The Greatest Without Question

Anyone who’s known me for more than ten seconds knows I have an almost hero-worship type relationship with Lance Armstrong. As far as I’m concerned no one will ever be able to touch his greatness.

Seeing pictures of him crossing the finish line today just solidified one thing. No matter what the organizers did to make it harder for him to win… No matter what his opponents did to train harder… No matter what equipment they bought… No matter what dope they took… No matter what rule changes, harassment by fans, personal tragedies, or team shortcomings fell in his way, here we sit at the end of his seventh consecutive Tour de France win and we can only marvel at the unbelievable accomplishment this is.

The sport of cycling will certainly not be the same without Lance. Some people in Europe will be quite happy to see him go. Rightfully so, I imagine. No one else was winning that race while he was in it.

That, no matter what you think of the man himself, is a true mark of greatness.

Thank you, Lance, for representing our country with such pride and giving us something to cheer about at the end of the Tour.

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  • Bridget

    There was no question about it.

  • pam

    I thought of you throughout this race. I was the one that told you he was nuts for going for a seventh. Retire on top I told you! I just wanted to let you know that the crow I ate yesterday was yummie!

    I am very happy for him!

  • http://chapel-perilous.net/caiterwauling/ Cait

    I too thought maybe he should retire with the 6th win. Wrong, wrong, wrong. He really won this one almost on cruise-control. What an amazing human being. If they have a welcome-back party for him in Austin, I may just go, even though I hate getting in crowds.

  • http://www.lonesophist.com Tammy

    He’s a machine. However, could someone tell the announcers to PLEASE pronounce the race correctly and stop saying Tour de fraaaaaaaaance? It’s Frahhhhhhhnce. That bugs me.

  • http://turningwheels.blogspot.com nathalie

    I remember in 2003 his wife spoke of the people asking what was wrong with him, why was he having such a hard time (that was his closest victory by far– #5), and her response to that was that he just makes the most difficult things look easy, so people are confused when he appears to struggle. To me his victory this year looked effortless, yet he probably worked harder and prepared better this year than any other. His relentless focus on winning against the greatest of odds is what makes him great in my mind.

    now, if he’d just dump that annoying girlfriend of his…

  • Bridget

    There was no question about it.

  • pam

    I thought of you throughout this race. I was the one that told you he was nuts for going for a seventh. Retire on top I told you! I just wanted to let you know that the crow I ate yesterday was yummie!

    I am very happy for him!

  • http://chapel-perilous.net/caiterwauling/ Cait

    I too thought maybe he should retire with the 6th win. Wrong, wrong, wrong. He really won this one almost on cruise-control. What an amazing human being. If they have a welcome-back party for him in Austin, I may just go, even though I hate getting in crowds.

  • http://www.lonesophist.com/ Tammy

    He’s a machine. However, could someone tell the announcers to PLEASE pronounce the race correctly and stop saying Tour de fraaaaaaaaance? It’s Frahhhhhhhnce. That bugs me.

  • http://turningwheels.blogspot.com/ nathalie

    I remember in 2003 his wife spoke of the people asking what was wrong with him, why was he having such a hard time (that was his closest victory by far– #5), and her response to that was that he just makes the most difficult things look easy, so people are confused when he appears to struggle. To me his victory this year looked effortless, yet he probably worked harder and prepared better this year than any other. His relentless focus on winning against the greatest of odds is what makes him great in my mind.

    now, if he’d just dump that annoying girlfriend of his…