Welcome to the sport of cycling, if you don't know The Tour De France is currently going on, which is the Super Bowl of the sport. Cycling is a sport that requires more endurance than any other sport in the world, this no one can argue against. Stages that are about 160 miles long are bad enough flat, but they take their riders about a mile high where the air is thick and the roads are steep and even the decents aren't anything to look forward too. These nasty decents take a rider over 60 mph twisting and turning, with nothing but a skin tight suit that peels away against the pavement for protection. I used to watch every stage LIVE waking up at 8 to watch from the beginning of the coverage to the end. Then Lance Armstrong left...
When Lance left I stopped watching I saw no point, and I know that I was not alone in my abandonment of cycling, whose one shining moment is this 3 week long tour that is only given air time on Versus, all the way up on channel 603 on direct tv with the Spanish Channels. Once Lance left everyone was caught doping, all of the main contenders were suspended and a sport that was already without a leader was doomed. Then the next year and the next there was still a Tour De France riders still thrashed their bodies over this grueling course. These riders aren't doing anything for themselves either. Spanish riders push themselves in Spain to the point that their heart can literally no longer beat any faster. Meanwhile French riders push themselves harder to steal the win from the Spanish riders. You sit watching a world war unfold, as different rivals fight for not just themselves but their countries. Riders will go on break aways which is a small group that breaks away from the main field, these riders push themselves to escape with just one stage victory for their country, sacrificing their legs and most likely their ability to finish The Tour.
Now, enter Lance Armstrong for a comeback, a man whose 37 in a sport where the oldest man is 40. Currently he is third overall and on a team that is the equivalent of the Yankees (Astana for those of you who ARE cycling buffs). This 37 year old cancer survivor is a mere 8 seconds off the lead. What a story. What a Comeback. Yet everytime Brett Favre sneezes ESPN gives it more coverage. So everyday that I wake up at 8 to watch The Tour I ask myself is this really worth it. Will there even be a Tour De France when I tell my grand kids about this superhero Lance Armstrong a name that to them will seem as foreign as someone like DJ Mbenga, a back up center on the LA Lakers. The dirtiest sport in the world, with the cleanest hero, now I watch and wonder can one man ever be bigger than a sport? For the sake of the greatest athletes in the world I sure hope so.
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Lance has become bigger than the sport. Without Lance it seems the US would be oblivious to the sport of cycling. I think I have watched the tour since Lance's last victory and once he retired ESPN never really had highlights of the race. When he came back this year ESPN at least had highlights. It was ashame that he did not win, because even though Contador I think may get close to Lance's record of 7, Lance just is the best and always will be, and there is nothing not to like about the guy
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