Lance Armstrong in Yellow...

[Ouragans]

:D I think Lance is one of the greatest American Athletes ever. To come from where he was a few years ago to where he is today is awe inspiring. I read an article some time ago about his come back from cancer. In it he mentioned that the training he did in the mountains around Boone, NC played a big part in his return, both mentally and physically. I appreciate his statements about the NC mountains, they are a great escape.

Today Lance moved back into the lead of the 03 Tour de France. I check his progress daily and cheer him on in his quest to capture his fifth straight victory.

Go Armstrong and Go USA!!!

[Jeff O Rocks]

Congrats to Lance...he always takes the lead in the mountain competition....go Lance go!! :spin:

[crazy4canes]

Woohoo. Go Lance! :spin: :D

[Stormbringer]

Woohoo. Go Lance! :spin: :D

What she said. :spin:

[Jillsdad]

Just heard that Lance does not keep the prize money for winning the tour. He takes all of the prize money and a little bit more of his own thrown in for good measure and divides it amongst his USPS teammates evenly. What a class act.



Lance Armstrong=Class Act :spin: :) ;) :D :cool:


Jerry Stackhouse=Typical NBA Thug :sad: :mad: :cry:

[Jeff O Rocks]

Lance is a class act...a few years ago, he was here for a special bike race for the Jimmy V...have heard nothing but good stuff about him!! :spin:

[Shell]

Armstrong attacks climb despite big fall

Second-place Jan Ullrich, in a show of good sportsmanship, waited for the American to get back on his bike.

LUZ-ARDIDEN, France (AP) - American star Lance Armstrong routed his rivals in a dramatic climb in the Tour de France on Monday, recovering from a fall to stamp his authority on the race after two difficult weeks.

Armstrong's win in the misty mountains of the Pyrenees bolstered his chances of equalling Miguel Indurain's record of five straight Tour victories.

Armstrong, slumped over his bike after his ride, crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of Jan Ullrich, whom he left far behind on the punishing ascent.

The stage win was Armstrong's first of this Tour, meaning he retained the overall lead with just five stages left.

Alexandre Vinokourov had been just 18 seconds behind Armstrong. But the Kazak cyclist was left flailing, two minutes seven seconds back.

Armstrong won after recovering from fall just four kilometres into the climb to Luz-Ardiden. He grazed his left elbow and stained his overall leader's yellow jersey. Then he got back on his bike and got back in the race.

"After the fall, I had a big, big rush of adrenaline," Armstrong said. He then told himself, "Lance if you want to win the Tour de France, do it today."

Where just days ago Armstrong had appeared haggard and drained, on Monday he looked like the four-time champion of old. His win left Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner, 67 seconds back overall. Ullrich, grimacing as he neared the finish, started the day just 15 seconds behind.

Vinokourov, his mouth gaping in exhaustion, dropped behind 2:45 overall, essentially reducing the Tour to a duel between Armstrong and Ullrich before the finish in Paris on Sunday.

Armstrong fell after apparently hitting a spectator on the side of the winding ascent. Armstrong said he was partly to blame because he was riding too close to the edge of the road. Spain's Iban Mayo also fell after crashing into Armstrong as he lay on the tarmac.

The drama didn't stop there. A few seconds after getting back on his bike, Armstrong nearly fell again when his right foot slipped out of his pedal.

Armstrong needed to build his lead going into Saturday's time trial, which could prove to be the deciding stage of this centennial Tour.

Ullrich was devastating in the last time trial Friday, taking a 96-second chunk out of Armstrong's overall lead and dealing the Texan a blow that until Monday appeared to have been nearly irreparable.

With just 15 seconds to spare over Ullrich at the start of the day, Armstrong understood the importance of the climb to Luz-Ardiden.

"I knew it was a very big day for me and the Tour de France," he said.

The tens of thousands of spectators who lined the route to the ski resort cloaked in mist and clouds were anticipating an outstanding race -- and it exceeded expectations.

Never had Armstrong been so closely shadowed by his rivals since he first won the Tour in 1999. Almost from the beginning, he had problems. He was sick before the Tour; he was involved in a crash on the second day; he failed to shine in the Alps. Then came the fall.

