Armstrong's Tour tale is one of inspiration, mystery
Philadelphia Inquirer | 29 Jun | BOB FORD
"There are no races. Only lotteries."
- Jacques Anquetil, first five-time Tour de France winner
PHILADELPHIA - He has already won the greatest, most exclusive, most desired trophy on earth, racing the ravaging storm of cancer and emerging just ahead. Lance Armstrong will correct anyone who says he beat the disease, however, because not even one of the best and most determined athletes in history can hold that title. He "survived" cancer and was allowed to return to his sport of bicycle racing only because his body somehow navigated those treacherous turns and finished the searing uphill fight.
That was, amazingly, just a prologue to the second act of Armstrong's life, in which he reentered a painful world of long journeys as littered by happenstance and luck as the one that carried him away from death and back to the light.
It has been six years since he returned to racing and five years since he rejoined the whirling pack of the Tour de France. Along the way, a most remarkable story, one without a reasonable comparison, has told itself. Armstrong has won all five Tours since his comeback, tying the record, and on Saturday, he will push away from the starting line in Liege, Belgium, hoping to accomplish something no one else has.
As if he hasn't already....Read More...
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/other_sports/9038122.htm
Philadelphia Inquirer | 29 Jun | BOB FORD
"There are no races. Only lotteries."
- Jacques Anquetil, first five-time Tour de France winner
PHILADELPHIA - He has already won the greatest, most exclusive, most desired trophy on earth, racing the ravaging storm of cancer and emerging just ahead. Lance Armstrong will correct anyone who says he beat the disease, however, because not even one of the best and most determined athletes in history can hold that title. He "survived" cancer and was allowed to return to his sport of bicycle racing only because his body somehow navigated those treacherous turns and finished the searing uphill fight.
That was, amazingly, just a prologue to the second act of Armstrong's life, in which he reentered a painful world of long journeys as littered by happenstance and luck as the one that carried him away from death and back to the light.
It has been six years since he returned to racing and five years since he rejoined the whirling pack of the Tour de France. Along the way, a most remarkable story, one without a reasonable comparison, has told itself. Armstrong has won all five Tours since his comeback, tying the record, and on Saturday, he will push away from the starting line in Liege, Belgium, hoping to accomplish something no one else has.
As if he hasn't already....Read More...
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/other_sports/9038122.htm
