Floyd Landis Inspires Child Abduction-Themed Cheers

Just when you thought the worst part of the Tour de France the last six years — that’d be the “Tour de Lance” headline puns — this year Lancaster County’s own Floyd Landis ralled from a billion minutes (approx.) behind to win his first Tour de France yesterday. This, of course, led to “Tour de Landis” puns. (Argh!)

Still, hurrah, hurrah! There’s nothing better than having an American go into France and win the biggest cycling event in the world, and so we celebrate Landis’ accomplishment even though he has yet to have any cancer of some sort. But! He needs to get his hip replaced after the Tour!

And his parents didn’t even watch the final leg of the Tour yesterday. They were in church. So here’s a kid with God-fearing, Church-going parents from Amish Country who are good, simple, honest people. How could this story possibly be ruined?

Well, some people are trying. According to Media Life Magazine, some Landis fans had an interesting way of celebrating their hero (emphasis mine):

Landis fever has clearly hit America. His name was the ninth-fastest growing search term on Yahoo Sports Saturday, among big names like IRL driver Danica Patrick and NBA MVP Steve Nash. Ratings for OLN’s Tour coverage have been rising since Landis first grabbed the yellow jersey, and fans on OLN’s messageboards began posting Amber Alerts, referring to his reddish hair.

I can’t think of a better way to cheer.

Floyd wins for America [Media Life Magazine]
This time, call it the Tour de Landis [AP/Philly.com]
Pennsylvania Dutch Country celebrates its homegrown hero [AP/Philly.com]