Tour de France - Armstrong shows old fighting spirit

Reuters - Tue, 20 Jul 19:23:00 2010

Lance Armstrong showed he had the "spirit of a fighter" after he left many of his young rivals trailing behind during the gruelling 199.5-km 16th stage of the Tour de France.

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The 38-year-old, competing for the last time at the Tour where he won a record seven titles, attacked almost from the gun as he climbed the passes of Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque before finishing sixth.

With his locket swinging around his bare chest as he gasped for air during the punishing ascents, Armstrong led the way for most of the day but was eventually overtaken as he closed in on the finishing line.

"I'm alive, I trained hard. I'm not the best guy in the race but still have the spirit of a fighter," Armstrong said by his RadioShack team bus as sweat dripped down his neck.

Yellow jersey holder Alberto Contador, Armstrong's fierce rival last year, said he would have liked his former team mate to win the stage.

"It reminded me the 'old' Armstrong, I would have been pleased if he had won," the defending champion said.

The American, however, took the time to soak up the support of the thousands of fans lining up the French roads.

"They don't have to come to the Tour, they don't have to fly from all over the world and stand on a hot road side but they do and I appreciate it," said Armstrong, who was cheered along the way.

"This entire Tour the fans have been really nice to me and very supportive and today we're out there, it's a small group, so they can be close to you, touch you."

With the end of his career now in sight, Armstrong was already looking forward to spending some days at the beach with his family.

"Lance Armstrong is over in about four or five days," he said.

  • itw Armstrong
Reuters

Comment 10 - 29 of 29

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  1. Lets face it, whether you love him or hate­ him , Lance Armstrong IS the tour de ­ France !

    From DRORS, on Thu 22 Jul 19:57

  2. Chad: One could say the same for Cav ;)
    What LA did for­ Tour de F i phenomenal, and not to mention the hope­ he's given to millions of Cancer sufferers all over­ the world

    From pastrypieterrorist, on Thu 22 Jul 10:53

  3. no one will ever win 7 titles back to back in TDF ever,­ so enjoy this living legend's history making, one­ day you will tell your grandchildren you witnessed it.

    From TamerAir, on Thu 22 Jul 8:17

  4. I doubt anyone would ever surpass Lance Armstrong for­ all his achievements in the Tour de France. He's an­ icon.

    From Sri Ganesh, on Thu 22 Jul 7:32

  5. Maxx92 is all talk. It takes GREAT effort, both­ physically and mentally.

    From JH, on Thu 22 Jul 6:31

  6. Great to see Lance give it a shot. It may have panned­ out even better had he gone right instead of left in­ the final sprint.
    Glad to see we've had a clean­ Tour this year ... had it been rocked by more scandals­ of doping I was considering changing to a much cleaner­ sport like US Track & field, or American Footbal,­ or perhaps Ice Hockey *cough splutter*

    From pastrypieterrorist, on Thu 22 Jul 4:35

  7. Comment 6 [fotodelicto] is very reasonable, not an­ attack on Armstrong but a statement of fact and yet it­ still gets slated by the Lance fan club. Any reasonable­ cycling fan will admit that he is a Tour great. If he­ has been a drug cheat, and there is no hard evidence­ for that, then he has disguised it very successfully.­ He put everything into this stage, and I would have­ been pleased to see him win, but do you think he'll­ ride for a podium finish for Leipheimer now? No way!!!

    From johnwhittaker75, on Thu 22 Jul 1:24

  8. well done lance

    From Francis O, on Thu 22 Jul 1:16

  9. Morty - go back to school and learn some manners.

    From fotodelicto, on Thu 22 Jul 1:03

  10. Hannah at no 19, you forgot the real greats, Bartali,­ Coppi, Robic (yes Robic) Bobet, Anquetil, Ocana, and­ perhaps the greatest rider never to win the tour,­ Poulidor.

