11/7/2009

Floyd Landis 17th in New Zealand road race

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)—Floyd Landis dropped to 17th on the final day of the Tour of Southland, which included two stages on New Zealand’s South Island.

Landis began Saturday in 14th place, but was 21st among the 95 riders in the 50-mile eighth stage. He finished 1 minute, 12 seconds behind Alabama native Michael Olheiser.

Landis fell further off the pace in the final stage, a 40-mile ride from Winton to Invercargill. He finished the stage in 40th place, 2:51 behind Romain Fondard of France.

After Landis won the 2006 Tour de France, he was disqualified and banned for two years when doping tests revealed elevated levels of testosterone. He returned to racing in January.

The American finished the nine-stage race 16 minutes behind overall winner Heath Blackgrove of New Zealand. Jack Bauer was second overall, 1:03 behind, and Tom Findlay finished another 13 seconds back in third.

Landis’s cyclingnzshop.com-Bio Sport team was 13th of the 21 teams that competed the race.

Credit: Yahoo Sports