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. ...   more »

Here's a scenario I bet you didn't expect:

Tom Danielson, 4 seconds down in the General Classification, won Stage 5 atop Brasstown Bald on Saturday but didn't gain on Tour leader Floyd Landis because the Phonak cyclist finished on Danielson's back wheel.

With just Sunday's bike ride left in the 600-mile, 6-day race across Georgia, it looks like Landis is poised to win his third major bicycle race of the season. ...   more »

US cyclist Jason McCartney tried to turn back the clock to duplicate his Dahlonega stage win in 2004 on Friday, but it was US sprinter Freddy Rodriguez who was the more successful time traveler to win the stage.

US cyclist Floyd Landis held onto the overall lead in the Ford Tour de Georgia, thanks his Swiss Phonak team cutting into McCartney's lead over Woody Gap, the final climb of the day. ...   more »

More than half (51%) of the voters in the "Who will win the Tour de Georgia" poll picked current leader Floyd Landis to win the bike race, which ends Sunday.

I've been checking the results every night, and Landis was leading in the polling before he ever motored down the ramp for the individual time trial Thursday and took the lead. David Zabriskie of Team CSC was second, with 31%. ...   more »

There goes that Floyd Landis again, winning another individual time trial on Thursday and jumping to the overall lead in the Ford Tour of Georgia bike race.

The Phonak team leader who lives in Southern California beat the field for the second year in a row, although his margin was less than in 2005. With a harrowing climb on Brasstown Bald coming up Saturday, it's up to Landis and his team to hold off last year's overall winner Tom Danielson of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team. ...   more »

Last year's best young rider in the Tour de France is this year's leading bike racer at the Tour de Georgia ... for now.

Discovery Channel's Yaroslav Popovych won the 116-mile stage Wednesday that ended with four climbs over the Clocktower Hill in Rome. The win by the 26-year-old Ukrainian put him in first place overall.   more »

"Lance gave us a great platform to spearhead American cycling. You have guys like George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer and Tom Danielson. There are a lot of different aspects of riding ... Lance was a combination of those. We'll replace him with great athletes, but what Lance did might never be done again." ...   more »

You're never too old to win. Thirty-seven-year-old bicycle racer Lars Michaelson knows this. The cyclist on Denmark's Team CSC pulled out a sprint win on Day One of the Ford Tour de Georgia bike race.

Following closely behind Michaelson across the finish line in Macon was US sprinter "Fast" Freddy Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto), Australian Caleb Manion of US team Jelly Belly, and Argentine speedster Juan Jose Haedo, the Toyota-United Pro rider who won two Tour of California stages.

Thirty-seven years old. A year ago Lance Armstrong was 33 when he announced before the start of last year's Tour de Georgia that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2005 Tour de France. ...   more »

The fourth annual Tour de Georgia starts in Augusta today, and the first annual Tour de Georgia poll appears on my blog.

Who do you think will win the 2006 Tour de Georgia? I've listed some of the leading contenders. If you don't like any of them, you can leave a comment here with your choice.   more »

Win at Brasstown Bald, and you have a better than even chance of winning the Tour de Georgia. Just ask Tom Danielson, the Discovery cycling team rider who won the mountain stage and took home the title last year.

Pro cyclists will toil up Brasstown Bald, left, on Saturday this year. For us mere mortals, several North Georgia groups sponsor the annual Brasstown Bald Buster Century featuring 12,000 feet of elevation gain over 100 miles. The ride starts early on May 6 in Helen, Georgia. ...   more »

The pro peloton invades Georgia next Tuesday through Sunday for the 600-mile, 6-stage Ford Tour de Georgia bike race. Unless you live in the Peach State, your chances of catching live coverage are nil.

Most of us will have to follow the action through live race updates posted at VeloNews, which really isn't bad because we can sneak looks on our office computer during work.

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US cycling fans should be pleased to hear that the world's top ProTour cyclist -- Floyd Landis of the Swiss Phonak team -- is competing in the Tour of Georgia bicycle race that begins in a couple of weeks.

Other big name US bike racers include last year's winner, Tom Danielson of Discovery Channel, and David Zabriskie, a member of Danish Team CSC and holder of the yellow jersey for four days in the 2005 Tour de France. ...   more »