Tour de Lance

Dutch2

The Tour de Lance is back.... At the close of today's team time trails, Lance was tied for the yellow jersey. Is it possible for him to win the Tour again?

Paul in Cannon Beach

I thought he retired. What happened?

Dutch2

Paul... you know ya can't keep a good man down. I believe the offiical word is that he wanted to bring more attention to his progam to fight against cancer. I guess if he happens to win again or at least do very well in the Tour that is just a plus. Go Lance!! My whole family will be watching the Tour every chance we get.

ACU Frank

What Lance Armstrong did before was amazing. But after retiring for a few years, running marathons instead... I don't even know how to describe what he's doing now.

In my book, if he flames out tomorrow and finishes dead last he's still the most incredible athlete of our generation.

(Well, my generation. Most of you are still hanging on to Joe DiMaggio.)

[LEFT]BTW... He tweets even more frequently than I do! (lancearmstrong) [/LEFT]

Tony Kessler

Lance certainly appears to be a great athlete, and I find myself checking in on the race despite vows never to do so again after so many of the top riders were disqualified for doping over the last few years. When I checked Versus yesterday, they were even replaying a stage from the 2001 tour in which Lance was blasting up a hill and blowing away the field, including the then-vaunted Jan Ullrich, who later left the sport in doping disgrace. Even if Lance is doing it legally this year, what do you think about the drama that is developing within his team? Lance signed on as a helper for Alberto Contador, the leader of the Astana team, and then left him behind in yesterday's breakaway. So, now the headlines are saying it's "Armstrong vs. Contador." Crummy teamwork, but great TV. I'll catch some of today's team trials on Versus later tonight.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I was in Paris in 1990 and just happened to be near the last stage of the tour de France in time to see the final group come through. That was the year Greg Le Mond won. I saw about 3 seconds of action but it was still pretty awesome.

ACU Frank

[quote=tkessler;716717]Crummy teamwork, but great TV.[/quote]

This happens in Track, when someone is entered into a race to serve as a pacesetting "rabbit". The rabbit is generally a fairly accomplished runner in his own right, and on extremely rare occasions the rabbit may feel like the leaders are faltering and he can win the race. This is almost always a misguided flare-up of inflated ego, or may involve some resentment toward the "big name" runners who are not up to the task. It's all-or-nothing for the rabbit in those cases - he either wins the race and establishes himself, or he's never invited to another meet again.

In this case, I think Lance may be genuinely surprised with his own ability. When he signed on, he probably assumed Contador would be the superior rider. But I think it's incorrect to point to this as Lance not being a team player. His allegiance is to the team, not to Contador. If he thinks he can help the team better this way, I'm not going to doubt him. He's worn the yellow jersey enough to have earned the right to make that call, in my opinion. But, like the track rabbit, it may be a gamble. If Lance drops off the pace and his departure from his pre-race role costs the team, he loses all around.

Tony Kessler

OK, the tour is over. What did you think? I thought the individual stages were pretty dull and, after a while, fairly predictable. But the mountain climbs were intense, the French countryside was as beautiful as ever, and the daily drama between Lance and Contador, the eventual winner, was better than a soap opera. Lance provided a great case study in how to repair one's reputation. The French almost don't hate him anymore! Another surprise this year: No one got caught doping. (Yet. Test results could still turn up positive over the next few weeks, I read somewhere.) Can't wait until next year when Lance and Contador will be competing against each other while not riding on the same team! tk

Dutch2

I agree. We watched the tour everyday and thought most of the stages were not as exciting as in the past years. However this year's tour did have its moments. I don't know what to do at lunch now as I watched the race everyday when I went home for lunch for three weeks. Next year Lance will be on the RadioShack Team. It will be very interesting to see which riders sign on with him for 2010. To be out of the program for so long and return to finish third - Lance really helped the 2009 Tour in numbers of people watching in person and on TV.

Tony Kessler

I bet Lance will end up with a strong team. Contador's unpredictable and self-centered decisions about when to take off from the field had to rub many of his Astana teammates (in addition to Lance) the wrong way. By taking off near the end of one stage, Contador immediately put teammate Andreas Kloden in distress, probably costing him a chance at a spot in the final overall Top 3. If Lance can get Kloden, Leipheimer, Popavich, and a few others to become his worker bees in 2010, he should have a chance to overcome Contador's youth and physical advantages.

After the race ended Sunday, someone asked Contador what he thought had been the most difficult part of the Tour. His response was funny, and honest. It wasn't the steep mountain climbs or the humidity-drenched flat stages along the southern French coast. Instead, he said: the daily "team meetings." tk