51174FEDRIGO PierrickFRABTL01:06:02:760à 00h 04' 19"52076MERCKX AxelBELPHO01:06:02:950à 00h 04' 19"53083BENNATI DanieleITALAM01:06:07:680à 00h 04' 24"54099ZANDIO XabierESPCEI01:06:08:330à 00h 04' 25"55095GARCIA ACOSTA VicenteESPCEI01:06:10:800à 00h 04' 27"56136

The last ITT is hillier and more technical, I believe, than the first one. This should help Landis, if anything. WHat an incredible ride today. Bobke, in a bit of hyperbole, said it was the best individual effort ever in the TdF. Not sure about that, but it is certainyl among the best.

Pereiro has been impressive in Yellow. I hope he sticks on the podium. Sastre has looked to be the strongest rider not named Landis.

I like the heat stroke theory. It certainly fits with what we saw. WHen he cracked yesterday he looked like he suddenly shifted into a compleltely different gear. Arch and Q would have kicked his butt on the last few kilometers. It also explains why he took so much water to cool himself today.

What a fascinating ride. Landis can win and no one, except perhaps the lovely and devoted amber (I was getting a little tired of seeing her), thought he could just 6 hours agao. amazing.

When I saw Landis yesterday, I thought immediately, "hey, I've been there more often than Landis. At least he is human. With Lance, you felt he had become a machine."