At the risk of sounding too French, I’ll have to agree with Nick Troester in that the Tour de France is the greatest* sporting event on earth. These men are true athletes, going the distance day in and day out. It is for legends like Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx, and Greg Lemond that I have a hard time even considering NASCAR drivers as athletes. Sportsmen, perhaps, but not athletes in the way that professional cyclists are.
The chess match of a race has already begun this year, with five time winner Lance Armstrong already in posession of the Yellow Jersey at least once already. Look for him to attack in the mountains, where the real battle occurs.
I’ve kept up with le Tour since 1986, when Greg Lemond won his first title. The most memorable, however, was in 1989 when Lemond defeated Laurent Fignon by 14 seconds on the final day. Zut alors!
Unfortunately, I don’t get the OLN TV station, which airs the Tour here in the U.S.A., but I can keep up with the happenings on the excellent Tour de France Blog.
*It’s the greatest sporting event barring Tennessee football victories over Florida (of course!).