Carolyn Kaster / AP

Arlene Landis initially did not want her son Floyd to become a professional bicycle racer, but now she cheers his accomplishments.

updated 10:15 p.m. ET July 23, 2006

FARMERSVILLE, Pa. - As Floyd Landis crossed the Tour de France finish line Sunday, his devout Mennonite parents were riding their own bicycles home from church.

Paul and Arlene Landis were so confident their son would win cycling’s greatest race they didn’t have to choose between going to church and watching it on TV at a neighbor’s house.

“I’m glad we didn’t have to make that choice. Church is very important to us,” Arlene Landis said. “We felt in our hearts he was going to win. He is not one to take second place.”

The couple and their neighbors in this tiny hamlet in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country were celebrating Sunday after Floyd Landis’ unlikely victory, which keeps cycling’s most prestigious title in American hands for an eighth straight year.

At Farmersville’s only intersection a short distance from the Landis home, neighbors scrawled: “Floyd Landis, World Winner of Tour de France 2006, -10:00 to +.59, USA.” Cyclists and motorists alike snapped photos of the message, spraypainted in gigantic yellow letters, that referred to the huge time deficit Landis overcame to win the Tour.

Well-wishers also flocked to the Landis home, a white farmhouse bordered by cornfields in Farmersville, a rural crossroads of a couple dozen homes just outside the borough of Ephrata in eastern Pennsylvania.

Sunday, the home was festooned with green and yellow balloons, the colors of Landis’ Phonak team. On the front lawn, signs showcased the divergence of cultures — “To God be the glory” and “Floyd’s the man.”

Inside, visitors found a Phonak jersey signed “To Dad” and a Le Tour de France chocolate and vanilla layer cake with green and yellow icing, baked specially by Landis’ mom for a celebration later Sunday night.

The attention “just really humbled me,” Arlene Landis said. “I think this is terrific.”

All who visited, friend and stranger, were greeted warmly by Paul and Arlene, who questioned their 30-year-old son’s obsession with cycling when he was a teenager and were saddened when he chose to leave the Mennonite fold.

On Sunday, they said they felt “joy” at his victory and hoped he will use it to glorify God.

Vinny Tennis / AP Paul Landis and his daughter Priscilla sit outside the home of Tammy and Neal Martin in Farmersville, Pa. The hamlet in Pennsylvania Dutch country has been the focus of international media because of the exploits of Tour de France champion Floyd Landis.

Landis bought his first mountain bike at age 15 at Green Mountain Cyclery, a local shop. He won the first mountain bike race he entered. Two years later, in 1993, he was crowned a junior national champion. At age 20, he decided to move to southern California to train full time.

All along, he told friends he would win the Tour de France someday.