Tour de Lance
 

Lance Armstrong is attempting to win his 5th straight Tour de France, which would tie Spain's Miguel Indurain for the most all-time.

While this is an incredible feat--made even more amazing by his battle with cancer--would bicycling benefit from someone else winning, or at least challenging Armstrong?

His victories are an inspiration to anyone fighting an obstacle, physical or otherwise and I'm certainly not taking anything away from the man, but do you have any desire to follow the race when the outcome seems like a certainty???

Would an unknown biker staying close to Armstrong near the end spark your interest?

Would you rather just see Lance win again?

Would you prefer to watch paint dry rather than watching competitive biking?

that dude is awesome. i want to win as many as he possibly can.

I'd rather watch paint dry, but I do keep track of his progress through the daily sportscenter update. I hope he wins again.

I believe Lance is one of most incredible athletes in the world!!! Maybe if he gets arrested and gets some "street cred" he may get a shoe!!

Hrm...What if he were to win 10 straight? Would that make him the greatest athlete of all time?

He is in yellow today after stage 8 but
 

it will not be as easy as in the past for him to win overall. I hope he wins 5. So, we will see. :cool:

Tyler Hamilton (USA) 1:52 behind

Fractured collarbone (stage 1 crash) and 5th overall. I want him to challenge Armstrong. That said though, I'd love for it to come down to the last stage, that'd be great.

dude2003 is right, don't think he's going to win by half an hour or more like he has in the past. But he's got a very strong team behind him... Going to be very tough to take him down.

Although he's wearing the yellow jersey, Lance admitted that he "may not be as strong" as he used to be. I think that makes it much more interesting. Sure, he's the best rider in the world, but does he have enough to hold off very formidable challengers???

He narrowly averted a crash earlier this week, so anything could happen!!

He fell a couple of times, but he will still win

Brillian tour so far, so much exzcitement

go Jan.

There is not stopping lance now, with only a few days left he should have no problem winning.

I haven't missed much of this years tour. I think it is exciting as hell. Today another american (Tyler Hamilton) won a stage. That crazy bastard has been riding with a fractured collar bone since the first stage. I think the tour is a great sporting event.

Imho, cycling is one of the most "sporting" sports around. The code of honor that serious cyclists follow is an example for all other sports. I am still impressed Jan waited for Lance to get back up just as Lance had done for him in the past. They asked Jan in Germany why the hell he didnt just sprint off and win the race? And he said that just wouldn't be good racing. Very cool indeed.

He is cool, but Jan would be awesome to win!!!

Lance and Tyler
 

If anyone saw Lance win the stage on Monday, there can be no doubt that he will wear the yellow into Paris. After Monday's crash, he rode like a man possessed! No one could touch him. That being said....
Huge props to Tyler Hamilton today. What a ride!!! The USA is well represented this year, and I would love to see Tyler on the podium in Paris. I think he very well may be the future US hope once Lance steps down. Fractured collarbone....Damn!

JoeyB, also with five wins on the Tour are Bernard Hinault in the '80's, and Jacques Anquetil a long, long time ago. I don't know how many Eddie Mercx won, but he was very good, too.
Armstrong is a real inspiration, and he speaks French, to boot. Most uncommon.

Eddie had 5 tour wins also. But he also won everything else on the planet!

Lance does has competition this tour. It seems the tour will be decided at the individual time trial. No one can think Armstrong's lead is secure when Ullrich absolutely destroyed the field at the last time trial. I think Ullrich will win the time trial, but only by 30 seconds. Guess that means Lance gets #5.

Anyone think he'll go for 6? Will he be up for it next year? I hope so, I think he story is absolutely inspiring.

I really don't know about 6 for Lance. He is working really hard this year. But he does love the competition. I can barely wait until the time trial on sat. That stage is where it will all come together. I really think Lance will need to have the TT of his life to pull this one off.

Um, the race is still real close. Lance is only about a minute ahead of the competition.

I would prefer to see him win, but I absolutely love all the drama of this tour. He won stage 15(?) even though he wrecked his bike when he started his final attack. He got back up and burned past everyone anyway. This tour is far more exciting than the others I have seen.

Looks like Lance has got this locked up now. Good job, Lance, on the time trial today!

Lance is going to win for sure. He is an amazing athelete. Iread his autobiography, it is an interesting look into the world of cycling, and his bout with cancer.

The guy is an inspiration to anyone with a dream, He is not human for what he does. It's is unbelievable. 5 in a row. I'd say to him to go for 6.

he won!! the guy's real good

now, i´m not often impressed by athletes, especially if they´re not Australian... unless they absolutely dominate their sport, like Tiger, Sampras and Jordan.

but Lance Armstrong is amazing.

and he speaks fluent French as well.

i hope he comes back next year to make it 6 in row.

Although this was the closest margin of victory for any of Lance's wins, it also featured the fastest average speed for the entire race.

He is simply amazing.

Lance surely has game. Im impressed.

What an amazing tour. This one was by far the most fun (and nerveracking) to watch of his 5. I can't wait for next year. He will definitely go for 6, but I think it may even be harder than this year. Imagine.....Tyler Hamilton - fractured collarbone.

Definitely Lances tour...

but i would like to congratulate the Aussies Baden Cooke (winner) and Robbie McEwen (second) for winning the Tour De France´s overall Sprinters competition (thats the green jersey).

I agree completely!
The race for the green was just as heated (if not more so) than the race for the yellow. The final sprint in the final stage was intense!

This years tour was a amazing and I belive next year will be just as good. I mean, you have Ullrich back into great form, Vinokourov and Hamilton are both right there on Armstrong and Ullrichs heels, and if Beloki can make a full and speedy recovery (which I sincerly hope he does) then he'll be up there fighting hard as well. So I think the fighting for the Yellow jersey will be even more intense next year...

As for the green jersey competition, all I have to say is that if Petacchi would learn to climb enough so that he could make it through the tour, then I think he could definatly make that race even more interesting.

Oh yeah, I also think that in a few years Denis Menchov should be making an appearance on the podium for the GC. With a win in the young riders classification by over 40 minutes to his nearest competition, he took the white jersey without any competition. Looking forward to see what he does in the future...