How Hip is This?

Here’s a story that bewilders me. How can Floyd Landis who just won one of the most grueling physical challenges known to man, The Tour De France, be going in the near future for surgery for a "full hip replacement"? Is this to be his martyrdom, and with a superior effort something he can come back overcoming like Lance Armstrong did cancer? If his hip is so bad how did he win? He’s not suggesting he pumped his way up all those hills for twenty-one straight days on one hip..is he?
Landis injured the hip in a bicycle accident last year.
About 15 years ago the career of dual sport athlete/superstar Bo Jackson ended because of weakness in one of his hip sockets. At the time there was no available surgical cure for his condition.
A 49 year old acquaintance of mine had a hip replacement a little over a year ago. While he is able to function with the new hip it has still not improved his lifestyle in the way he anticipated.
Let's hope our new tour champion has both a successful hip operation and a future cycling career.