The latest issue of Spokes (a free newspaper for cycling in the mid-Atlantic region) has this on the cover: A photo of Floyd grabbing air back in his mtb days, with the headline "Promise Fullfilled". There are two articles about Floyd in the issue. One was originally printed in Spokes in March of 1996, and talks about the "uproar" surrounding a certain 20 yr old rider in the mid-Atlantic mtb scene. It talks about his racing history at the time and his upbringing, and contains some telling quotes:

'"Floyd is a completely different level of racer compared to any I've competed with," said Chris Newell, an expert from Reisterstown, MD... "If he doesn't win a race, it's because of an error he made - and he's learning from his mistakes and growing stronger. On the final at Mount Snow he descended twice as fast as the other pros."'

And this from Floyd himself, to finish the article: '"Tell all the Spokes readers to just give me a little time and I'll make all of my east coast fans proud because I will be the World Champion soon!"'

The second article was written just before the A & B test hoo-ha, though they mention the situation on the editor's page and express their hope that he'll continue to make Spokes readers proud. This article was written by one of Floyd's fellow mtb racers and is full of funny, amazing memories of Floyd's penchant for wheelies, how he'd train by riding 600 miles a week, and his great singing voice. It ends with a story of his first-ever race bonk. Apparently, before heading out on the final lap of a 24-hour team relay race, Floyd decided to energize himself with chocolate and Mountain Dew. When the bonk hit, it was so bad he couldn't even finish the race.

I got a lump in my throat thinking about what he's accomplished since then and what he's going through now. If the man was perceived as such a phenomenal racer at 20 yrs old, why on earth do people have so much trouble believing his incredible transition from Stage 16 to Stage 17 at this year's TdF?