Cycling Is an American Sport

Prior to 1986 no American had won le Tour de France, cycling's most demanding and prestigious race. When Greg LeMond recovered from a potentially career-ending hunting accident to win his second tour in 1989, a substantial minority of American sports fans took notice. LeMond was even named Sports Illustrated's 1989 Sportsman of the Year. After LeMond's third tour win in 1990, the future of American cycling was uncertain. Prior to his bout with cancer, Lance Armstrong was a talented young cyclist with a lot of potential, but one who couldn't seem to finish a Tour. Armstrong, of course, would eventually become the greatest cyclist in history and the subject of one of the most memorable stories in American sports history.

2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Tyler Hamilton seemed to be Armstrong's heir apparent. But the promising young American got suspended for doping, and after Armstrong's retirement the United States was willing to let cycling return to obscurity.

But yesterday 30-year-old Mennonite Floyd Landis became the third American to win the Tour. (Actually, for all intents and purposes, Landis won the Tour after Saturday's time trial. The Tour's final stage is more ceremonial than competitive.) Sure, Landis benefited from the suspensions of favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, but his dramatic come-from-behind win is evidence that LeMond and Armstrong were not anomalies. The United States can and does produce world-class champion cyclists; and Americans have now won 11 of the last 21 Tours de France.