Landis trails Honchar

The Lancaster, Pa., rider was pleased with his effort on the 32-mile ride.
RENNES, France (AP) -- On a day when other U.S. riders struggled, crashed or complained, Floyd Landis set himself up as a leading contender in the Tour de France.
Landis finished second behind Ukraine's Sehiy Honchar in the Tour's first long time trial Saturday, and moved into second place overall after the seventh of 20 stages.
Honchar, the former world time-trial champion who rides for T-Mobile, dominated the field in the mostly flat stage -- winning by more than a minute -- as he became the first Ukrainian to earn the leader's yellow jersey.
Upbeat
Landis, the Phonak team leader, was impressed with Honchar's effort but more pleased with his own on the 32-mile ride from Saint-Gregoire to Rennes even though he lost precious seconds changing bikes because of a handlebar problem.
"I got beat fair and square," Landis said. "It looks good for the rest of the race, but there's a long way to go. We'll take it one day at a time."
After a first week of mostly flat stages that favored sprinters, the time trial was expected to produce the top contenders for the first Tour after the Lance Armstrong era.
For other Americans, Saturday was a bad day.
Time trial specialist David Zabriskie said he was distracted by fans hurling water at him; George Hincapie muttered that his ride was "not good," and Levi Leipheimer did not speak to reporters.
For veteran Bobby Julich, the outcome was even worse: He crashed out of the race altogether with a broken wrist after his wheels slid out from under him as he tried to negotiate a bend.
Landis, a 30-year-old from Lancaster, Pa., came into the race off wins in the Tours of Georgia and California, and in the Paris-Nice stage races.
"It's more clear today than it was before that Landis is the big favorite," said Johan Bruyneel, sport director of Hincapie's Discovery Channel team.
The T-Mobile riders claimed four of the top eight spots in the stage. Among them was Australian world time-trial champion Michael Rogers, who was fourth.
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