This has been a fantastic Tour thus far. In my opinion it’s been the best in many years, hand’s down. Each stage has brought drama; from the opening Prologue Time Trial, through the initial flat sprinter’s stages (culminating with Mark Canvendish’ lead-out man, Mark Renshaw, being dismissed from the Tour) through yesterday’s exciting and controversial stage in which Alberto Contador accelerated away from Andy Schleck as he experienced a mechanical incident.
In years past, the Tour was decided early on with many of the stages being mere formalities. This hasn’t been the case this year. Each stage has forced the contenders to race – and race hard. There have been no free rides to this point, and the race will continue to be more competitive right through the final stage in Paris.
Between now and the finale in Paris, there are 2 mountain stages and 1 long Time Trial on the eve of the final day. The race has typically been decided in the mountains, but the Time Trial will add tension and excitement right up until the very end.
This years’ competitive Tour has also brought a very human element to the race, and this has been largely missing in the past.
Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour for many, many years. He’s back this year as a (nearly) 39 years old, trying once more for glory. Even Lance has realized this year that Father Time has marched on and has passed him by. While he’s a phenomenal athlete, competing at this high a level against riders who are 5, 10 or even 15 years younger is nearly an impossible task. And Lance is learning this.
However, Lance will still try to leave this, his final, Tour with some glory. As I write this, Lance has accelerated out of the peloton and will try to win this stage, which is likely the hardest of the entire race. Whether he can pull it off it questionable, and we’ll find out soon, but you have to give him credit.
Lance’s spirit and competitiveness are unparalleled, and we can all learn from this. Whether we’re a top-level athlete like Lance or a weekend warrior, we can all give our best effort.
The human element was also brought to the forefront yesterday. Andy Schleck, the race leader at the time, had a mechanical problem at the worst possible time. He was climbing a very difficult mountain and put on a huge surge in order to drop his rival, Alberto Contador. Schleck’s chain came off and got stuck in his gears as he pulled away from Contador. The unwritten code of ethics in cycling is to not take advantage of a mechanical issue and to wait for the rider to catch back up. This act of sportsmanship has been demonstrated over and over in bike racing, and especially in the Tour.
Contador took advantage of the situation and beat Schleck with enough time to spare that Contador took the Yellow Jersey and the overall race lead from Schleck.
History will decide whether Contador’s actions were sporting or not. The fact of the matter is that Schleck was visibly upset and he was not afraid to show it on the post-race interviews. This was a very human reaction, and one that we don’t see often in the Tour. Schleck promised to extract his vengeance from Contador on the road. The next several days will prove whether or not he has the legs to back up his promise, but either way it’s going to be fun.
The riders of the 2010 Tour de France have put on display for the entire world a tremendous amount of courage, determination, tenacity and a downright “I’ll Show Him!” attitude.
We can learn from these riders and adapt their attitude to ourselves and our everyday lives. So tune in now and don’t miss another day. It’s going to be exciting!
Add your comments below, then GET OUT AND RIDE!
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