A Rest, but the Climbs Loom

Tour de France riders get to put their feet up today, their first rest day. They’ll need it after nine days of racing in the three-week race.

Looming ahead are brutal ascents in the Pyrenees, which American Floyd Landis will need to climb strongly to confirm his status as favorite to succeed his former teammate, seven-time winner Lance Armstrong.

Landis -- who is in second overall, exactly 1 minute behind race leader Serhiy Honchar of Ukraine -- will have surgery on his hip this fall to repair damage done in a crash a few years ago while on Armstrong’s team.

John Lelangue, the sporting director of Landis’ Phonak team, said Sunday that the Pennsylvania native would continue to ride normally through this year’s Tour.

“The mountains will tell us more, but so far, it’s fine. I have a good team, and so far we’ve been fortunate -- we haven’t had any bad incidents. Till now, everything’s good,” Landis said Sunday at the start of Stage 8, which he finished safely in the middle of the trailing pack in 37th place.

Honchar finished 100th on Sunday but also was in that pack -- which was 2 minutes 15 seconds behind stage winner Sylvain Calzati.

French rider Calzati won the stage with a solo effort.

“I feel like I’m living a dream,” said Calzati, who moved up to 37th overall. “It’s really magic.”

He was part of a group of five riders who broke ahead of the main pack about an hour into the 112-mile hilly stage from Saint-Meen-le-Grand to Lorient on the Atlantic coast of Brittany in northwest France.

With about 20 miles left, Calzati shook off the other riders in his small group and rode alone to the finish. As he neared the line, he gave a high-five to a member of his team who pulled alongside in a car.

After today’s rest day, when sleep, massages and a light ride are in order, the Tour gets going again with a flat and likely fast stage from Bordeaux to Dax in the southwest.

Then, on Wednesday, comes the first of two hard climbing days in the Pyrenees.