Lance, with kids Isabella, Grace and Luke

So it’s over. The most incredible run in cycling history and the 2005 Tour De France. Despite my envy, I’m thankful for Lance’s triumphant return to cycling and an unimaginable seven consecutive Tour De France victories. I remember when Miguel Indurain of Spain won his fifth consecutive and I thought how impossible that must have been for him. Seven. Seven Tours. Jesus.

Lance brought validation and mainstream acceptance to my passion and I’ll be forever thankful even if it fades after the 2006 Tour. Having each stage of the tour televised live was a dream come true, no wait, I couldn’t have ever dreamed such a thing! I remember the days when I felt so lucky when ESPN would show 30 minutes every other day and even then the coverage was often pre-empted by a Mark McGuire or Sammy Sosa home run notification. It took a couple of years for the mainstream press to catch on but by 2001, the Tour was in every major newspaper, TV and radio show from June to August and I just ate it up. Too bad it can’t last. Even if an upcoming American take Lance’s place in the Grand Boucle, nobody could match his cancer survival story.

Now comes the big letdown that comes with the end of every Tour. I’m sad that I wasn’t able to watch most of coverage and give my take here on RCS but I take comfort in knowing that there’s only 49 more weeks until next year’s race.

Top Ten Signs Lance Armstrong Is Getting Cocky (David Letterman show)

10. Race starts at 9, Lance rolls out of bed around noon

9. Has already figured out that the trophy can hold a 3-gallon margarita

8. He eats frosting by the fistful

7. For the last leg, he rode one of those crazy 1920s bikes with the big front wheel

6. Deliberately crashing into things to get more air time on sportscenter

5. Making a couple extra bucks delivering pizzas during the race

4. After the starter pistol is fired, he hangs around hitting on french babes

3. Turns to the other riders and says, “oooh, I’m sooooo scared”

2. Instead of training, spent last 2 months pimping his bike

1. Has started selling ad space on his ass

I guess it wasn’t any surprise that Lance Armstrong’s Team Discovery won the team time trial today. What was surpising was the average speed of 35.55 mph for 42 miles was the fastes stage in Tour history. Ever. It’s even more surpising to learn that 12 teams broke the previous record. Just for fun tonight, I lumbered up the 2.21 mile Snoqualmie Parkway climb (in the freakin’ rain) and on my way down, noticed how fast 36 mph was. Then I thought what it would be like to travel that fast for 42 miles. I couldn’t finish the thought…

Poor David Zabriske though. About 1.9 miles from the finish, David clipped the rear wheel of a teammate and bit it. Just like that, his stint in yellow was over. I’m betting that was the first time in Tour history that a team left behind their rider in yellow during a team time trial. Zabriske’s CSC team finished just two seconds down on Discovery but also putting Lance in yellow. It is unlikely that Lance will want to expend the energy required to defend the Maillot Jaune and would be smart to let someone get away during a break away tomorrow. There are four flat stages remaining until the mountains begin.

STAGE 4 RESULTS :

1, DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 00′00″
2, TEAM CSC, 00′ 02″
3, T-MOBILE TEAM, 00′ 35″
4, LIBERTY SEGUROS – WÜRTH TEAM, 00′ 53″
5, PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS, 01′ 31″
6, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 01′ 41″
7, ILLES BALEARS-CAISSE D EPARGNE, 02′ 05″
8, GEROLSTEINER, 02′ 05″
9, FASSA BORTOLO, 02′ 19″
10, LIQUIGAS – BIANCHI, 02′ 26″
11, DAVITAMON – LOTTO, 02′ 32″
12, RABOBANK, 02′ 48″
13, DOMINA VACANZE, 03′ 04″
14, QUICK STEP – INNERGETIC, 03′ 05″
15, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 03′ 08″
16, EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI, 03′ 59″
17, LAMPRE – CAFFITA, 04′ 09″
18, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 04′ 28″
19, FRANCAISE DES JEUX, 04′ 46″
20, SAUNIER DUVAL – PRODIR, 05′ 06″
21, AG2R PREVOYANCE, 05′ 23″

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 4:

