Landis Blows Up...or the Greatness of Lance

Ten kilometers from the finish of today's stage, Floyd Landis bonked. His teammates had all vanished and he was left all alone. He was attacked a few times and finally had nothing left. In those final miles, he lost 8 minutes to the current holder of the yellow jersey. Stick a fork in him; barring a miracle, Landis is done.

Landis fought valiantly on a ruined hip and he deserves our admiration. With just four days left, this Tour is as wide open as I've ever seen. In fact, with one more stage in the Alps and a long time trial on Saturday, there are still at least five riders who could win.

Today's events bring home just how amazing was the performance of Lance over the past 7 years. Admittedly, he had better teams than the current Phonak squad. Nevertheless, even on those ocassions when Lance found himself isolated in the Alps or Pyrenees, he always found something inside and rose to the challenge. We will probably never see his likes again.