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Floyd Landis is one hardcore mofo
My apologies if this is old news — I’m only a casual fan of road racing so I wouldn’t be surprised if the subject’s been covered elsewhere.
This one’s a bit of an understatement, since anyone who can ride through the Pyrenees and Alps and log a couple thousand kilometers in less than a month is truly hardcore in my books, but ex-mountain biker and Phonak team leader Floyd Landis is a step above. According to a writeup in the New York Times magazine (login required), Landis suffers from a degenerative bone condition in his right hip that makes everyday life difficult, let alone countless hours on a bike.
Osteonecrosis is a degenerative bone condition that occurs as a result of poor blood supply, something that happened to Landis’ hip after he crashed in 2003. Since then, Landis has been in near constant pain, and has been forced to alter his time trial position (see the third photo in the slide show) and just plain deal with the problem while on his bike and on tour.
And I’m also fully aware that the article is at least partly a result of the American media trying to find someone to fill the void left when Lance Armstrong retired and find the Next Great Hope, but it’s still a solid piece of cycling writing.
Link via TDFBlog.
Other takes on the Landis story
- Philip from Spinopsys mentions Landis’ hip and, needless to say, he’s not impressed by the timing of the announcement. He has a point, but I’d rather hear about some dude huffing around France on one good leg than countless stories about who is or isn’t a doper. Unless, of course, Philip’s prediction comes true…
1. Posted by Phil | 1:52 pm, 10 July 2006
But of course the most fun will be had with the Phil and Paul drinking game. I’ll be keeping score from now on - it’ll add a fun element to the broadcast.