Poised to win: Floyd Landis poses for photographers at the start of the final stage of the 93rd Tour de France. His come-from-behind victory was a worthy successor to Lance Armstrong's legendary string of titles. (Getty Images/Bryn Lennon)

As a teenager, Floyd Landis told friends he would one day win the Tour de France.

This year he lived up to his promise by pedalling into Paris and down the famed Champs Elysées to capture his first career Tour de France title.

Landis, 30, became the third American to win the prestigious three-week cycling race, joining seven-time champion Lance Armstrong and three-time winner Greg LeMond.

The 2006 Tour was the most wide-open and competitive in years, ending with the coronation of Landis as the heir to Armstrong's throne.

A time-trial specialist as well as a strong climber, Landis managed to win the gruelling bike race despite lingering pain in his arthritic right hip. He's slated to undergo hip replacement surgery in the fall, making his victory in France all the more amazing.

But 'amazing' may not be the best word in light of post-race revelations that Landis tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, which could indicate he was doping during his remarkable Tour run.

As that saga plays out, it bears asking: who, exactly, is Floyd Landis?

Born and raised in a conservative Mennonite community in Pennsylvania, Landis developed a passion for cycling and went on to become the national junior mountain bike champion in 1993.

Wearing the coveted yellow jersey, Landis celebrates his first Tour de France victory, a moment he predicted as a teenager. (Getty Images/Bryn Lennon)

Two years later, he moved to Southern California to train full time and compete in the mountain biking circuit. In 1998, Landis switched to road cycling and went on to win the Tour du Poitou-Charentes in 2000.

Landis became a rising star with the Mercury Pro Cycling team and was noticed by Armstrong, who recruited him to join the prestigious U.S. Postal team in 2002.

Landis was one of Armstrong's top lieutenants and helped the Texan win three consecutive Tour titles before leaving the team in 2004 following a dispute over racing styles with Armstrong.

Landis finished a career-best ninth place at the 2005 Tour de France in his first season with the Phonak team. Without his right-hand man, Armstrong still claimed a record seventh consecutive title in his Tour swan song.

With Armstrong retired and Ivan Basso and Jan Ulrich, the 1997 champion, barred from the race, Landis entered this year's Tour as the favourite after piling up important victories in the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and Tour de Georgia earlier this year.

Landis' Tour was won – and nearly lost – during three remarkable days in the Alps.

After conceding the lead to Spaniard Oscar Pereiro in Stage 13, Landis regained it in Stage 15 on the slopes of the legendary l'Alpe d'Huez – Landis beat Pereiro by nearly two minutes, reclaiming the jersey and a 10-second overall lead.

That lead evaporated the next day while climbing to La Toussuire in the final kilometres of Stage 16. He ended up losing 10 minutes and dropped from first to 11th place overall, ending up eight minutes behind Pereiro.

The American's quest for the Tour crown appeared to be over.

But in one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the Tour, Landis embarked on a 120-kilometre solo breakaway attack to win Stage 17 by a whopping six minutes. Landis's incredible solo effort saw him sit third in the overall standings as he whittled Pereiro's lead to a mere 30 seconds.

"It was one of the most epic days of cycling I have ever seen in the Tour de France," Pat McQuaid, Union Cycliste Internationale president, said of Landis's performance.

From that point on, there would be no denying the American. Landis finished third in Stage 19, a 57-km individual time trial, to leapfrog Pereiro and reclaim the yellow jersey, setting the stage for Sunday's procession into Paris when he was crowned the new king.

Now that's he won the Tour, Landis plans to undergo hip replacement surgery, leaving his future in doubt even if the doping evidence runs up a blind alley. Few professional athletes have been able to successfully resume their careers after having a hip replaced.

Landis, for one, is not worried.

"I'll fight as hard as I have in this race to come back next year, or the following year — whatever it takes — to be here again."