1, ARMSTRONG Lance, DSC, USA,
2, HINCAPIE George, DSC, USA, 00′ 55″
3, VOIGT Jens, CSC, GER, 01′ 04″
4, JULICH Bobby, CSC, USA, 01′ 07″
5, RUBIERA José Luis, DSC, ESP, 01′ 14″
6, POPOVYCH Yaroslav, DSC, UKR, 01′ 16″
7, VINOKOUROV Alexandre, TMO, KAZ, 01′ 21″
8, NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin, DSC, ESP, 01′ 26″
9, ZABRISKIE David, CSC, USA, 01′ 26″
10, BASSO Ivan, CSC, ITA, 01′ 26″
11, ARVESEN Kurt-Asle, CSC, NOR, 01′ 32″
12, PADRNOS Pavel, DSC, CZE, 01′ 32″
13, SAVOLDELLI Paolo, DSC, ITA, 01′ 33″
14, ULLRICH Jan, TMO, GER, 01′ 36″
15, SASTRE Carlos, CSC, ESP, 01′ 36″
16, AZEVEDO José, DSC, POR, 01′ 37″
17, ROBERTS Luke, CSC, AUS, 01′ 38″
18, GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor, LSW, ESP, 01′ 44″
19, BODROGI Laszlo, C.A, HUN, 01′ 45″
20, LANDIS Floyd, PHO, USA, 01′ 50″

OTHER GC NOTABLES :
27, BOTERO Santiago, PHO, COL, 02′ 18″
28, KLÖDEN Andréas, TMO, GER, 02′ 29″
30, LEIPHEIMER Levi, GST, USA, 02′ 31″
33, BELOKI Joseba, LSW, ESP, 02′ 43″
36, HERAS Roberto, LSW, ESP, 02′ 58″
53, EVANS Cadel, DVL, AUS, 03′ 29″
58, MANCEBO Francisco, IBA, ESP, 03′ 39″
67, HONCHAR Serhiy, DOM, UKR, 03′ 56″
76, GARZELLI Stefano, LIQ, ITA, 04′ 08″
147, MAYO Iban, EUS, ESP, 05′ 48″

Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen won his second (and most definitely not his last) of the 2005 Tour De France on the eve of the always exciting team time trial. Lance and the rest of the top GC played it safe and finished within the pack but the Aussies Robbie McEwen and Stuart O’ Grady brawled at the finish line (see image below). McEwen clearly impeded O’ Grady by leaning into him and was relegated to dead last in the stage by the comissares (referree). He’s damn lucky he didn’t take anyone else out while traveling over 43 mph.

STAGE 3 RESULTS:

1, BOONEN Tom, QST, BEL,
2, WROLICH Peter, GST, AUT, 00′ 00″
3, O’GRADY Stuart, COF, AUS, 00′ 00″
4, EISEL Bernhard, FDJ, AUT, 00′ 00″
5, DAVIS Allan, LSW, AUS, 00′ 00″
6, FÖRSTER Robert, GST, GER, 00′ 00″
7, BACKSTEDT Magnus, LIQ, SWE, 00′ 00″
8, GESLIN Anthony, BTL, FRA, 00′ 00″
9, HUSHOVD Thor, C.A, NOR, 00′ 00″
10, FURLAN Angelo, DOM, ITA, 00′ 00″
11, GALVEZ Isaac, IBA, ESP, 00′ 00″
12, TRENTI Guido, QST, USA, 00′ 00″
13, BORTOLAMI Gianluca, LAM, ITA, 00′ 00″
14, PAGLIARINI Luciano, LIQ, BRA, 00′ 00″
15, BECKE Daniel, IBA, GER, 00′ 00″
16, QUINZIATO Manuel, SDV, ITA, 00′ 00″
17, FLECHA Juan Antonio, FAS, ESP, 00′ 00″
18, GLOMSER Gerrit, LAM, AUT, 00′ 00″
19, RODRIGUEZ Fred, DVL, USA, 00′ 00″
20, LANG Sebastian, GST, GER, 00′ 00″

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 3:

1, ZABRISKIE David, CSC, USA,
2, ARMSTRONG Lance, DSC, USA, 00′ 02″
3, BODROGI Laszlo, C.A, HUN, 00′ 47″
4, VINOKOUROV Alexandre, TMO, KAZ, 00′ 53″
5, HINCAPIE George, DSC, USA, 00′ 57″
6, LANDIS Floyd, PHO, USA, 01′ 02″
7, CANCELLARA Fabian, FAS, SUI, 01′ 02″
8, VOIGT Jens, CSC, GER, 01′ 04″
9, KARPETS Vladimir, IBA, RUS, 01′ 05″
10, GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor, LSW, ESP, 01′ 06″
11, JULICH Bobby, CSC, USA, 01′ 07″
12, ULLRICH Jan, TMO, GER, 01′ 08″
13, BOONEN Tom, QST, BEL, 01′ 09″
14, GUTIERREZ José Enrique, PHO, ESP, 01′ 12″
15, LEIPHEIMER Levi, GST, USA, 01′ 13″
16, RICH Michael, GST, GER, 01′ 13″
17, RUBIERA José Luis, DSC, ESP, 01′ 16″
18, POPOVYCH Yaroslav, DSC, UKR, 01′ 18″
19, HUNTER Robert, PHO, RSA, 01′ 24″
20, MC GEE Bradley, FDJ, AUS, 01′ 24″

