The Tour de Lance

Picture yourself leading the most important race of your life. Not only are millions of dollars in prize money and endorsements on the line, but this is your one shot to cement your reputation as one of the best ever. This could very well be the defining moment of your life.

As the race reaches its climax you discover your only threat isn't feeling 100 percent today. Every fibre of your being is screaming at you to finish him off, go for the jugular, and end any nagging doubts right now. You exploit weakness and emerge triumphant. Well, maybe.

Stage 13 of this years Tour de France took place on Saturday July 21st. It was one of the tricky mountain stages in the Pyrenees covering a distance of 120.47 miles and featured six heart-breaking climbs. American, and pre-race favorite, Lance Armstrong, had started the day in third place and was looking to take the coveted Yellow Jersey back for the first time in this year's Tour. His chief rival, Jan Ullrich of Germany, was in fourth place, but remained as determined as ever to knock Armstrong off his perch. Armstrong has repeatedly stated that Ullrich is his greatest threat to keep him from a three-peat. Lance Armstrong is looking to become only the seventh man in history to win at least three Tour de France titles, and only the second North American since Greg LeMond of the USA won it in 1986, 89 and 1990.

On the descent from the fourth climb of the day, during the fast ride down the "Col de Peyresoude," Ullrich crashed spectacularly going head first over his handle bars. Leading Armstrong by several meters, he missed a bend in the road, passed behind a safety barrier and disappeared down a steep slope. His rear wheel upended sending him crashing, quite literally, head over heels. He re-emerged a few moments later carrying his bike and appeared to be none the worse for wear.

"I was going down at 50 miles per hour and my brakes weren't working that well," Ullrich said. He caught back up with Armstrong a few minutes later and the two continued racing. Unbelievably, the American rider had slowed to ensure Ullrich was fit to continue. In a gesture of immense sportsmanship, Armstrong didn't go for the jugular and destroy any hope Ullrich might have had to compete in this years Tour.

"I asked him if he was OK," said Armstrong, who slowed to allow Ullrich to catch up. "It looked like a bad crash. I decided that the correct thing to do was to wait."

This action to me is simply astounding. Can you imagine Michael Andretti pitting during the Toronto Indy to allow Paul Tracy to change his tires so they can race head to head? Would Donovan Bailey have declined to run the 100m final in Atlanta if one of his competitors had the flu? Would the Toronto Maple Leafs seriously have considered not continuing their most recent playoff series with the Devils until Scott Neidermayer was fit to return from his Tie Domi induced concussion? You can pick any example you want but in the annals of sportsmanship, this may be one for all time.

The truly glorious aspect of this story is what transpired after the two resumed racing. With four miles left in the stage, Ullrich, in true sporting fashion, overtook Armstrong and his fellow USA Postal rider Roberto Heras of Spain, and jumped into second place. Armstrong answered quickly, leaving Heras behind, he gobbled up the distance between himself and Ullrich, increased his pace and left the German rider behind for good. Armstrong then overtook France's Laurent Jalabert, who had led for most of the day, and held on to capture the stage victory. He finished one minute faster than Ullrich but, more importantly, 13 minutes ahead of French rider Francois Simon and recaptured the "maillot jaune" for the first time in the 2001 Tour. He has maintained his hold on first place and is poised to capture his third title. Absolutely epic.

By now most of us have heard the story of Armstrong's triumphant battle against a virulent form of testicular cancer that had spread to his brain. We know that he returned to racing and, most miraculously, captured the 1999 and 2000 versions of the Tour de France.

A lot of us are also aware of the never-ending speculation about drug use and the constant questions of cheating on the pro cycling tour. Most recently the innuendo has focused on Lance's relationship with controversial Italian doctor Michele Ferrari. Armstrong has said he would continue to work with him unless Ferrari was convicted of doping offences. In his defence, Armstrong has never been caught with any performance-enhancing drug. Cynics argue that is simply because his drugs are so much more sophisticated than any one else's.

Whether or not he's on the drugs is a matter for another time. It's hard for me to believe, personally, that any elite level athlete is not acutely aware of any small advantage the competition might be using. The bottom line for today is that, drugs or no drugs, Lance stopped and waited for Ullrich to catch up. He refused to allow an unfortunate accident to serve as the excuse why he was able to crush the opposition. He did it all by himself, on a bike, uphill.