Floyd Being Floyd

If you're a Red Sox fan like Oude Granny, then you're used to the above saying (but as it pertains to the "colorful" personality of Manny Ramirez). The procycling equivalent of Manny is Floyd Landis of Phonak Hearing Systems. Before the Tour, there were numerous publications illustrating how unique of a personality Landis possesses. Now on the first Rest Day of the 2006 TdF comes the revelation that Landis will have hip surgery, more specifically a total hip replacement (THA, the "A" in reference to Arthroplasty) after the race.

Having read the multiple stories on the issue (many provided by T-o-03; with the most complete report coming from the New York Times and Daniel Coyle; may require registration) all I can offer is marked disbelief. Disbelief, in that he's been as successful as he has since the initial injury (suffering an oblique fracture of the right femoral head; crashing during training as a member US Postal Service early in 2003, while still making it back in July to help Lance Armstrong win his 5th straight TdF), and in that the career of this rising star of American cycling may be just as fleeting (as THA in an elite endurance athlete is relatively an experiment).

To garner a better understanding of his injury (and offering you an insight of what Floyd's actual hip might look like), I've provided some radiographs below.

Healthy Hip Joint

Hip Joint Affected By AVN

Without going into too much detail, simply compare the proximal (meaning closer to the center of the body) heads of the femur. In the healthy hip joint, the head (ball) and neck are marked by the two lower arrows. The head in the hip affected by avascular necrosis (AVN) looks, and is often described as, a "scoop of ice cream falling off" (in this case smushing down into) the neck or "cone." As most of the reports have indicated, Floyd's condition is a degenerative one (meaning it will only get worse) and painful.

But like Argentina's Evita (Peron), you need not cry for Floyd Landis. He's probably one of the few cyclists who could come back from his injuries, let alone still ride (and compete for a win) in the Tour de France. In a lot of ways, I feel more for the rest of this year's contenders and the rest of the peloton, than for Floyd. Those who might view this as a weakness will surely invoke Floyd to bust out his Mennonite Whoopin' Stick (and it just might be his actual femur).

Floyd Being Floyd