Why he'll win #6
Category: Sports (Pro/College/HS)...
Posted Monday, July 28, 2003 at 05:07 PM [GMT-6]

I must admit that there were times this year that I thought Lance Armstrong had, um, met his Waterloo during the Tour de France. The things that normally happened only to mere mortals were happening to him, surely a sign that the universe had finally and irreparably come unhinged.

Maybe age had caught up with him; maybe the Cosmic Luck Scales were creaking back into equilibrium, meaning that he was due for a boatload of bad.

So it was with equal parts of relief and happiness that I watched him mount that podium for a fifth straight year. And it was with a little unbelief that I heard him say, in effect, "I'll be back."

How could he say that, so soon after such a tumultuous experience? Was the thrill of victory drowning out the tiny voice of realism?

Then I read this WaPo article by Sally Jenkins, who has collaborated with Lance on a couple of books, and I think I now understand. Read the article and learn more about the man than you might want to know. And if you're another pro cyclist with aspirations of winning the TdF next year, here's my advice: be afraid. Be very afraid.

Hat tip: Wall Street Journal