Lance Armstrong has defined American cycling for the last 11 years. Beginning with his first improbable victory in the Tour de France in 1999 until this year, all American cyclists and even most of the world measured themselves by his standard. He has had more impact on the sport in America than any other rider in my lifetime, and it isn’t even close. It is because of Lance that I can watch every tour stage live on TV and read live reports on many websites and even read articles about bike racing in the local paper every day of the Tour. He has been fairly invincible and everyone expected, or at least hoped, that he would manage to ascend to the top step of the podium once again.
But today we learned that time comes for everyone. Time came for Lance several years ago, I think, sometime during his brief retirement. Last year, through force of will, he managed to crawl onto the podium of the Tour one more time. But today, in the first day in the Alps, time came for Lance. One minute of time, to be precise. But that minute, when he was already trailing, showed that even Lance’s feet are partly made of clay. Eventually, that single minute grew to over 10 minutes. Once time came for him, it kept coming over and over.
It was a sad day for Lance. He was driven off the road early on when Evans crashed. He fell just before the beginning of the de la Ramaz climb. He couldn’t keep up with the surging peloton, and then, just as it looked like he might be able to cut into the minute he had lost on the prior climb, someone falls on a straight flat road right in front of him. Nothing he could do; wrong place and wrong time. He was forced off his bike and stood helpless, waiting for bodies and bikes to untangle from his bike so he could continue.
Lance has announced this would be his last Tour de France. And at the end of the race in Paris he will still be swamped with media and will still be the focus of great attention. But his tour career will not end in Paris in 14 days. It is already over. It finished today on the slopes of the Alps. Lance is a great champion. His name is known around the world. And he will be the only winner of 7 consecutive Tours that any of us will ever see. But his tour career didn’t end with a victory, or a podium, or a spectacular stage win. It didn’t even end with a gritty performance on a difficult stage, or a dig into his deep reserves for a last effort at a time trial. Instead, it ended with a quiet whimper, with Lance standing next to his fallen bike, trying to understand how this crash could have happened to him, why luck had abandoned him altogether in this, his final year. It ended with Lance riding over the line many minutes after the winner, accompanied by other also rans, such as Voeckler. Lance the invincible is now Lance the ordinary.
To be clear, Lance’s tour ended today, on the streets leading into Morzine, where he was forced off his bike by someone else’s ineptitude. And briefly he stood looking at his bike on the road, with his hands on his hips, and he must have realized that it was finished. What thoughts go through a champion’s mind when he realizes he is no longer a champion? Only Lance can know for sure. But it was not easy to watch. Now, for Lance, this Tour will become a farewell ceremony, not a race. His excellence will be missed.
* * *
A big stage today. Lance is cooked. Contador looks as strong as ever. Levi looks to be the leader of TRS at this point. Schleck, Basso, Evans, Kreuziger and others looked very good. At the final kilometer, schelck makes a move that only Sanchez can cover. It isn’t clear if CONtador couldn’t cover the move or simply decided not to do so. Either way, Schelck surprised the heck out of me with his little sprint at the line. It is a long way from standing on the side of the road holding his arm to the win in the Alps. Suddenly Cancellara’s ability to neutralize Stage three, allowing Schelck to re-join the peloton, looks like a huge factor in the overall of this race.
Looking long, it looks like this to me: Schleck and Contador and Evans and Basso are all looking very god. The winner will come from these four, is my guess. But, the fact is that Schelck and Basso are not very good time trialists, giving a big advantage to Evans and Contador and, to be honest, especially to Contador. And Menchov might still be there. As for Americans, Levi is now the man. He can time trial quite well, but he is only a steady and not explosive climber, and I doubt at this point he will be able to podium, but could easily be top five.
Tomorrow is a rest day and along with the tour, I need it! .
But today we learned that time comes for everyone. Time came for Lance several years ago, I think, sometime during his brief retirement. Last year, through force of will, he managed to crawl onto the podium of the Tour one more time. But today, in the first day in the Alps, time came for Lance. One minute of time, to be precise. But that minute, when he was already trailing, showed that even Lance’s feet are partly made of clay. Eventually, that single minute grew to over 10 minutes. Once time came for him, it kept coming over and over.
It was a sad day for Lance. He was driven off the road early on when Evans crashed. He fell just before the beginning of the de la Ramaz climb. He couldn’t keep up with the surging peloton, and then, just as it looked like he might be able to cut into the minute he had lost on the prior climb, someone falls on a straight flat road right in front of him. Nothing he could do; wrong place and wrong time. He was forced off his bike and stood helpless, waiting for bodies and bikes to untangle from his bike so he could continue.
Lance has announced this would be his last Tour de France. And at the end of the race in Paris he will still be swamped with media and will still be the focus of great attention. But his tour career will not end in Paris in 14 days. It is already over. It finished today on the slopes of the Alps. Lance is a great champion. His name is known around the world. And he will be the only winner of 7 consecutive Tours that any of us will ever see. But his tour career didn’t end with a victory, or a podium, or a spectacular stage win. It didn’t even end with a gritty performance on a difficult stage, or a dig into his deep reserves for a last effort at a time trial. Instead, it ended with a quiet whimper, with Lance standing next to his fallen bike, trying to understand how this crash could have happened to him, why luck had abandoned him altogether in this, his final year. It ended with Lance riding over the line many minutes after the winner, accompanied by other also rans, such as Voeckler. Lance the invincible is now Lance the ordinary.
To be clear, Lance’s tour ended today, on the streets leading into Morzine, where he was forced off his bike by someone else’s ineptitude. And briefly he stood looking at his bike on the road, with his hands on his hips, and he must have realized that it was finished. What thoughts go through a champion’s mind when he realizes he is no longer a champion? Only Lance can know for sure. But it was not easy to watch. Now, for Lance, this Tour will become a farewell ceremony, not a race. His excellence will be missed.
* * *
A big stage today. Lance is cooked. Contador looks as strong as ever. Levi looks to be the leader of TRS at this point. Schleck, Basso, Evans, Kreuziger and others looked very good. At the final kilometer, schelck makes a move that only Sanchez can cover. It isn’t clear if CONtador couldn’t cover the move or simply decided not to do so. Either way, Schelck surprised the heck out of me with his little sprint at the line. It is a long way from standing on the side of the road holding his arm to the win in the Alps. Suddenly Cancellara’s ability to neutralize Stage three, allowing Schelck to re-join the peloton, looks like a huge factor in the overall of this race.
Looking long, it looks like this to me: Schleck and Contador and Evans and Basso are all looking very god. The winner will come from these four, is my guess. But, the fact is that Schelck and Basso are not very good time trialists, giving a big advantage to Evans and Contador and, to be honest, especially to Contador. And Menchov might still be there. As for Americans, Levi is now the man. He can time trial quite well, but he is only a steady and not explosive climber, and I doubt at this point he will be able to podium, but could easily be top five.
Tomorrow is a rest day and along with the tour, I need it! .
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