Cycling: The Tour de Lance (Act V)

3427.5 km. (2129.75 miles) Toronto to Calgary...in 83 hours, 41 minutes and 12 seconds...

You do the math and be astounded at how fast that is... with at least 1/4 of the trip uphill, or, more honestly, up the side of a friggin' mountain!

The sheer brutality, both physically and probably more importantly mentally, of Le Tour de France make this one of the most unique and compelling events in sports today.

These men are fierce competitors yet, from time to time, demonstrate an honor code that harkens back to the days of dueling and romanticism.

Back in July of 2001, I wrote about an unbelievable struggle between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich during that year's running of the Tour de France.

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 questioned the wisdom of such a move by Armstrong at the time.

He could have easily ridden away with the title and left Ullrich to finish that stage in humiliating fashion.

Fortunately for Armstrong, that gesture was repaid this year in a demonstration of karma sure to boggle the imagination during the 15th stage climbing Luz-Ardiden.

Armstrong was leading as the pack bore down (well, actually up, straight up!) on the Pyrenees Mountain ski resort.

Then he fell.

Picking himself up and remounting, Armstrong nearly fell again, his foot slipping on a pedal.

Then he attacked, crossing the finish line 40 seconds ahead of Ullrich.

It is "as if all this had been written on the wall to give a greater dimension to his exploit," teammate George Hincapie said. "Those final kilometres to Luz-Ardiden sum up his entire career.''

The feat was only possible due to the sporting gesture from Ullrich who slowed with the other leaders and waited for Armstrong to catch up to the main field.

When, and only when, Armstrong was back with the challengers did the racing resume at its previous level of intensity.

Armstrong won his only stage of this years Tour during that monumental climb but it was enough to secure his fifth straight Tour de France and establish Armstrong, once again, as one of the greatest athletes on the planet today.

Ullrich could have ridden away with that stage.

Ullrich could have taken the yellow jersey, rode down the Champs d'Elysee and taken the ultimate prize in cycling.

However, something bigger than victory stayed his climb.

Some might call it honor.

Others might call it stupid.

I prefer to think of it in terms of the former.

Ullrich must have been thinking back to that stage two years ago when Armstrong slowed down the Peleton and forced them, as is the wearer of the Maillot Jaune's right, to wait until Ullrich was back in the saddle and back on the road in the main field.

What appeared to be simply a magnanimous gesture turns out to be one of the most farsighted athletic gestures of all time.

There's an old saying in sports that "what goes around, comes around."

I can't wait to see what Armstrong and Ullrich get around to next year.