Caught in a vicious cycle
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
The daunting 21 switchbacks of L'Alpe d' Huerz are but a memory.
The lung-busting climb up the forbidding Col du Tourmalet, at 6,935 feet the summit of the Tour de France, and the Pyrenees are behind him now.
Yet, it turns out, they might have been the easy part of this whole cycling race for Lance Armstrong.
The tree-lined Champs-Elysees is almost in sight as the race comes down to its final stages, but there is no hint to when it gets easier for the two-time champion of sport's most exacting test.
Blowing past the rest of the peloton on the 2,141-mile trek has never been a problem for the 29-year-old Armstrong. Leaving behind the backbiting of some of the cycling officials and French media has been more difficult.
No sooner had Armstrong put on the yellow jersey than he again donned the bull's eye that has seemed to accompany it. That's if there was ever much relief.
Take, for example, Jean-Marie Leblanc, the Tour's director, who was quoted in Le Journal du Dimanche as having said, "Armstrong is a rider who is respected but not liked. He doesn't speak French, he's not warm, two gorillas accompany him at the start and the finish."
Then Leblanc made reference to some of the doping rumors that Armstrong has continually denied, reigniting again the simmering issue for the unsatiated French media.
The better Armstrong has gotten, seemingly the more innuendo that has confronted him. The more brilliant his accomplishments, the more dirt has been slung at him.
Envy? Frustration? Xenophobia? Take your pick. Maybe his story and his successes are just so remarkable they invite skepticism. Whatever it is — and it may be a combination of all of the above — Armstrong has been subjected to more abuse than the poor lanterne rouge (red lantern), the designation for the tail-ender in the race.
Never mind that Armstrong has never failed a drug test in a sport where you could fill a peloton of those who have turned up dirty over the past few years. No banned substances have been found with or traced to him. Nor has anyone of authority had the guts to level a straight-up accusation to the contrary.
Forget that Armstrong has been one of the best ambassadors the sport and the race have going for them. His tale of courage and triumph has been responsible for giving le Tour something more than a cult following in this country. And, he is an inspiration to cancer patients everywhere.
Hunched over the handlebars on his gun-metal gray bicycle, there hasn't been a rider in the world who has been able to touch Armstrong over these three Tour de France. Now, if the rumors could only be left in the dust as easily.
