16 H 50 - Armstrong Goes Cross CountryThis was the newsflash from www.letour.com after the #2 man in the overall standings, Joseba Beloki, fell in the final kilometers of today's stage -- a downhill finish -- as he and Amrstrong were chasing down the leader, Alexandre Vinokourov, who had a 10 second advantage at the time of the crash. Unfortunately, the crash has ended Beloki's Tour. Fortunately, Armstrong was able to think quickly on his seat and avoid crashing himself. Armstrong now leads today's stage winner, Alexandre Vinokourov, by only 21 seconds.
It's like a Nike ad... Lance has cut out a hairpin turn and raced across a field to rejoin the peloton after racing off the road to avoid the fallen Beloki. [www.letour.com]
I think this years Tour is much better than the previous few years, Lance I think will win again this year (and good on him!) but its good to see that he is human after all :)
Posted by on 7/16/2003 6:45:53 AM
I agree, the Tour is much more interesting this year. If the reports of Armstrong coming into the Tour with the stomach flu are true, then that combined with the early mountain stages has a lot to do with how close the Tour is to this point (and perhaps the brake that rubbed for 200 km or so during the L'Alpe d'Huez stage). More than anything, these things have given the other riders a window of opportunity, and it is refreshing to see them take advantage. I have been an Armstrong fan since the beginning of his career (we grew up in neighboring Dallas suburbs, and are one year apart in age), and desperately want him to win, but I am not yet convinced that he will. This year, more than ever, I fear the things that can't easily be controlled -- illness and injuries. Friday's Individual Time Trial will be the moment of truth, I think.
Posted by on 7/16/2003 10:27:06 AM