"I think it was a spectator's bag. It was also my fault for riding too much to the right of the road, it's too bad," Armstrong said.

The crashed seemed to suggest Armstrong's luck had finally run out. But it could prove to be the deciding moment of this year's race.

[nccanes]

I watched this live. It was already an incredible race, but that was just astounding and I literally gasped.

I had to laugh though. After the fall (the spectator's bag did get caught on his handlebar) and then the foot slipping from the pedal while he was out of his seat (slipping awkwardly), he then caught back up and then left his biggest competitor behind. Anyway, another spectator stepped out for a second and the commentator said "please step back - this man has been down on the pavement and then....nearly lost his.... manhood". :laugh:

Incredible race.

[Jeff O Rocks]

Can he still win even though he fell??

[nccanes]

Can he still win even though he fell??

Oh yeah - he got up and finished the race, and won the stage. He's still in first overall and has increased his lead to 67 seconds or something. :D

[Jeff O Rocks]

Can he still win even though he fell??

Oh yeah - he got up and finished the race, and won the stage. He's still in first overall and has increased his lead to 67 seconds or something. :D

WOO HOO!!! Thanks Eileen!! :spin:

[nccanes]

Here's a few photos of the fall.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030721/capt.1058803491.tour_de_france_tdf118.jpg


http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030721/capt.1058808882.tour_de_france_tdf146.jpg

The yellow thing on the ground is what hooked his handlebar.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030721/capt.1058809297.tour_de_france_tdf147.jpg

[Jeff O Rocks]

Glad that yellow thing doesn't belong to me!! :eek:

Thanks for the pics...glad he is ok..and in the lead!! ;)

[nccanes]

Didn't want to let Tyler Hamilton go without props for his stage win yesterday. It's his 7th tour and his first stage win. Of course, he won it and has a 6th place overall standing with a fractured collarbone from a crash during the 1st stage. :crazy:

Hamilton was also the rider that made sure the other riders in the pack slowed to allow Lance to catch up after his last crash. :D

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030723/capt.1058972294.tour_de_france_tdf110.jpg

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030723/capt.1058978069.tour_de_france_tdf131.jpg
Lance congratulation Hamilton.

[Jillsdad]

In this day and time when people put athletes such as Kobe Bryant and Rasheed Wallace and Mike Tyson on pedestals, it is a shame that true class acts like Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton don't get more props and press. Tyler Hamilton racing with a broken collarbone makes me secretly think he wants to be a hockey player. Go Lance, bring it home Sunday and congrats to Tyler for a great stage win.

[nccanes]

Lance comes in third in today's time trial and completes the final competitive stage with the Yellow jersey. The conditions were treacherous with many crashes including his biggest competitor Ullrich. Unless something extremely bizarre and unprecedented occurs, he will win his 5th consecutive Tour tomorrow in Paris!

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030726/capt.1059235476.cycling_tour_de_france_tdf110.jpg

As a footnote, Tyler Hamilton pulled into 4th place and I really wonder what he would have been able to do had he not crashed in the first stage.

[Jeff O Rocks]

Thanks for the updates Eileen.. Congrats to Lance and Tyler..

[nccanes]

Congrats Lance!

Cheers!
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030727/capt.1059314260.cycling_tour_de_france_tdf106.jpg

Lance and Jan Ullrich
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030727/capt.1059316279.tour_de_france_tdf108.jpg

Five!
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030727/capt.1059313536.cycling_tour_de_france_tdf101.jpg

[Stormbringer]

:spin:

[tommy]

AWESOME.

[Shell]

another cute pic

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030727/capt.1059329962.tour_de_france_tdf158.jpg

[Stormbringer]

Awwww... :)

[crazy4canes]

Lance Armstrong rocks....period. :spin:

[Jeff O Rocks]

He does crazy... congrats to him and those awesome pedaling legs of his.. :spin:

cute kids..I knew they had a second child, but didn't know it was twins..very cool!!

