Then a near-catastrophe struck.
Landis had a flat rear tire late in Stage 6 on Sunday, briefly knocking him out of the lead pack. But Landis took advantage of the protection from his Phonak team, including teammate Ignacio Gutierrez, who quickly stopped to give one of his tires to Landis.
The quick wheel change enabled Landis to rejoin the lead pack and beat runner-up Tom Danielson, the 2005 Tour de Georgia winner, by 4 seconds.
"There were still 2 1/2 laps to go," Landis said. "I only had a 4-second lead, so anything can happen. It was pretty stressful."
Landis won his third stage race of the year as he gains momentum for the Tour de France.
Danielson said it would have been "cheap" to take advantage of the late wheel change.
"I saw him flat," Danielson said. "I was maybe 15 (riders) behind. I rode to the front and immediately everyone slowed down."
Added Danielson: "I was in the same (lead) position last year. I wouldn't want anyone to attack me in that cheap situation. ... The race was over yesterday."
On Saturday, all attacks on Landis were fair. Landis withstood challenges from Danielson, Yaroslav Popovych and Jason McCartney of the Discovery Channel team to maintain his lead following the grueling climb to the top of Brasstown Bald mountain. The Stage 5 course ascends over 2,000 feet to the highest point in Georgia (4,784).
Landis, third in the 2005 Tour de Georgia, said the final stage of the six-day, 600-mile event was relatively easy.
"For the most part, I think it was our easiest day," he said.
Last year, the focus here was the retirement of Lance Armstrong, who remains involved as a part-owner of the Discovery Channel team.
The top contenders said this race was an opportunity for a U.S. cyclist to step into the void created by Armstrong's retirement.
Landis, who started 2006 with wins in the Tour of California and the Paris-Nice, now appears to be the leading candidate to emerge as the United States' next best hope in the Tour de France.
"He's definitely have a great start of the year," said Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel, who helped Armstrong win the Tour de France seven times.
"I think if you have to name five names, as of today, he is one of them," Bruyneel said when asked if Landis now ranks with the Tour de France favorites.
Bruyneel agreed with Danielson's conclusion that Landis won the race Saturday.
"We attacked all the time and I think we have to accept we were beaten by a very solid Landis," Bruyneel said. "Floyd was just strong than we expected."
When asked if he is ready to assume the mantle as the successor to Armstrong, Landis said "That would be fine with me, yeah."
Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina and Toyota-United won Sunday's Stage 6, winning the last-lap sprint in with a total time of 4 hours, 37 minutes, 44 seconds.
Canadian Gord Fraser of Health Net-Maxxis was second in the stage.
"It was clear he was faster," Fraser said of Haedo. "It was just a matter of was he going to run out of real estate, and he didn't."
Added Fraser of the final uphill sprint: "It might have been a bit headwindish and it might have been a bit far for me."
Landis had an overall winning time of 24:00.54.
Danielson was second overall, still 4 seconds behind. Popovych was third at 24:02.49 as Discovery Channel won the top team award. Jose Enrique Gutierrez Cataluna of Spain was fourth.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/4/111795