bad [censored] Landis... where's the love ?

I'd guess a few reasons:

1. Rides for team other than Discovery. Casual cycling fans probably have never heard of Phonak. Discovery is the only name they recognize.
2. Not the annoited American successor. Armstrong doesn't like him and Discovery is pumping Danielson has the next American star.
3. Personality. Landis hasn't given the press much of a story to latch onto. He isn't a lady killer, survived any diseases, lost any fingers, talked constantly about really cute pets, etc.

Kind of like Levi Leipheimer - a nice guy, hard worker, reliable top ten in the Tour, but on a foreign team and happily married and fairly quiet.

If Floyd shot his mouth off a bit more he'd get more press and more love. The dude needs some panache. Or a goofy haircut, like Cipo or Hondo or Boonen or Eki or something. And he should shave that nasty ass stubble.

Whatever, I like the guy well enough, but I think the serious fans (who aren't in the Discovery/Lance cult) find a number of European riders more interesting and better talents.

floyd is the local guy where i grew up in pennsylvania and the local papers always seem to throw in an article about him, especially after Paris-Nice, but my guess is that elsewhere in the US he hasn't done enough to garner nationwide attention. If he does hit a top 3 finish in the tour, maybe things will change, since americans who aren't into cycling dont really care about races other than the tour.

All good points...... he love's motorcycles..... but I guess like you say there is no story to him..... If he wins the Tour or at least holds the yellow jersey for a few days the press might latch onto his childhood story.... opressive father who wouldn't let him ride so he would sneak out and ride his bike at 2am in the morning... the press could milk that couldn't they ? I guess LeMond had a story to......

tcklyde said:

I'd guess a few reasons:

1. Rides for team other than Discovery. Casual cycling fans probably have never heard of Phonak. Discovery is the only name they recognize.
2. Not the annoited American successor. Armstrong doesn't like him and Discovery is pumping Danielson has the next American star.
3. Personality. Landis hasn't given the press much of a story to latch onto. He isn't a lady killer, survived any diseases, lost any fingers, talked constantly about really cute pets, etc.

Kind of like Levi Leipheimer - a nice guy, hard worker, reliable top ten in the Tour, but on a foreign team and happily married and fairly quiet.

If Floyd shot his mouth off a bit more he'd get more press and more love. The dude needs some panache. Or a goofy haircut, like Cipo or Hondo or Boonen or Eki or something. And he should shave that nasty ass stubble.

Whatever, I like the guy well enough, but I think the serious fans (who aren't in the Discovery/Lance cult) find a number of European riders more interesting and better talents.

the only story i've ever heard about the guy is that he had to ask permission from his minister to wear tights for cycling. I guess he comes from a rather strict mennonite background

whiteboytrash said:

All good points...... he love's motorcycles..... but I guess like you say there is no story to him..... If he wins the Tour or at least holds the yellow jersey for a few days the press might latch onto his childhood story.... opressive father who wouldn't let him ride so he would sneak out and ride his bike at 2am in the morning... the press could milk that couldn't they ? I guess LeMond had a story to......

Yeah, you have a good point about his childhood -- although maybe the weird religious angle there might make reporters a little nervous? The religious thing is so explosive in the U.S. these days...

i've often wondered what his current religious situation is. Seems as though mennonites and amish aren't too populous out in california where he lives now. Though most of the really religious folk in our area go to private schools and floyd definitely went to public school (same one as me actually, i'm famous by association🙂)

tcklyde said:

Yeah, you have a good point about his childhood -- although maybe the weird religious angle there might make reporters a little nervous? The religious thing is so explosive in the U.S. these days...

poor guy......... maybe he is happy not having a story and just doing his thing, earning a crust and brining up his family..... in last months ProCycling magazine he made mention that he is the only US cyclist who is based in the US but rides more races than any other US cyclist in Europe ! He says he also has had to learn French which he hates because he is so poor at languages.....

whiteboytrash said:

Why doesn’t the American cycling public rate Floyd Landis ? He has show great form this year and is an outside chance for the Tour.... why is he not the same rating's winner as a American DC rider or Armstrong ? Please explain.