OTHER GC NOTABLES:
22, BASSO Ivan, CSC, ITA, 01′ 26″
26, BOTERO Santiago, PHO, COL, 01′ 30″
36, EVANS Cadel, DVL, AUS, 01′ 41″
41, HONCHAR Serhiy, DOM, UKR, 01′ 48″
52, KLÖDEN Andréas, TMO, GER, 02′ 01″
54, HORNER Christopher, SDV, USA, 02′ 01″
57, BELOKI Joseba, LSW, ESP, 02′ 05″
79, HERAS Roberto, LSW, ESP, 02′ 20″
123, VOECKLER Thomas, BTL, FRA, 02′ 44″
170, MAYO Iban, EUS, ESP, 03′ 15″

Lance started tody’s stage in the Green Jersey which means he leads the points competition.

As is custom in the Tour De France, the first week is usually for the sprinters. Long but flat stages allow the guys with some serious horsepower to duke it out in the final few meters of every stage. I t is unusual for large GC (General Classification) changes to occur during the sprint stages but sometimes the race will finish in a small town with narrow roads. Trying to shove 193 of the world’s best bike riders down a street that the Mini was designed for can cause caustrophies and has in the past. Today’s run into the small town of Les Essarts with it’s small roads could have been a disaster but all of the favorites will still start tomorrow. It was no surprise the 24-year-old Belgian, Tom Boonen won today’s stage especailly with the absecnce of Allessandro Petacchi, the undisputed fasted man in the world. Stage 3 will be (hopefully) another quiet sprinter stage before the awesome and alwasy exciting 67.5 team time trial on Tuesday.

Stage 2 Results:

STAGE 2 RESULTS :
1, BOONEN Tom, QST, BEL,
2, HUSHOVD Thor, C.A, NOR, 00′ 00″
3, MC EWEN Robbie, DVL, AUS, 00′ 00″
4, O’GRADY Stuart, COF, AUS, 00′ 00″
5, PAGLIARINI Luciano, LIQ, BRA, 00′ 00″
6, FLECHA Juan Antonio, FAS, ESP, 00′ 00″
7, WROLICH Peter, GST, AUT, 00′ 00″
8, PINEAU Jérôme, BTL, FRA, 00′ 00″
9, COOKE Baden, FDJ, AUS, 00′ 00″
10, DAVIS Allan, LSW, AUS, 00′ 00″
11, QUINZIATO Manuel, SDV, ITA, 00′ 00″
12, HUNTER Robert, PHO, RSA, 00′ 00″
13, ISASI Inaki, EUS, ESP, 00′ 00″
14, KRIVTSOV Yuriy, A2R, UKR, 00′ 00″
15, FURLAN Angelo, DOM, ITA, 00′ 00″
16, IGLINSKIY Maxim, DOM, KAZ, 00′ 00″
17, HINAULT Sébastien, C.A, FRA, 00′ 00″
18, GESLIN Anthony, BTL, FRA, 00′ 00″
19, ULLRICH Jan, TMO, GER, 00′ 00″
20, RODRIGUEZ Fred, DVL, USA, 00′ 00″

OTHER STAGE NOTABLES:
21, MC GEE Bradley, FDJ, AUS, 00′ 00″
22, HORNER Christopher, SDV, USA, 00′ 00″
23, KIRSIPUU Jaan, C.A, EST, 00′ 00″
28, KLÖDEN Andréas, TMO, GER, 00′ 00″
38, BASSO Ivan, CSC, ITA, 00′ 00″
42, HERAS Roberto, LSW, ESP, 00′ 00″
56, VINOKOUROV Alexandre, TMO, KAZ, 00′ 00″
57, HINCAPIE George, DSC, USA, 00′ 00″
61, JULICH Bobby, CSC, USA, 00′ 00″
63, ARMSTRONG Lance, DSC, USA, 00′ 00″
71, ZABRISKIE David, CSC, USA, 00′ 00″
84, BOTERO Santiago, PHO, COL, 00′ 00″
102, MAYO Iban, EUS, ESP, 00′ 00″
113, LANDIS Floyd, PHO, USA, 00′ 00″
124, HONCHAR Serhiy, DOM, UKR, 00′ 00″
149, VOECKLER Thomas, BTL, FRA, 00′ 00″
169, LEIPHEIMER Levi, GST, USA, 00′ 00″
172, BELOKI Joseba, LSW, ESP, 00′ 00″
187, ZANINI Stefano, QST, ITA, 00′ 36″
188, VAN BON Leon, DVL, NED, 00′ 39″
189, VANSEVENANT Wim, DVL, BEL, 00′ 47″