One year ago, many sports observers, Media Life included, had written the obituary for professional cycling in America. There will never be another Lance Armstrong, critics carped, and people would forget the Tour de France the moment the seven-time champ took off his helmet.

That now seems an incredibly short-sighted prediction. In fact, not only did millions of Americans find a new and fascinating rider to cheer to victory, Floyd Landis, they also witnessed a startling occurrence.

The dynasty started by Greg LeMond 20 years ago has turned the Tour de France into an American race. Americans have now won 11 of the past 21 Tours, bike racing’s most grueling event. And Landis did it dramatically.

After a disastrous outing on Wednesday, when he fell 10 minutes off the lead, Landis turned in what OLN commentators called the most amazing one-day performance in Tour history. He came within 30 seconds of the lead and sewed up a victory with an impressive time trial on Saturday.

Landis fever has clearly hit America. His name was the ninth-fastest growing search term on Yahoo Sports Saturday, among big names like IRL driver Danica Patrick and NBA MVP Steve Nash. Ratings for OLN’s Tour coverage have been rising since Landis first grabbed the yellow jersey, and fans on OLN’s messageboards began posting Amber Alerts, referring to his reddish hair.

Wrote one poster on the eve of Saturday’s time trial: “Landis, no matter what happens, you've MADE this Tour for me.”

Coming into the tour, Landis was known by few outside of the bike racing community. Experts said he could certainly contend but tabbed 1997 champ Jan Ullrich and last year’s runner-up Ivan Basso the best bets to succeed Armstrong.

Then Ullrich and Basso were suspended for alleged doping, setting up the most exciting Tour in recent memory with seven different leaders. Landis and Oscar Pereiro traded the lead four times over the last two weeks.

What’s perhaps most promising about Landis is that, like Armstrong, he has an incredible back story that has intrigued non-cycling fans as well. He was raised a strict Mennonite in Lancaster County, Pa., and his parents discouraged him from bike riding, partly because they did not want him to wear shorts.

He injured his hip in an accident three years ago and it has become withered and arthritic since. Though he rode more than 2,000 miles in the tour, he can barely make it up stairs and walks with a noticeable limp that he long tried to disguise to avoid losing sponsorships.

“I think his story is similar to Armstrong's from a few years ago,” says Keith Schweigert, the sports editor of the Lancaster New Era, Landis’ hometown newspaper. “Lance came back from cancer; Floyd is racing with the same kind of hip injury that ended Bo Jackson's career. He's supposed to get a hip replacement in the fall -- if he comes back from that, he really could be considered the next Armstrong.”

Of course it would be all the more fascinating if Landis can duplicate his win against Basso and Ullrich, should they return next year. But in the meantime, his triumph has shown that Armstrong was no fluke. The future of pro cycling, much to Europe’s dismay, may well be the same as its recent past, with a very American flavor.

Meanwhile, in other sports ratings for the week ended July 16, Fox’s Major League All-Star Game was the top-rated event, averaging a 9.3 household rating, marking the first time in several years that the game has improved on the previous year.

On cable, ESPN’s coverage of the World Cup of Softball was up more than 50 percent over last year, driven in part by the July 16 game between the U.S. and Japan. That pulled a 1.1 household rating, best ever for a softball game on ESPN.