Dude just isn't very charismatic. I don't particularly like him myself - I think he is socially akward, a bit of a whiner and shoots off his mouth in really terrible ways - ala slapping Boonen on the back and saying something like you can't win them all....
There are just other guys in the peleton (American or otherwise) that are more interesting and likeable than Floyd no matter how well he is doing. Note that I don't really care for Simoni either for the same reasons - big mouth (and can't even back it up - at least Landis is showing the goods this year) whiner IMHO.

Personally I like Floyd and think he has a decent amount of talent. I don't know that we'll ever see him win a Grand Tour though. He is a Menonite. You'd think the press could make a story out of that. Have you ever seen his parents? They had them on OLN recently when Floyd won the TdG. His mother looks like she just stepped-off the set of "Little House on the Prairie"! You'd think they could make a story out of that!

Unfortunately like a lot of industries, cycling has bought in the "image" concept.
Riders who don't have a "story" or some other aspect of notoriety, are viewed as dull or uninteresting.

I rate Landis pretty highly for his ability on the bike. He's a hardworking guy and his talent was evident from his debut as a professional.
I also like his character - he's not a loudmouth, and he respects the traditions of our sport.

He's a great talent and I think that he is a very creditable challenger for the 2006 TDF.

I think when you are looking at the popularity of american cyclists, you need to look at two different groups. There is the mainstream american who knows [censored] about cycling and always will. It takes a Lance or Lemond human interest story to catch their attention. If Floyd wins the Tour, then the mennonite thing will be enough to make his name knows but nobody will care about him like they do about Lance because cancer is a real household issue that unites people here and being mennonite and cycling in sweats as a kid just isn't the same.

The second group is the few of us here that actually follow cycling. Among us, Floyd is actually pretty popular. I like Floyd a lot. I think he is a pretty crazy guy with a screw loose... but in a silly and likeable way. Lots' of stories confirm this from the 14 espressos to crushing the Tour field in 2004 after Bruyneel jacked him up for actually riding on ADH TT the day before. He is just crazy enough to win the tour and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the podium this year even. Tyler is another guy who got some american press but he rode with a broken neck and has a multiple sclerosis foundation for his brother so that helps a bit around here.

I don't jump out of my chair cheering for Floyd but I do like him a lot and am happy that he is riding so well. I think he will do good things.

So, I guess you are probably not totally correct around him not being popular. He is pretty popular among cycling fans and that's what matters. Danielson, on the other hand, is kind of a nerd and I don't know hardly anyone who particulary likes him. I root for him because any American cyclist who can do well is one step closer to American media giving more coverage to cycling.

I think TC got most of the reasons - here's a few more.

Besides his uncharismatic appearance, Floyd is a dorky hillbilly name.
Landis is remembered as the guy that Lance didn't like.

I think with a good image consultant and a killer nickname he could work up a decent sized fan club.

DiabloScott said:

I think with a good image consultant and a killer nickname he could work up a decent sized fan club.

I thought he was "the Mojo (mofo?) of the Mountains?"

I like Floyd. Quite, reserved, team player. He was in a tough spot last year on the phonak team, "taking over" for tyler after his problems. I'm mean, what's it like riding in the shadow of such a huge specter hanging over the team?

L

whiteboytrash said:

All good points...... he love's motorcycles..... but I guess like you say there is no story to him..... If he wins the Tour or at least holds the yellow jersey for a few days the press might latch onto his childhood story.... opressive father who wouldn't let him ride so he would sneak out and ride his bike at 2am in the morning... the press could milk that couldn't they ? I guess LeMond had a story to......

Landis is not in Lemond's class..Landis on his best day could not hold the wheel of teenage Lemond. Lemond was a TDF champion , not a longshot. Lemond was World Champion several times, not a winner of a small training race in California. Lemond made immediate impact in Europe, Landis has not. Cycling is such a non-exsistent sport in America unless you are a TDF champion, no one but the hardcore knows who you are.