[Turbulence]

Anyone who hasn't read his book, "It's not about the bike, My journey back to life" needs to rush out to the library/bookstore and get it and read it...one of my favorite books. His story is truly amazing...
Go read the book!

[talkingcanes]

I'm glad he and his wife have reconciled after their separation. They are a beautiful family.

[nccanes]

Have they TC? I knew they were working on it and they had "joined him" in Spain prior the Tour, but I didn't know if they had for sure reconciled.

I've read the book (well recommended by Folg) and I'm not surprised that as highly focused and motivated he is on that bike that they were experiencing some issues as they began to have a family. I think I read a quote from her that was something like "6 houses, 3 countries, and 3 children in FOUR years" (not including 5 Tours) - makes it easy to understand that things were stressful.

[talkingcanes]

Have they TC? I knew they were working on it and they had "joined him" in Spain prior the Tour, but I didn't know if they had for sure reconciled.

I've read the book (well recommended by Folg) and I'm not surprised that as highly focused and motivated he is on that bike that they were experiencing some issues as they began to have a family. I think I read a quote from her that was something like "6 houses, 3 countries, and 3 children in FOUR years" (not including 5 Tours) - makes it easy to understand that things were stressful.

I believe it was just as this year's tour began there was an article using the word reconciliation in it. I assumed from that they were back together, although working on it is a never ending process. They have had a lot of success, but also a lot of stress in the years since he was sick. I hope they keep it together for themselves and those children.

[Jeff O Rocks]

I believe they have Eileen...can't remember if I read it or heard it on the news, but they have decided to make a go of it again! :spin:

[Jeff O Rocks]

More on Lance..

Armstrong: Cancer Battle Makes Race Seem Easy

POSTED: 10:01 a.m. EDT July 28, 2003

PARIS -- Five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong says his battle with cancer may be one of the secrets of his success.

It's been just one day since Armstrong took his fifth title in the 23-day, 2,100-plus mile bike race -- but he's wasting no time making the comparison.

Friday he told a group of cancer specialists and survivors in Paris that winning was easy next to the agony of lying in a hospital bed and fighting a devastating illness. He says drawing on that experience helps.

Armstrong was treated for testicular cancer that spread to his brain and lungs in 1996.

If only for a day, Armstrong rode his bike like someone who really was on a tour of France.

The cyclist pedaled smoothly on the run-in to Paris Sunday, the hard work behind him. He grabbed a flute of champagne offered from his team car, took a sip and then toasted himself by clinking the glass against the lens of a TV camera that had pulled up alongside.

Moments later, he took his right hand off the handlebars and extended all five fingers toward the camera. The gesture that needed no explanation at the end of the world's greatest bicycle race. After three weeks, two mountain ranges and 2,100 miles, his life on the run was about to slow to a leisurely victory lap.

Soon after, with his fifth consecutive Tour de France title a fact, he slipped into the leader's yellow jersey and answered the only important question that remained.

Would he be back? He says -- "Of course." He says he loves cycling, loves his job, and will be back, at age 32, to seek an unprecedented sixth Tour de France title in a row.

But for now, Armstrong says he'll do something that's almost alien to him -- rest.

His margin of victory this year, as he battled health and equipment problems, was his smallest. He beat second-place finisher Jan Ullrich by only 61 seconds.

Armstrong says that's not acceptable, and wants to return to his earlier dominance. But the dents to his aura of invincibility may encourage his rivals.

And what happens after 2004? At this point he doesn't know. Armstrong says he thinks it's possible to race even to age 34, although when he retires, he'd like to go out undefeated.

[nccanes]

From USA Today, 7/25

Falling in love with a man and an event
By Kristin Armstrong, Special for USA TODAY

It always amuses me when I get asked questions about the Tour, things like tactics or my views on what's happening in the race. Don't get me wrong. I'm an intelligent woman who is raising three children in two countries, speaks three languages and has opinions on lots of things. It's just that, well, sports. ... how can I say this? OK. Simply put — I'm a girl. I like pink, wearing dresses, buying new lip gloss. I never gave sports a second thought until I met and married one of the best athletes of all time.

But over the years, cycling, and specifically the Tour de France, has grown on me. And it isn't just because of all the yellow. It is the race as a whole.

