 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
4: Lance Armstrong goes fourth Posted: Monday December 23, 2002 11:31 AM
Looking back, Lance Armstrong's fourth Tour de France victory was a formality all along. The Texan became only the fourth rider in history to win four in a row and surpassed Greg LeMond as the United States' greatest-ever cyclist when he rolled up the Champs-Elysees more than seven minutes clear of the nearest challenger. Yet in the early course of the race, the general belief was that Armstrong looked vulnerable. The organizers had literally moved mountains to try and check the American's dominance, stacking up the Pyrenean and Alpine stages at the back end of the race to give the rest a chance across the more gentle plains of northern and western France. Armstrong won the prologue in Luxembourg but then suffered a rare time-trial defeat to Colombian Santiago Botero and even took a tumble on stage seven, dropping 27 seconds behind the yellow jersey. But Armstrong's ascent to greatness began as soon as the race reached the Pyrenees. Nobody has a better grasp of the importance of teamwork in cycling, or demands more from his teammates, and on the long climb to La Mongie on stage 11, U.S. Postal's blue train of riders simply sacrificed themselves to the cause of the man they call "the Boss." Setting a fierce pace they broke the back of the peloton, falling away one-by-one until Armstrong, with enough strength in reserve to sprint away from main rival Joseba Beloki over the final meters, was left alone at the summit to claim a yellow jersey he would never relinquish. The next day U.S. Postal repeated the trick even more emphatically, firing its team leader off the front with more than seven kilometers to go in a clear demonstration of Armstrong's individual superiority. His mastery of the peloton once again established, Armstrong could afford to sit back for the ride to Paris, leaving the rest to squabble for some memorable cameo honors: Laurent Jalabert's daring breakaways that earned him the King of the Mountains title; Richard Virenque's ride to redemption up the legendary Mont Ventoux; and Robbie McEwen's victory over Erik Zabel in the sprinters' green jersey competition. For Armstrong, a fifth straight title, equaling Miguel Indurain's record, is surely there for the taking. --Simon Hooper
|
|
|||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
