Sometimes, it's best to listen to others when debating sports.
After a recent conversation on this year's Tour de France, I realize I was wrong about Lance Armstrong.
I recently tried to convince a colleague that Armstrong, a seven-time winner of the toughest race in cycling, was not gunning for his eighth Tour win this year in his return from retirement. After all, I said, the Texan is 37 years old. He is on a team _ Astana _ full of superstars of the sport, including the winner of the 2007 Tour, Alberto Contador.
In cycling, you have one leader per team; his jersey number includes a 1,' and his eight teammates, during three weeks of riding, do all they can to make sure he completes the Tour with the best time, earning the right to ride the last stage on the Champs-Elysees in the yellow jersey, or "maillot jaune."
Contador wears the number 21,' designating his leadership. I thought Armstrong would bear the brunt of the work in protecting, aiding and riding for Contador as a "super-domestique." He would take a backseat, as many talented riders do in the Tour, for the sake of tradition, pride in his team and respect for the team leader.
Boy was I wrong.
As it turns out, my colleague was right when he argued a seven-time winner wouldn't sashay into the Tour and grab the duties of an underling. No, Armstrong would do everything to win this year's Tour de France. If he found, after a week or so of riding, he wasn't fit enough to grab the maillot jaune, then _ and only then _ would he settle into the role of super-domestique for Contador.
During this week's stages, Armstrong has displayed peak physical form, despite his age and his four-year hiatus from the Tour. After the completion of Thursday's stage, he sat only fractions of a second out of first place. The rider behind him in third place? Contador, at 19 seconds back.
During Stage Three, Armstrong displayed the wisdom of an old pro, pushing to the front of the pack of riders _ known as the peloton _ before the winds of southern France split the field, leaving many behind vainly trying to breach the gap that formed. Armstrong and Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank, the holder of the maillot jaune by the end of Thursday's stage, made the split. But many of the candidates for the 2009 crown were left behind _ including Contador.
Armstrong brushed off implications he was purposefully isolating Contador.
"That was not my objective," he told VeloNews.com on Monday. "I was just trying to stay out of trouble."
Trouble is brewing for the riders as they head toward the Pyrenees this weekend. Today begins the ascent, with riders tackling the climb along the Arcalis ski station with a finish at an elevation of almost 7,218 feet. The ride through the Pyreneen mountains will finish Sunday, with two of the most famous Pyreneen climbs: the Col d'Aspin (a category 1 with a peak of 4,888 feet) and the Col du Tourmalet (an hors categorie _ or "beyond categorization" _ at 6,939 feet).
To finish strong in the Pyrenees and next week's Alpine stages, one needs a strong team of helpers, or "domestiques," and at least one super-domestique who will ride in front for the leader, setting the pace, protecting him from the wind and quelling any attacks.
But Astana has too many cooks in the kitchen. Will Contador become a domestique for Armstrong, who seems to have the legs to repeat his dominance of the French mountaintops? Or will Armstrong finally prove human in the thin air, settling into the role of super-domestique for the young Spaniard who still wears the number 1' on his back?
By the end of this weekend, the world will know if Armstrong is truly back. And if he succeeds in the Pyrenees and repeats his dominance in the Alps later in the Tour, I believe you will once again see Lance Armstrong ride along the fabled cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees in a brilliant shade of yellow.
Sarah Weber is a copy editor for The Daily Star who has followed the Tour de France since 2000. E-mail her at sweber@thedailystar.com.