My own personal affinity for France, grown out of the seeds you plant when you are starting your life as an adult, is a part of it.

I love the language, the terrain, the food, the wine, the way your initial perception of disorder and inefficiency is later replaced by a peaceful acceptance of a different pace.

And then you put a bike race through all of it. Suddenly you have cute, multilingual men, stellar athletes, dramatically dueling it out on the roads against a backdrop of lavender and sunflowers. OK — a girl could possibly get into this.

My first trip to Europe was with Lance. I was changed forever, knowing how much more there was to enjoy someplace other than the U.S.

I was hooked. And now I watch the Tour, see the hundreds of American flags lining the sides and wonder how many people are new to this.

Something about Lance inspired them to come halfway around the world to a foreign land and stand with a bunch of strangers on the top of a mountain. I can relate.

The experience is awesome. I wonder if it comes across like that on TV: The fact that you can stand inches from your heroes and run alongside them. Or share wine, baguette, water and sunscreen with people you can't converse with. Or feel the whoosh of power as the peloton sweeps by you, catching you in its wake.

You stand, awe-struck on the side. Do they really ride this fast? All day? For three weeks? And do people really stand here for two days just to feel that rush when they pass by? Yes, they do.

This Tour has been a difficult one. People kept asking me, "What's wrong with Lance? Is he OK? Why is it so hard?" Guess what? It's always hard.

The problem with Lance is that most of the time he makes hard things look easy, and that confuses people. Maybe this year was harder than most.

But don't forget, my husband likes to be the underdog. When the odds are stacked against him, he stacks himself against the odds.

But when you are going for five wins in a row? No, you are not the underdog. Instead you get to attach a trailer to your bike, filled with the world's expectations, hopes of cancer patients everywhere, all the folks who now make a living from your pedaling, and pressure from all sides.

When he crashed on the stage into Luz-Ardiden, I literally fell to my knees in front of the television. I was so scared, and yet I saw it happening, the spirit of the underdog being unleashed.

He was on fire. I knew no one could catch him. He rode for himself, the way he likes to ride.

Have you ever seen a dolphin swimming in the waves, graceful, strong, leaping and playing and showing off to no one's delight but its own?

That is the sight of one of God's creatures doing and enjoying what they have been placed on earth to do, and that is what it is like to watch Lance ride his bike.

How's that for sports commentary, girl style?

[Shell]

Thanks for posting, great article (even if I am a girl who likes sports way more than lip gloss ;))

[Jeff O Rocks]

She sounds like a very smart and spunky gal. I know she is so proud of him.. :spin:

[Jillsdad]

Okay reading that article gave me the goosebumps. I guess you really have to be there to experience the thrill of the tour. Even though I am not too fond of the French I will give them their due , they do put on one hell of a spectacle for 3 weeks every July. Go Lance and Kristin and I hope you get #6 next year.

[talkingcanes]

I guess they just couldn't make it work. That's a shame for them and for their children.



AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 4) - Lance Armstrong and his wife are working on a divorce settlement after trying to reconcile during the summer in hopes of saving their five-year marriage.

The five-time Tour de France champion and his wife, Kristin, separated two weeks ago, soon after moving back to Austin from Girona, Spain. They are staying in separate homes in Austin.

``The craziest thing is, we're closer now and better friends than ever before,'' Lance Armstrong said in Thursday's Austin American-Statesman. ``We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage.''

Armstrong overcame cancer on his way to becoming one of his sport's greatest riders. His fifth straight victory in the Tour de France in July tied the record held by Spain's Miguel Indurain.

Jogi Muller, a spokesman for Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, told The Associated Press, the cyclist and his wife attempted to patch up their marriage during the entire summer.

``But somehow, now in the month after the Tour, it just didn't work out,'' Muller said. ``They tried probably for the children, for themselves.''

Armstrong and his wife have three children. They announced in February they had been separated for a month, then reconciled.

Muller said the couple originally planned to stay in Europe through mid-September but decided to return home early.

[Jeff O Rocks]

How sad...after all they went through together!! :sad: At least they still like each other!