    From JOHN, on Wed 21 Jul 23:48

  11. cant believe so many bitter and twisted people write on­ yahoo get a life 39 years old he more money then he­ knows what to do with it he does it self pride and is­ cancer charity he gets drugs tested more then any other­ yet still these numptys bang on about drugs why can you­ losers just admire what he man as achieved or better­ still have look at there own life's oops forget­ they be perfect emm not

    From rover, on Wed 21 Jul 23:23

  12. In striving but not quite winning yesterday, Lance­ showed a mortal side that has made him even more­ admirable. And driving a breakaway for the whole day­ in the toughest stage of the TdF.
    '
    Both Lance­ and the TdF have gained a helluva lot out of each­ other- his last act honoured the Tour. Chapeau!

    From p, on Wed 21 Jul 22:50

  13. Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Armstrong, all dominant in­ their era, now time marches on and will bring on the­ the new guard.

    From , on Wed 21 Jul 22:10

  14. Tom.....predicatable comment. You, like many others,­ have criticised the tour for a lack of aggresiveness­ and then when it comes (in the form of a 9 man break)­ all you can do is harp back to the slander. I doubt­ you have any credibility on these boards, you appear to­ have a distinct lack of cycling input.

    Comment #4 -­ Wasted Money? The Tourlamet attack (along with a team­ mate) ensured that the Radioshack Team went top of the­ Team order on GC. So the team have put Radioshack on­ top of one the grand tours in their first year of­ trying.....wasted money? Or the whole point of­ sponsorship and media exposure?

    Most of all, the fact­ that people say Armstrong has given up is relative­ C**p. He has openly admitted he came to have a go,­ realised he is not up to the standard of the new youg­ guns but still fights when he can. Not many of the­ armchair cyclists out there could be doing what he is­ doing day in and day out for three weeks, especially at­ the age of 39.

    I'm not American, I have no bias to­ the man, but just give him a break. At the moment he is­ damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

    From markiemarkk, on Wed 21 Jul 22:09

  15. As usual he's got the best team behind him. To bad­ he can't deliver the goods this time. Briliant­ strategy (since now) from Astana-relying on an average­ riders, one GC contender and one loose cannon, but it­ works. Riis (as usual) can't find cure for his­ team; what is he waiting for is completelly unclear to­ me. His team blow the peloton in the first 10 days, and­ now they are MIA. Andy have one chance left on­ Tourmalet and if he doesn't strike from the start­ on the climbs cat.1, can't see him making enough­ margin on the final climb. LA made mistake choosing­ stage 16 instead tommorow's mountain-top finish.­ Anyway, he proves that he still got the legs, maybe not­ for the yellow, but for the top5 for sure.

    From marija, on Wed 21 Jul 21:42

  16. Bravo for Lance ! Please keep silence while BIG man is­ with us ...

    From codrin, on Wed 21 Jul 20:45
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Lance is certainly showing that he still has the spirit­ and desire to win. There comes a time when everybody­ looses their skills, but in Lance's case, not the­ drive to do his best. Even the great champions of past­ had to hang it up. Sorry to say, but the sport will be­ boring and without champions for quite a while.­ Cuntador is just a follower with no heart. The Schleck­ Bros.. there might be something there, but nothing­ spectacular. The best talent on the horizon is sitting­ in the wings waiting for his chance and it is an­ American that will emerge as one of the greatest.
    Who­ you ask? Mini Phinney. Just wait, you will see.

    From mikeg, on Wed 21 Jul 19:09
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Tough break loser. All that pressure from the soon to­ be exposed doping history of the great Cheatstrong has­ gotten to him. His mind must be going stir crazy with­ all the ramifications from his downfall. It's nice­ when fairness and ethics beat out­ greed,corruption,cheating and dishonesty. For whom does­ the bell toll, it tolls for thee Pharmstrong.

    From canadaam, on Wed 21 Jul 18:27
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    His pharmacy is outdated...

    From Dios es uno, on Wed 21 Jul 17:18

  20. No fairytale for Lance. No, never. There would never be­ a fairytale for a cowboy! Because a real cowboy just­ keeps on riding, even if there's no happy ending at­ all! Yiiii-hah!

    From Oyette, on Wed 21 Jul 16:43
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