Landis clinches 3rd major race of season at Tour de Georgia

Who's the great American hope in this year's Tour de France? You gotta believe that Floyd Landis is a top contender.

The Pennsylvania native and Southern California resident won the 6-day Ford Tour de Georgia on Sunday by finishing in the pack with a scant four-second lead over last year's winner, American Tom Danielson of the Discovery pro cycling team.

The victory for the Swiss-based Phonak team leader follows triumphs in two previous week-long races, Tour of California and Paris-Nice.

Johan Brunyeel, team director for Discovery Channel, told VeloNews:

“He (Landis) is definitely having a great start of the season. Last year I think he was a little under expectations. But I think if you have to name five (riders who are potential Tour de France winners) right now he is one of them. The Tour will decide if he is at the same level as guys like (Ivan) Basso and (Jan) Ullrich. But if today you have to name five guys that are contenders he is definitely part of those five.”

How does Landis describe his season?

“Each race has gotten better this year. Last year I didn't have the same fitness. This year I couldn't ask for more.”

Other winners

The winner of the stage that ended in Alpharetta was Juan Jose Haedo, that Argentine sprinter for Toyota-US Pro who won two stages in the Tour of California.

Meanwhile, Freddy Rodriguez (US) of Davitamon-Lotto, won the sprint competition; Jason McCartney (US) of Discovery won King of the Mountain; Janez Brajkovic (Slovakia) of Discovery won Best Young Rider; and Discovery won best overall team.

The top 10 winners in GC:

1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
2. Thomas Danielson (USA), Discovery, 4 seconds back
3. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery, 1:55
4. Gutierrez Cataluna José Enrique (Sp), Phonak, 2:11
5. Janez Brajkovic (SLO), Discovery, 2:15
6. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 2:31
7. Nathan O'Neill (Aus), Health Net Maxxis, 3:45
8. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 3:54
9. Christopher Baldwin (USA), Toyota-United, 4:01
10. Augusto Cesar Augusto (Col), Navigators Insurance, 4:20