Lance Armstrong has won his seventh consecutive Tour de France. From the beginning it seemed almost like a foregone conclusion that he would. Even in the mountains after his Disco Train had rolled him to the front leaving the pack behind, top contenders like Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich couldn’t get any attacks to stick. Lance Armstrong is one of the strongest and most unrelenting cyclists to ever ride the Tour. His record is a testament to his skill and tenacity. I’m grateful for all he has done to popularize the sport in this country but must admit that I’m happy to see him bowing out now. He’s reached the top of his game and his competitors feel like they can’t even touch him. It’s time, in short, for new blood.
I can’t wait to watch the other contender’s duke it out next year. I’ll be pulling hard for my main man Ivan Basso. He’ll have some tough competition but I think 2006 is his year.
Here’s a brief list of the things that did surprise me at this year’s tour:
David Zabriskie’s record setting time trial, which gave him the yellow jersey, was a surprise to all. Watching him crash in the Team Time Trial and then bow out of the race a few days later was heartbreaking.
Tom Boonen’s back to back stage wins seemed like icing on the cake to an already spectacular season but a few days after a horrible crash Tom had to abandon early. No one expected that to happen. There’s always next year Tom.
David Mengen’s amazing breakaway in his own hometown was great cycling but rain on the streets combined with high speeds lead to one of this year’s worst accidents.
George Hincapie finally got his just desserts. After riding loyally for Armstrong at each of his 7 Tour victories George finally got a stage win! No one deserves it more.
Paolo “Il Falco” Savoldelli flew to victory in a gutsy comeback attack. I thought he was dead on this one but he somehow found his legs 30meters out and powered past his challenger for the stage win.
Attack! Attack! Attack! Holy shit, what more can you say about Alexandre Vinokourov? This guy was the most aggressive attacker at this year’s Tour. His stage win yesterday punctuates an amazing effort by this young rider. He will definitely be on the podium next year.
The glutton in me wants to be a cyclist just so I can eat 7,000 calories a day and not get fat.
Posted by: Oscar | July 25, 2005 at 11:17 AM