Armstrong seals seventh Tour de France, bows out by winning Stage 20 |
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Sat, 23 Jul 2005 20:05
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ST ETIENNE, France: Lance Armstrong took a huge step towards sealing his seventh Tour de France title as he won stage 20 of this year's race in some style by clocking one hour, 11 minutes and 46 seconds. This stage win was the first for the American legend in the event this year.
Armstrong comfortably beat his closest rival Jan Ullrich's time and overcame initial setbacks when he was surprised by the benchmark set by Ivan Basso of Italy at the first time-check. But from the second time-check it was all Armstrong. "Quite honestly, I wasn't absolutely sure I could do it. I thought Jan would be strong, and then when I got to the first check I saw that Ivan was seven seconds up and I thought 'Oh boy, this could be an interesting day,'" said Armstrong after the stage was completed. He even overcame the challenge posed by Michael Rasmussen who had a six-minute head start over him. The Dane had an absolutely forgettable race as his bike was punctured twice. He ended up seventh on the overall classification, thus bidding good-bye to any podium dreams.
But the clear and present winner was Lance Armstrong who had already stated that he badly wanted to win this stage. Cheering him on were his children and girlfriend Sheryl Crow. This Tour is Lance Armstrong's swansong and he will bid farewell to professional cycling after tomorrow’s victory leg in Paris. Armstrong's manager Johan Bruynee emphasized the importance of the penultimate stage and said, "It's a great day, Lance wanted this stage badly. It was a hard course."
Lance Armstrong has made an indelible mark in the world of sport with his heroic Tour performances. Even more stunning are his off-field endeavors. Diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer and with a less than 40 percent chance of surviving complicated brain surgery, life had looked pretty bleak for the amiable Texan in 1996. But he staged a most stunning recovery from the depths of despair and went on to win the Tour de France a record six times. So much so that his domination was seen as having a negative effect on the event.
This allegation was strongly refuted by organizers including Christian Prudhomme who told a press conference, "The Tour was not extremely exciting because Lance Armstrong stunned his rivals without even winning a stage. Yet did you see fewer spectators on the side of the road? No. Have television audiences gone down? No. Armstrong contributed to the Tour myth by helping it develop outside France." He added that the tour would seem incomplete without Armstrong the next year.
The American is retiring this year and only competed since his sponsors Discovery TV insisted that he go for the record seventh title, a dream which is poised to become a reality tomorrow.
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