Lance

You only need to say Lance and my brain automatically thinks of Lance Armstrong. His wins took place before I started to love cycling, but I watched his come-back in 2009 and 2010. He was a contender. Drugs or no drugs that man is an athlete.

Betrayed is how many people feel. They were lied to repeatedly and their loyalty was shit on. Me? I feel like people should embrace the imperfection. I think that we are finally seeing the truth that lies behind most cyclists. Every year multiple professionals are caught doping and many titles have been stripped, not just Lance's. We are focused on Lance because he is one of the few Americans to have made it in the sport and because he won so many times. But if you look around you many of the GC men have been found guilty of doping at one point in their career and have come back to cycling: Contador, Basso, Vinokourov, Leipheimer, Andreu, Di Luca, and Frank Schleck to name a few. Even the legendary Eddy Merckx tested positive for illegal substances. Take a look for yourself. When you're caught you receive a ban which is usually 2 years. Just 2 years (not life) because USADA recognizes the fact that people can change and come back clean.

Should USADA hold to the life time ban? I don't think so. I don't think he's the only one to blame for the events and there are certainly some controversies within USADA not addressed.

Doping has been a prominent part of cycling since the beginning of the Tour de France and it will continue to plague the sport. I think that as fans we can only know that it is there and watch cautiously and without judgement.

I also think we are seeing what is true for every man. Vices, demons, mistakes, flaws; whatever you call them we are all carrying wrongs against another person, group, organization, etc. I definitely have my share of lies, mean words, purposeful neglect, and selfishness. I think America does a good job of creating false heroes and unrealistic ideals. America could do a better job of embracing mistakes and realizing unhappy endings. Right now Lance is a prime example of the fact that unhappy endings are real. We make wrong choices without thinking them wrong and they have consequences. He is facing his demons and his shame just like the rest of us.

TDF WATCH IT!

Saturday marks the start of probably one of the most exciting Tour de France races of all time. ALL TIME! There's so many GC men out on the field with legit chances of creating the unpredictable. Of course you got the in-your-face best cyclist, Contador, but behind him is Andy Schleck and then of course the one and only Lance. He announced that this is definitely going to be his last TDF so he's gonna make it count. Can't wait for it to be an all out Lance vs. Contador fight to the top of the Alps. Disappointed that there's no team time trial, but all the mountains should make for a good race. The climbs really put Contador and Schleck up at the top as favorites, but hopefully Cadel or Sastre will put up a fight. Well...maybe not Sastre but I think he's reassessed his work as a pro cyclist and will bring something more this time around.

For you first timers out there, I know there's the World Cup and Wimbledon but seriously you don't want to miss the TDF this year. Esp since we're American. After Lance drops it, we won't have any American All-Rounders. Then the only guy we'll hve to root for is Cavendish and he only cares about the green jersey. Its only on Versus, but I think you can stream it live from their website. If not try Steephill.

If you haven't already, go grab the July issue of Cycle Sport America. It's 188 pages of everything you wanted to know and didn't care about on the TDF. Great magazine; I'll have a post on cycling mags in the future.

So who's gonna win? I'm rooting for Andy. Contador will be a huge contender, but his team is weak and he'll have Vino breathing down his neck. Not sure if Lance will place this time. There was a good article in Bicycling Magazine in May (or June, I forget) about his scientific efforts to get back on top. He's also got the team that took him to 3rd last year, but I think he's been pretty selfish and conceited so I don't really want him to place. Your days in the glory light are over buddy, if it was really about Livestrong you'd actually talk about it now wouldn't you.

I'm also rooting for Team Sky and BWiggins. First British Team and got a great TT rider in Wiggins. I think he'll pull off a stage win for sure. I can definitely see Cadel winning a stage, Cavendish too...agh! There's so many factors and GC men to talk about. Lots of stages, lots of things can happen, lots of skills to consider.

20 days of the hardest race in the whole world with 200 of the best cyclists in the world! Get ready!