Sport

Floyd Landis: career to date

1999: Begins professional road-racing career with the Mercury team

Fri Jul 28 2006 - 01:00

1999: Begins professional road-racing career with the Mercury team. Wins opening stage on way to second overall in the Cascade Classic, also securing top-five finishes in the Tour de l'Avenir, the Red Zinger Classic and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce.

2000: Wins his first overall title, the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, with Mercury, also finishing fourth in the Tour de l'Avenir and fifth in Malaysia's Tour de Langkawi, winning the opening stage.

2001: Wins the Boulevard Road Race.

2002: Joins Lance Armstrong's US Postal Service team. Finishes second in the Dauphine Libere, third in the Tirreno-Adriatico and fifth in the Circuit de la Sarthe. Finishes 61st overall on his Tour de France debut.

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2003: Picks up his first Tour de France stage win on stage four from Joinville to Saint-Dizier.

2004: Wins Portugal's Volta ao Algarve, taking stage five. Helps US Postal Service win stage four of the Tour de France, a team time trial from Cambrai to Arras.

2005: Moves to the Phonak Hearing Systems team, finishing third in the Tour de Georgia and ninth in the Tour de France.

2006

February: Wins the inaugural Tour of California, also winning the individual time-trial.

March: Wins Paris-Nice race.

April 23: Wins Tour de Georgia, again taking time-trial victory.

July 13: Takes Tour de France yellow jersey for the first time.

July 15: Loses yellow jersey to Caisse D'Epargne's Oscar Pereiro.

July 18: Regains the lead on the prestigious L'Alpe d'Huez stage.

July 19: Slips to 11th overall after a late collapse on stage 16 to La Toussuire, seemingly dropping out of contention.

July 20: Stages a remarkable 120-kilometre solo breakaway to win stage 17 to Morzine by nearly six minutes and close to within 30 seconds of Pereiro in the overall standings.

July 22: Regains overall lead by 59 seconds with one stage to go.

July 23: Crowned Tour de France champion despite having suffered from hip condition osteonecrosis for over 20 months, necessitating a hip-replacement operation after the conclusion of the Tour.

July 26: UCI announce unnamed rider failed drugs test in Tour.

July 27: Phonak team confirm Landis tested positive for testosterone in a first test, relating to stage 17 of Tour.