Riders brace for mountains

LORIENT, France -- Tour de France riders get to put their feet up today, their first day of rest. They'll need it.

Looming ahead are brutal ascents in the Pyrenees, which American Floyd Landis will need to climb strongly to confirm his status as favorite for the championship.

Landis is exactly 1 minute behind overall leader Serhiy Honchar after nine days of racing in the three-week race. But Honchar may have trouble holding onto the leader's yellow jersey when the roads start heading sharply uphill.

Landis has shown he can climb, particularly when he came close to winning the hardest Alpine stage of the 2004 Tour.

Landis finished safely in the middle of the trailing pack in 37th place on Sunday. Honchar finished 100th but also was in that pack -- which was 2 minutes, 15 seconds behind stage winner Sylvain Calzati.