DiabloScott said:

I think with a good image consultant and a killer nickname he could work up a decent sized fan club.

He climbs hills pretty good, how about Hillbilly or maybe Il Billy?

lw

limerickman said:

Unfortunately like a lot of industries, cycling has bought in the "image" concept.
Riders who don't have a "story" or some other aspect of notoriety, are viewed as dull or uninteresting.

I rate Landis pretty highly for his ability on the bike. He's a hardworking guy and his talent was evident from his debut as a professional.
I also like his character - he's not a loudmouth, and he respects the traditions of our sport.

He's a great talent and I think that he is a very creditable challenger for the 2006 TDF.

Lim, when I was a little kid there was a TV show in the U.S. called Happy Days. At the begining of every episode a character called "The Fonz" would walk in to the men's room and while standing in front of the mirror he would pull out his comb out of his pocket and make an attempt to comb his hair. He would then look at his hair and think 'Pfff ! It's perfect why comb the hair' he would then put the comb back in his pocket and then walk off.

That's how I feel about your post. I suppose I could have cut and pasted your post in a post of my own and then we could have argued over copy rights or something. 😄

Eden does make a good point though, he lacks charisma. Maybe he should hang out with Mario Cipollini for a month or two. Might help.

Question: Why do you think Vino has better odds than FL for this years TDF ? Your thoughts ?

Lw

lwedge said:

Lim, when I was a little kid there was a TV show in the U.S. called Happy Days. At the begining of every episode a character called "The Fonz" would walk in to the men's room and while standing in front of the mirror he would pull out his comb out of his pocket and make an attempt to comb his hair. He would then look at his hair and think 'Pfff ! It's perfect why comb the hair' he would then put the comb back in his pocket and then walk off.

That's how I feel about your post. I suppose I could have cut and pasted your post in a post of my own and then we could have argued over copy rights or something. 😄

Eden does make a good point though, he lacks charisma. Maybe he should hang out with Mario Cipollini for a month or two. Might help.

Question: Why do you think Vino has better odds than FL for this years TDF ? Your thoughts ?

Lw

Yep, we used see Happy Days over here too - with Ron Howard and all that stuff about Al's Diner and Fonzarelli etc.
Wasn't a bad series - very popular when we were kids.

I agree with you and Eden, FL isn't the most outgoing/charismatic character.
I still rate him as an overall contender for GC at the TDF.
He's got a strong team too.

As regards Vino having better odds than Vino? I don't think I ever stated that.
I think Vino and Landis (and Phonak and Liberty) will put in a massive challenge for overall GC.
Phonak and Liberty are really strong teams and they'll challenge CSC.

I think DC are going through a period of change and I don't expect to see them in contention - not this year at least.

Lonnie Utah said:

I thought he was "the Mojo (mofo?) of the Mountains?"

I like Floyd. Quite, reserved, team player. He was in a tough spot last year on the phonak team, "taking over" for tyler after his problems. I'm mean, what's it like riding in the shadow of such a huge specter hanging over the team?

L

cycleops sells a "mofo Landis" jersey, which i'm desperately trying to get some money together for.

I want to add that Floyd holds a power training camp every year in January (at least the past two years). He opens up his masseurs and physiologists for people to take advantage of and goes on training rides with the "campers." Its nice to know that he makes some attempt to connect with us regular folk.

I don't necessarily like winners just because they are winners either. People can have loads of talent and not much personality or at least not a personality that appeals to me. LeMond was never much of a favorite of mine either. Sometimes I like to follow a big winner, but sometimes too I just like to root for the underdog or recognize the hard worker who may not be a superstar - my personal fav's of late. (Of course all of my impressions come from watching races and the occasionaly interview so who knows what these guys are really like)
Rujano - really want to see what he can do this year
Basso - seems like an all around nice guy and has loads of talent
Voigt - really hard worker -really nice guy
Cunego - hope he has a better time this year