No One at the Bridge

I am a big cycling fan, and the Tour de France is the best time of the year. It is simply amazing to watch the peloton roll across the French countryside. I marvel at the speeds reached in the time trials, and am blown away every year with the battles in the mountains. I devour all the information on the internet, and I have my collection of Sport Illustrated covers of Lance Armstrong victories. Although I am a Lance fan, and have been since he was a neo-pro with Motorola riding in the Thrift Drug Classic and the KMart Classic, my love for cycling goes fan beyond him. I can tell you the big victories for all the American riders, and in my basement I have tapes of every stage of the old Tour Dupont from 1993 to 1996 that was on ESPN.

I can thank Greg Lemond for getting me hooked on cycling. Watching him make the most dramatic comeback ever (sorry Red Sox) on the last day of the '89 Tour pushed me over the edge. I put up with CBS's and ABC's cheesy music to watch the tape-delayed coverage in 1990 as Greg came back again and beat that punk Claudio. I was physically ill that day in 1991 when Greg couldn't keep the pace on the Tourmalet with Induran. And I couldn't believe my eyes when on the road to Sestrieres in 1992, Greg gave up the ghost and abandoned the Tour. And although Greg has been passed by Armstrong in number of Tour victories, popularity and his comeback from a deadly medical problem, Lemond will always be my first cycling idol, and like that first love, you don't ever forget them.

The Tour will continue for the next two-and-a-half weeks, and I will put down my thoughts and predictions (hint: I am thinking that a certain Texan will win. Probably just a wild guess). And although Robbie McEwen won today, my lasting impression of him will be the "Head Butt from the Butthead" act from Stage 2. Bon Chance!