FLOYD LANDIS - HEIR APPARENT TO LANCE?

Former Lance Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis, riding as team leader for Phonak Hearing Systems for the past two years, has won back-to-back multiple-stage international professional cycling races in the past three weeks. Landis first won the Tour of California. On Sunday, he took the yellow jersey in the highly-regarded Paris-Nice event.

EARLY WINS BODE WELL. Landis finished well behind Armstrong in last year's Tour de France, completing the Grand Tour in 9th place. But he may be the best-positioned American to finish on the podium in Paris at the end of July. Levi Leipheimer is the other American hopeful (he finished 6th in last year's TdF). Big George Hincapie can't be counted out, either. There's a whole lot of racing between now and July, but wins against some of the best competition early in the season bode well for an authentic Tour contender. Look for Landis to race well, but not push for a win again...until July.

Photo credit: VeloNews.com