Even the sports page is infected with pernicious media bias. The Washington Post dispatched reporter Molly Brown to Paris to cover the miraculous comeback of American Floyd Land in The Tour de France. Brown couldn't resist leading the second paragraph with the loaded and frankly inaccurate assertion that Landis

"rejected his Pennsylvania Mennonite upbringing as a teenager to start a bicycle racing career."

I raced mountain bikes in Maryland in the mid nineties and Floyd was one of the stars of circuit (I was not). Because he was winning all the time everybody knew who he was and where he was from. I can't say this from intimate first hand knowledge, but my impression was that any conflicts with his religion were more of the teenage rebellion variety. Using the word rejection implies he has renounced his faith (I don't believe he has or would). Other writers used the rebellion adjective.  In an interview with cyclingworld.com,  Landis in his usual self effacing style shared his early years like this:

"... I grew up in a very religious family, I have four sisters and a brother, all of whom are wonderful brothers and sisters. I have exceptional parents; I happen to be a little bit high—strung for that lifestyle (laughs) — dunno if you can use that about yourself — anyway, a friend of mine and I got into mountain biking when we were 15—16. We started doing local MTB (mountain bike)races, which led me to... this. I skipped a lot there, but you get the idea!"

This hardly sounds like a rejection!

Floyd Landis is the antithesis of modern American celebrity. The Europeans don't know what to make of this. They've never seen anything like it before. Floyd is the flesh and blood incarnation of the Wheaties box athlete. Floyd comes from the same stock that stormed cliffs of Pointe de Hoc.

Landis is a very common family name in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. As Pennsylvania was the second most populous state when WWII broke out, there can be little doubt that some of Floyd's lineal forefathers were laid to rest in the cemeteries of France. Given the length of the Tour surely he  passed close by.

Upon deeper reflection, in many ways Landis represents America's break with their European fore bearers. They came to pursue religious freedom in a new land,  leaving their homeland behind for the promise of faith. Floyd Landis showed faith and he was justly rewarded for it.

Christopher Alleva  7 25 06