American Will Ride Into Paris Wearing Yellow

American Floyd Landis has made one of the gutsiest Tour de France efforts that I've ever seen over the last three weeks, and today he capped that effort by finishing third in the stage 19 time trial. This third place finish was good enough to put him in the overall lead by 0:59 seconds. This means he will be wearing the Yellow Jersey tomorrow when the riders enter Paris in the final stage of this year's Tour de France. It also means he will win this year's Tour, barring unforeseen circumstances.

It is wonderful when a country produces a great rider like Lance Armstrong, but to follow it up with another great rider like Floyd Landis, speaks well of the state and future of cycling in America. Thank you for the great effort this year, Floyd. We are very proud of you.

Serhiy Honchar [Ukraine-Tmobile] won the time trial today, and Andreas Kloden [Germany-Tmobile] finished second. Tomorrow, the riders will cycle into Paris and do a little racing on the cobblestones, but it is not likely to affect the overall standings.

Overall standings:

1. Landis [USA-Phonak]...........Yellow Jersey
2. Pereiro [Spain-Balears]..........0:59
3. Kloden [Germany-Tmobile]..........1:29
4. Sastre [Spain-CSC]..........3:13
5. Evans [Ausralia-Lotto]..........5:08

Team standings:

1. T-mobile
2. CSC..........17:20
3. Rabobank..........23:26
4. AG2R..........33:29

Polka-Dot Jersey [climbers]:

1. Rasmussen [Denmark-Rabobank]..........163 points
2. Landis [USA-Phonak]..........131 points
3. DeLa Fuente [Spain-Saunier]..........113 points

Green Jersey [sprinters]:

1. McEwen [Australia-Lotto]..........254 points
2. Zabel [Germany-Milram]..........175 points
3. Hushovd [Norway-Agricole]..........160 points

White Jersey [youth]:

1. Cunego [Italy-Lampre]
2. Fothen [Germany-Gerolsteiner]..........0:36
3. Sprick [France-Telecom]..........1:28:51