12/21/24
July 12, 2010
Lance Armstrong: 'My Tour is Finished': After being caught in three crashes, one of which brought him down, and struggling to keep up during two climbs, Lance Armstrong says he has no chance to win his 13th and last Tour de France. "My Tour is finished," Armstrong said after the eighth stage. "Quite banged but gonna hang in here and enjoy my last 2 weeks."
I have no doubt that Lance will finish the race, and I'd really like to see him shift focus and ride for Leipheimer now. It'd be a fitting end to his classy Tour career. On the other hand, how cool would it be if he won one more stage?
posted by cl at 07:53 PM on July 12, 2010
Lance just went "one Tour too far". He's never seemed to have the motivation this year - almost like he was going through the motions.
When the legs go, they go, and the race has a way of telling you they've gone. There might be a stage victory in him, but the next couple of days are rough, and the four days in the Pyrenees next week are rougher still.
I wish he'd gone out with a season that hadn't been so focused on the TdF. Give the finger to the critics and tip your hat to the monuments of cycling: do Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège or the Flèche Wallon.
posted by etagloh at 08:49 PM on July 12, 2010
I wish he'd gone out with a season that hadn't been so focused on the TdF.
Probably my biggest issue with LA is his obsession with the TdF at the expense of all other races. Cycling to the world became an annual highlights package of Lance in the maillot jaune, forget about P-R or the Giro or the Classics he rode so well at the start of his career. Tip his hat to the monuments? He doesn't get paid for that.
Great rider, not a fan, won't miss the Armstrong era. The leaders may now get their due with LA a non-factor. This has been a great year in cycling already.
posted by deflated at 09:21 PM on July 12, 2010
He was finished a few years ago as far as most are concerned. Time to make it official. I admire Armstrong for overcoming cancer, but I'll also never be a big fan. Too many doubts, in my mind, continue to swirl around his years of dominance, and although they may never be proven, that doubt and other issues related to cycling turns me off from the whole sport.
posted by dyams at 07:46 AM on July 13, 2010
I don't think the doubts about Armstrong and PEDs affect his dominance. It seems to me like the sport is/was rife with doping, yet Armstrong dominated anyway. Quite amazing. I'm also glad that he stayed around after he wasn't dominant anymore. It makes it more clear to the Armstrong-only fans that it is much harder than he made it seem.
posted by bperk at 11:26 AM on July 13, 2010
Barring a crash, Alberto Contador will win Tour again. Andy Schelck may outclimb him, but Alberto will beat Andy by at least 3 minutes in final time trial. I think Cadel Evans will finish second - Andy may hang on for third.
Lance just went "one Tour too far". He's never seemed to have the motivation this year - almost like he was going through the motions. Even so, had he not crashed just before the Col de Ramaz, I think he would have finished much closer to leaders - probably close enough to still be in hunt. As it is, I wonder if he will finsh this Tour or if he'll finally get banged up enough or fed up enough to just say the heck with it and go home.