Or should I say cajone?
Either way, the guy is one tough bastard, having joined a very elite group...five time winners of the Tour de France.
I tip my hat to this guy...if I were half as tough as he is, I'd be ten times as tough as I am.
He's simply one of the greatest cyclists ever. One of those happy feel-good American stories that will go on through the ages.
What's really amazing about this is that cycling seems a rather un-American sport. And the US didn't even place in the top 3 until Greg LeMond finished 3rd in 1984. Since then, Americans have won 8, finished second in '85 (LeMond), and third in '98 (Bobby Julich).
And how about Tyler Hamilton--broken collarbone in 2 places, and he finishes 4th. How insane/awesome is that?
Oh, hell yes...I forgot about him. He has *two* large cajones and one hell of a pain threshold.
I saw a lot of Tour updates and video this time around...some of the crashes were nothing short of horrific. When biking, you are totally exposed, and these guys were hauling ass a lot of the times. They must be beat to shit, especially Tyler.
From what I was reading in one story, Lance lost 11 pounds in one stage. Jesus...
That's because water is 8.33 lbs/gal. A lot of sweat and a pee or two and your down ten pounds.
All this national pride and shared glory for only an extra penny on your stamps.:p
As a long-time Tour watcher I can say that this was (as Phil and Paul constantly commented) one of the greatest Tours ever.
They aren't that much fun when the leader is up by 6, 8, 10 minutes, but when it is as close as this one, with the incredible drama this one was rife with, they are great to watch.
These guys are the greatest athletes on the planet. Oh, yes they are! Consuming 8000 to 10000 calories a day, riding at speeds of upwards of 100 kmph on some descents, climbing for kilometer after kilometer at 7% grade, accelerating to 65 kmph at a finish line with another guy doing the same thing 5 cm away from you.
It's an amazing spectacle and I love to watch it.
And yes, Tyler Hamilton was unbelievable.
Lance is the man! I'd have to look it up but the average stage is something like 100 miles. Do that daily for two weeks?!!! I rode 100 last summer for the MS Tour, we followed up with a fifty miler the next day, that was painful. It would be cool to get paid to ride and find out how good you could get but this tubby guy knows better, these folks are some of the worlds best athletes and all the training in the world can't build the mental and physical toughness that exists among these men. To be the worst rider in that field is a completely unreachable goal... amazing. I'd still prefer him to ride for UPS
Two days later Lance wins a race in Austria. sick
Originally posted by russotto
cojone.
Whoops...My high school Spanish is thirty years behind me, I'm afraid. How embarassing.