It has taken me four hours to get up the courage to write today’s post. And I fear that I will never have the words that are sufficient to describe what has happened today. So I’ll start with the facts:

– Lance has won his seventh – and last – Tour de France. Mr. Armstrong now has a few days of rest before he starts his next career. I pray that he will have as much success with his next endeavors that he has had with cycling.

– Lance was joined by his family on the podium. What a wonderful way to say goodbye. And what a great thing for his kids. Maybe Luke will remember this some day. I certainly pray that Lance can give his children the love and care that they so richly deserve. At the same time, I pray that they will show him the kind of love that only children can show. Teammates and sponsors want wins. Cancer survivors want a “slice of hope” to draw upon. But kids want time. They will repay every smile with a hug. And they will warm your heart on the coldest of days. May Lance truly experience the love of being a Dad to his kids. It’s an even tougher job than riding around France for three weeks – seven times in a row. But the rewards are found in a different kind of yellow. Kids will hand their moms a bunch of dandelions and Mom will treasure them as jewels. Lance, I pray you are thrilled whenever you skip stones with your children. And I pray you can remember your arithmetic so you can help them when they stumble.

– Lance was also joined by his rivals and friends. With Ivan and Jan on the podium, it must have made the day so wonderfully sweet for Lance. I sure hope that both Jan and Ivan will be batttling for the maillot jaune next July.

– Alexandre Vinokourov won today’s stage on the Champs Elysees. It was a magnificient strategy and it paid off handsomely. Not only did Alexandre take the stage, but because of the time bonuses that were awarded, he nudge into fifth place in the overall standings.

– Levi Leipheimer was nudged out of fifth place. It’s too bad. He fought to stay even with Vino at the first intermediate sprint of the day. Vino took irst, Levi took second. That meant that Levi was ahead by less than a second. And the Tour organizers suspended the remaining time bonuses on the Champs Elysees because of inclement weather. So Levi eased off and enjoyed the final laps around Paris. But Levi didn’t know that a time bonus would be awarded to the stage winner. If he did, you know that Gerolsteiner would have covered Vino’s final attack. Man, it’s too bad that Levi had to lose like this. Both men deserve tremndous praise for their accomplishments in the Tour.

– I am sure that there are a lot of people that are a bit upset about what happened with Vino. Not only did he spoil Levi’s party, he spoiled the party for everyone else who had a chance to beat Thor Hushovd. Boy, I hope Vino has a new contract lined up because he may have burned some bridges today.

But in the end, Lance had the simple and sufficient words to meet this occasion. He was given the unique opportunity to address the crowd. And his words were somewhat stumbling. But his last words were the best. “Vive le Tour. Forever.”

I can’t wait until next year. But until then, we still have the Vuelta!

-CyclingRoo-

It has taken me four hours to get up the courage to write today’s post. And I fear that I will never have the words that are sufficient to describe what has happened today. So I’ll start with the facts:
– Lance has won his seventh – and last – Tour de France. Mr. Armstrong now has a few days of rest before he starts his next career. I pray that he will have as much success with his next endeavors that he has had with cycling.
– Lance was joined by his family on the podium. What a wonderful way to say goodbye. And what a great thing for his kids. Maybe Luke will remember this some day. I certainly pray that Lance can give his children the love and care that they so richly deserve. At the same time, I pray that they will show him the kind of love that only children can show. Teammates and sponsors want wins. Cancer survivors want a “slice of hope” to draw upon. But kids want time. They will repay every smile with a hug. And they will warm your heart on the coldest of days. May Lance truly experience the love of being a Dad to his kids. It’s an even tougher job than riding around France for three weeks – seven times in a row. But the rewards are found in a different kind of yellow. Kids will hand their moms a bunch of dandelions and Mom will treasure them as jewels. Lance, I pray you are thrilled whenever you skip stones with your children. And I pray you can remember your arithmetic so you can help them when they stumble.
– Lance was also joined by his rivals and friends. With Ivan and Jan on the podium, it must have made the day so wonderfully sweet for Lance. I sure hope that both Jan and Ivan will be batttling for the maillot jaune next July.
– Alexandre Vinokourov won today’s stage on the Champs Elysees. It was a magnificient strategy and it paid off handsomely. Not only did Alexandre take the stage, but because of the time bonuses that were awarded, he nudge into fifth place in the overall standings.
– Levi Leipheimer was nudged out of fifth place. It’s too bad. He fought to stay even with Vino at the first intermediate sprint of the day. Vino took irst, Levi took second. That meant that Levi was ahead by less than a second. And the Tour organizers suspended the remaining time bonuses on the Champs Elysees because of inclement weather. So Levi eased off and enjoyed the final laps around Paris. But Levi didn’t know that a time bonus would be awarded to the stage winner. If he did, you know that Gerolsteiner would have covered Vino’s final attack. Man, it’s too bad that Levi had to lose like this. Both men deserve tremndous praise for their accomplishments in the Tour.
– I am sure that there are a lot of people that are a bit upset about what happened with Vino. Not only did he spoil Levi’s party, he spoiled the party for everyone else who had a chance to beat Thor Hushovd. Boy, I hope Vino has a new contract lined up because he may have burned some bridges today.
But in the end, Lance had the simple and sufficient words to meet this occasion. He was given the unique opportunity to address the crowd. And his words were somewhat stumbling. But his last words were the best. “Vive le Tour. Forever.”
I can’t wait until next year. But until then, we still have the Vuelta!
-CyclingRoo-

