Floyd Landis 17th in New Zealand road race

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – American cyclist Floyd Landis finished 17th overall in the six-day Tour of Southland which ended with two stages Saturday on New Zealand's South Island.

Landis, who started the final day in 14th place, was 21st among 95 riders in Saturday's 79-kilometer (50-mile) eighth stage, 1 minute, 12 seconds behind fellow American Michael Olheiser of Huntsville, Alabama, the stage winner.

Landis finished 40th, 2:51 behind Romain Fondard of France, in the tour's 64-kilometer (40-mile) final stage between Winton and Invercargill.

The American finished the nine-stage race 16 minutes behind overall winner Heath Blackgrove of New Zealand. New Zealander Jack Bauer was second on general classification, 1 minute, 3 seconds behind Blackgrove, while compatriot Tom Findlay was third, a further 13 seconds behind.

Landis's cyclingnzshop.com-Bio Sport team was 13th of the 21 teams that completed the race.

After Landis won the 2006 Tour de France, he was disqualified and banned for two years when doping tests revealed elevated levels of testosterone. He returned to racing in January.