The Pit Bull's battle to salvage U.S. cycling
LONDON -- Almost like a badly behaved child running away from home, the Tour de France -- the world's greatest bike race -- tainted by the doping scandal that smeared the sport and its most celebrated rider, began this year in England.
Monday's stage will finish in front of Buckingham Palace, in the heart of London. CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports the riders aren't just racing for glory now -- they're racing against disgrace.
On Saturday, superstar royals Prince William and Kate were there for the big ceremonial start, or Le Grand Depart, as they call it.
Massive crowds lined the route across the picturesque northern English county of Yorkshire, delivering what the race's French organizers declared the greatest start the 112-year-old race has ever witnessed.
And as Phillips notes, it was just as well. The riders are not only beginning perhaps the toughest athletic event on Earth; cycling 2,200 miles over three weeks in stages across England and all around France, they're competing to prove the race can be run cleanly.
The race, and all of cycling, was tainted by the revelation that Lance Armstrong, America's seven-consecutive-race winner, used a sophisticated doping regime that fooled the authorities until -- after years of denial -- he was forced to admit he had cheated all along.
Now there's a new American hope in Andrew Talansky, a rider from Florida who's remained among the leaders in the early stages of the race.
His win in the run-up event, the prestigious Dauphine, where he dragged the leaders into a ferocious final sprint, solidified the reputation implied in his nickname; the "Pit Bull."
"I like to think that it refers to my tenacity on the bike," said Talansky. "The way I ride, the way I am in races. I never give up. When I set my mind to something, a goal or an objective to achieve, I generally don't stop until I've reached it."
The sport -- like Armstrong -- has admitted its sins. But Talansky admits it still has to win back the public's confidence.
"It's our... I like to use the term 'responsibility,' to give the people back in the U.S. something they can believe in and get excited about and cheer for and really get behind, and know that they can trust us 100 percent," said the racer.
Talansky, and all the other riders, know they're not just racing against each other. They're competing against public skepticism, and as Phillips reports, over three so-far glorious days in England, they've made a good start.