Taming Father Time

[Jason Spaceman]

From the article:
---------------------------------------------------
It was a crippling, lung wrenching, spirit-breaking attack launched by the
toughest rider in the 2009 Tour de France. Alberto Contador was relentless. He
was a machine, just like Lance Armstrong used to be. Pushing his way up the
Verbier. Pushing away from the peloton. Pushing a gauntlet into the American's
face.

This was the pistols-at-20-paces challenge everybody had been waiting for. Only
Armstrong, the seven-time Tour winner, had run out of bullets. He was no longer
the King of the Alps. He was just a 37-year-old mortal, gasping for breath,
dropping further and further off the blistering pace set by Contador, his Astana
teammate. By the time the 15th stage was over, the Tour de France was all but
over. After two weeks of jousting, Contador had made the decisive break.

"Maybe I don't have that redline like I used to in the past, or like I should,"
the gaunt-faced Texan said once the day's demolition was done. "Now is the time
to put aside my chances, after today, [Contador] demonstrated he was the
strongest rider in the race."

Armstrong's capitulation was a remarkable moment. He often likened losing to
dying. He never surrendered. Yet there he was, humbled by a younger man, saying
he would happily serve as a domestique for the Spaniard for the remainder of the
Tour. But raising the white flag would have an unintended consequence for
Armstrong. It was another step in the rehabilitation of a tarnished legend.
-----------------------------------------------------

Read it at http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=2393006

J. Spaceman

[Steve Freides]

Shows an ignorance of bicycle racing, an ignorance of LA's stated
purposes in returning to race, and a nice flair for making drama where
there isn't, IOW, typical bike race press coverage.

-S-

[bar]

I think that's beautiful and captures the power and spirit of our
Young Pistolero appropriately.

-b-