It's been awhile since I mentioned the Tour de France and for that, I apologize. As one of the pastors at our church said on Sunday, "Hope is about what is going to happen, not what we're realizing or have realized." I'm sure he was talking about the hope that causes such excitement leading up to Le Tour, no?
Seriously, no offense to God or Jimi, as Jimi's message was really good and I know he was talking about God and not about Le Tour. But it's not as if God doesn't like Le Tour too, am I right?
So here's the deal - we're 11 days away from Stage 1 on Saturday, July 2, 2005. This year's race starts in Le Barre de Monts-Fromentine. Lance Armstrong is generally the favorite (according to the highly-scientific poll I conducted by reading one news article about this year's race forecast) and Jan Ullrich still seems to be the most likely to overthrow him. Ullrich does seem to be in better shape now than he was the past few years at this time so maybe he can do it this time. If not, I do feel for the guy - always the bridesmaid, never the bride - except when Lance is out of the race fighting cancer and the effects of chemotherapy. Anyway, other riders have been mentioned as possible contenders but most riders have stated in some interviews I've read that they are hoping for a place on the podium but not expecting first place to be held by anyone other than the Texan. Of course, I'm not saying that it's all locked up - I'm sure nobody is saying that while knowing that bad weather, crashes, bonks, illness, etc. are all part of Le Tour and can take a top or bottom contender out in an instant.
I'm not a huge Lance fan in general but I am seriously awed by his determination and commitment to using the talents he's been given to be the best at what he does best. As a person, I wouldn't be friends with him - he's much too intense. I had a knot in my stomach reading the first of his autobiographies because his personality reached out of the pages and grabbed my throat. But hey, he's an incredible athlete - and while he is a cancer survivor, I'm not sure "survivor" says it strongly enough.
I'd love to see Lance win again so I will be rooting for him. But I'll also be rooting for a good race with few crashes and wouldn't it be fun to see another underdog clenching his teeth and using every gram of glycogen in his muscles to make a name for himself like Tommy Voeckler did last year? That was too much fun.
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