So apparently the King of the Tour’s reign is now officially over… As Lance Armstrong, riding in his final Tour de France, the only rider to ever have won the storied event a record Seven times, has seen his Swansong go from bad to worse. Having previously fallen on some Slippery liquids to puncturing a tyre on the Cobblestones, the Texan has now uncharacteristically faltered in what was once his Domain, known as the arduous Mountains portion of the Tour…
Thus it was on Stage 8 that the Austin native fell an amazing three times and unceremoniously finished a dismal 61st, putting him some eleven minutes behind the Tour’s leader. Yet Armstrong’s demise wasn’t his alone, as the Tuesday’s Stage 9 Tour leader Cattle Evans of Australia grimaced his way to the finish with a previously undisclosed shattered elbow, after Monday’s Rest-day, leaving Luxemburg’s Andy Schleck to seemingly battle reigning and Two time tour winner Alberto Contador for the overall victory. As the two riders will continue to go head-to-head thru the grueling Pyrenees Mountains, while Armstrong rebounded to 18th place overall, but fell further back, some 13+ minutes adrift of the Tour’s new Yellow Jersey (leader) rider Schleck, after the completion of Stage 9.
Yet perhaps Lance’s luck has turned the corner? As it was Team RadioShack claiming its Tour’s first Stage win on nine other then Bastille Day, when Team rider Sergio Paulinho of Portugal ccaptured victory in Stage 10 on Wednesday, July 14th.
But will it be Schleck claiming his first Tour or will Spaniard Contador Join the select company of Three-time Tour de France winners, giving Espana a World Cup and Tour Double? And will Armstrong’s RadioShack Team rider Levi Leipheimer manage to claim the tour’s final Podium step by finishing in Third-place? We’ll soon know when the Tour wraps-up this year’s daunting grind in Paris on July 25th…
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