Garrett Lai

Lance is gone. And while that makes it much less likely that we’ll see an American atop the final podium in Paris on July 23, it’s not an impossible dream. With Lance out of the picture, there’s room for some of his fellow Yankees to crowd into the Tour spotlight.

In fact, Americans swept the first four slots of the time trials stage of this year’s Dauphine Libere, a traditional Tour de France warm-up. Even sans Lance, America has enough horsepower to still be a cycling force.

So who are these guys, who might extend this American chapter in Tour history? Let’s find out.

George Hincapie, Discovery Channel

2005 Tour de France finish: 12th

As Lance’s designated successor, George obviously has tough shoes to fill. He spent most of his early European career as a designated sprinter and one-day racer, but as the Discovery team morphed into a squad purpose-built for winning le Tour, George has transformed himself into a more-than-credible stage racer.

Truthfully, Discovery’s Yaroslav Popovych is probably the more gifted stage racer. And he’s a younger rider, with a greater future ahead of him. But Discovery is America’s team, and having a Ukrainian win the Tour wouldn't have the same impact with the folks back home, so George is the designated hitter.

Hincapie won last year’s toughest Tour stage, the 15th, a grueling multi-climb stage where he rode the competition off his wheel on the final climb and soloed in to win. But he didn’t do any work the entire day. As Lance’s teammate, he wasn’t expected to do any work to extend the group’s lead, and arrived at the final climb the freshest of the bunch.

George was pegged as Lance’s successor very early on, and he’s been groomed for the role. The Discovery team has been the team to beat for the last seven Tours, and they’re used to the pressures of holding the maillot jaune. That’s an invaluable ace in the hole for George, and gives him an edge over the other Americans in the race.

Floyd Landis, Phonak

2005 Tour de France finish: 9th

Floyd Landis was the American revelation of the 2004 Tour, Lance’s most trusted lieutenant on the climbs. His surprise move to Phonak, as team captain, didn’t quite pan out last year as far as the Tour goes, but he’s shown steady improvement and has developed into a capable leader.

Alessandro Trovati / AP

Landis won this year’s inaugural Tour of California in convincing fashion. And he had a terrific run at the Dauphine Libere, coming in second in the time trial behind TT specialist (and fellow Yank) David Zabriskie.

Starting with Miguel Indurain’s 1991 victory, his first of five successive wins, the Tour has been won on time gaps that were established on the climbs and time trials. Landis has always been strong in the mountains, he’s honed his time trial skills to become one of the best. So Landis has the skills.

The big question is whether his Phonak team is up to the task of mounting a strong-enough defense, if Floyd can land the yellow jersey. There are some powerful players here, but the team doesn’t have the depth of more well-funded outfits like Discovery.

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