I love the Tour de France. And today has been a most memorable day.
Lance Armstrong has won his first indiviual stage of the 2005 Tour de France. And he has won the last “test of truth” for his career. Along the way, he beat his nearest competitor (Jan Ullrich) by 23 seconds. Jan Ullrich is a fighter. I sure hope the German press offer apologies to der Kaiser. He had an amazing ride. He was second only to Lance Armstrong. And he has climbed onto the podium. Lance will be on the podium with the two men that have challenged him the most during the last seven (7) years (Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso).
Unfortunately, not everyone had a great day. This morning, Michael Rasmussen started as the third-best rider in the peleton. But he had a horrific day in the saddle. He had two crashes and had to change bikes four times. He will not be on the podium in Paris. But he will leave the Tour with a stage win and the King of the Mountains jersey. This has been a great year for him. And he has many more years to come.
And while the GC leadership was decided, the entire American cycling contingent had a superb day. Four of the top ten cyclists [Lance Armstrong, Bobby Julich, Floyd Landis and George Hincapie] were Americans. And all four can claim ties with DS Johan Bruyneel, the US Postal team and Lance Armstrong. These four men have shown that Americans can compete in the highest levels of worldwide cycling.
At the end of the day, the GC standings are compelling.
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 82.34.05
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 4.40
3 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 6.21
4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne 9.59
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 11.25
6 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 11.27
7 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 11.33
8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 11.55
9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 12.44
10 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 16.04
Every man on this list has had a memorabe Tour.

• Oscar Pereiro has been amazing. He has won a stage and contested many others. He was huge in the mountains. And he will be someone to watch for the next few years.
• Floyd Landis has been a great leader for Phonak. This team has had to struggle with the loss of its erstwhile leader (Tyler Hamilton) amidst blood doping charges. Yet the team has two riders in the top 10.
• Cadel Evans has had an amazing three weeks in the mountains. He has earned the honors received this year.
• Michael Rasmussen is the next great Dane. He is the KOM winner. And he won a solo stage. With some time (and a little more TT training) he will contend for overall leadership in the Tour.
• Alexander Vinokourov has shown his relentless, attacking style throughout this year’s Tour. T-Mobile will miss him in the future. Whoever picks this man up will have a gem – with a few rough edges yet to be polished.
• Levi Leipheimer has been wonderful this year. He has now made a op five finish. What an accomplishment. I guess the Specialized folks will be glad about their investment.
• Francisco Macebo has shown continued improvement. He has placed high in the mountains and kept close in the time trials. He will challenge many in next year’s Tour. In the meantime, I think he may be a serious challenge to Roberto Heras in this year’s Vuelta.
• Jan Ullrich has done it! He will place third on the podium this year. That means that he has had a podium finish in seven of his eight Tour finishes. I can’t think of a better way for Lance to exit the stage than to have Jan at his side.
• Ivan Basso has won second place in the Tour de France. After losing this spot to Andreas Kloden last year, I am sure that he is thrilled to be second only to Lance Armstron. He will be the favorite to win next year.
• Lance Armstrong has won his seventh consecutive Tour de France. There are no superlatives that can do justice to this accomplishment. With today’s stage win, Lance has won twenty-five stages of the Tour de France (including three team time trial victories). He has worn the leader’s jersey for eighty (80) days. And he is the only person to ever win seven consecutive Tours. I doubt that anyone will break this record – at least, not anytime soon.

Tomorrow is the ceremonial parade into Paris. This will be a parade into history. But history is something that doesn’t stand still. Lance will continue to make history in his life – whatever he chooses to do. At the same time, the Tour de France will move on as well. There will be new Tour champions and new revelations every year. So while the “Tour de Lance” is over, the Tour de France remains.
-CyclingRoo-

1 Discovery Channel Team 216.19.20
2 T-Mobile Team 0.37
3 Team Csc 22.04
Wow! Discovery leads in the Team Classification in this year’s Tour! With the abandonment by Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) and the amazing breakaway by Savoldelli and Rubiera, the Discovery team leads the team classification. Their lead is small, but they may be able to maintain it. I would expect both T-Mobile and CSC to try and get into some early breaks – just to challenge Discovery’s advantage. But until then, the sponsors should be thrilled.
-CyclingRoo-