Yellow 7
It takes an incredible athlete to even ride the Tour de France. I can’t imagine what it would take to actually win one (although having the Discovery Channnel team around you would help). Especially after nearly dying with testicular cancer. And if I recall, nobody had ever won more than five.
Today Lance Armstrong won his seventh Tour in a row. Simply feckin’ remarkable. I don’t know who the greatest athlete in history is, but I wouldn’t take very seriously a debate on the subject where Armstrong’s name didn’t at least come up.
Congrats, Lance.
lullaby pit 
He really is a force of nature.
He really is a force of nature.
Is it weird to say I’m proud of him?
I’m not a big cycling fan, but wow! I actually watched a couple of stages of the Tour and was watching yesterday as Lance stood on the podium and accepted, for the seventh and final time, the yellow jersey.
The commentators did the mini-breakdown of Lance’s past victories. It was great to see how he’s gotten to where he is today. Seeing his children, all in yellow, standing with him was heart-warming and was the best way to show why it is that he is leaving racing.
In either his speech or the interview with commentators afterwards (I think it was the interview) he commented on his being linked with the greatest athletes in history. He spoke of how much he admired those athletes. Then someone asked him what he thought his legacy would be. He said that he didn’t know for sure but we’d all know in ten years.
Tim Layden, a CNN writer, had this to say: “Armstrong wields power that reaches far beyond the competitive arena. His triumph over cancer before winning any of his Tours has given hope to an entire generation of patients and their loved ones. If you don’t believe this, look at the yellow wristbands around you any given day. Not everybody wears them for style.”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tim_layden/07/22/lance.tiger/1.html
Who cares if it sounds weird, I’m proud of him. What an awesome job.
Is it weird to say I’m proud of him?
I’m not a big cycling fan, but wow! I actually watched a couple of stages of the Tour and was watching yesterday as Lance stood on the podium and accepted, for the seventh and final time, the yellow jersey.
The commentators did the mini-breakdown of Lance’s past victories. It was great to see how he’s gotten to where he is today. Seeing his children, all in yellow, standing with him was heart-warming and was the best way to show why it is that he is leaving racing.
In either his speech or the interview with commentators afterwards (I think it was the interview) he commented on his being linked with the greatest athletes in history. He spoke of how much he admired those athletes. Then someone asked him what he thought his legacy would be. He said that he didn’t know for sure but we’d all know in ten years.
Tim Layden, a CNN writer, had this to say: “Armstrong wields power that reaches far beyond the competitive arena. His triumph over cancer before winning any of his Tours has given hope to an entire generation of patients and their loved ones. If you don’t believe this, look at the yellow wristbands around you any given day. Not everybody wears them for style.”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tim_layden/07/22/lance.tiger/1.html
Who cares if it sounds weird, I’m proud of him. What an awesome job.