bicycle.net -- cycling news, product reviews, original essays, podcasts & video :: Tour of California 2009

Floyd Landis took 8th place at Sunday’s Teva Games time trials.

The Aspen Times reports:

His jersey was orange, not yellow. His tires were fat instead of skinny, and he rode on a muddy dirt track instead of the purebred European asphalt that made him a global name.

But the sweat that poured off Floyd Landis’ forehead during Saturday’s Teva Games pro mountain bike race was the same brand of sweat that poured off his head during last year’s Tour de France.

And that was all he seemed to care about afterward.

Asked how much his appearance had to do with simply competing again, the 2006 Tour champ said, “All of it.”

“I haven’t been able to do anything since the Tour last year, so I figured this would be a good place to start,” he said to a group of about five reporters. “It’s a good atmosphere. I’d rather not race at altitude because now my chest hurts, but it’s part of the deal. I had a good time.”

Forbes reports:

He said his surgically repaired hip feels good. So good, in fact, that had he been eligible to defend his yellow jersey at the Tour de France next month, he’d be there. Instead, he’ll watch the Tour from his home in California, maybe mix in some bike rides in the afternoons.

As he headed into this weekend’s short races - he’ll also compete in a time trial Sunday - he was still trying to work his way back into shape, as his less-than-stellar finish showed.

“There were quite a few weeks when I rode a reasonable amount, 200-300 miles a week,” he said. “Then that hearing. It was almost 10 days. I didn’t ride at all. You’re sitting there. The next thing you know, you’re eating doughnuts and you don’t even care. It was awful.”

Beyond that, there’s not much he can say about the hearing.

He knows it became a debacle when Greg LeMond showed up and told of being sexually abused as a child, confiding that to Landis, then receiving a call from Landis’ manager the night before his testimony threatening to disclose LeMond’s secret to the world if LeMond showed up.

It made Landis look bad. It made everybody look bad. It turned the hearing into a circus, and neither side could have wanted that.

Despite that, and despite 10 months in which he has taken to the road to perform what he calls an almost humiliating chore of asking for money to fund his defense, Landis wants back in.

He made a small start this weekend at an event that is privately run, not sanctioned by any governing body, not subject to doping control. A few years ago, a friend of Landis’ lost a close relative to prostate cancer.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to go through that, knowing it’s probably going to end your life,” Landis said. “That’s a lot more serious stuff than what I went through. These guys asked if I’d show up. Well, it’s no effort on my part to come to a race like this. I said I’d gladly show up.”

The mountain bike race was a return to roots for Landis, who began his career in that discipline, but left in 1998 because the money and the competition weren’t all he was hoping for.

His road-racing career took off, winding through a three-year stay on Lance Armstrong’s winning Tour de France teams, an uncomfortable parting, then a chance to be The Man.

Landis made the most of it, winning last year’s Tour and becoming cycling’s next big star. “Lance Who?” was the caption on a magazine cover from last year, with Landis’ face next to the words. The cover was on display on a big piece of sandwich board at an awards ceremony Landis attended Friday night. He looked surprised when he saw it.

His Tour victory has been in limbo since he tested positive for synthetic testosterone after Stage 17. He has maintained his innocence, but at great expense. The cost of legal fees has left him much closer to broke than wealthy.

“If I don’t get a job soon, I’m going to lose my house,” Landis said.

Later, he retreats a bit. He says he’s still got enough money to live for a year and support his wife and daughter.

“But in no way am I going to go retire,” said the 31-year-old cyclist. “I have to get a job if I want to keep my house. I don’t know. That’s the thing, I don’t know.”

He wants to work. He wants to make a living. He wants to do something he loves. He knows it will never be as easy as it once seemed.