Thursday, July 22, 2010

Great Moments in American Sports - Tour de France 2001






In keeping with this week's theme, the subject of today's post is someone named Armstrong. On a Sunday in July 2001, my family and I were fortunate enough to be standing on the Champs Elysee in Paris, France, on the last day of the 2001 Tour de France. We were treated to the sight of Lance Armstrong, one of the greatest Bicycle racers of all time and an American, riding his victory laps for his 3rd Tour victory holding, alternately, a Texas flag and an American flag. Our President at the time was George W. Bush, a Texan. What a great moment for a patriotic American family traveling in France!
For those of you who are not familiar with Lance Armstrong's story, he is a cancer survivor who later went on to win seven consecutive Tours de France. He is currently wrapping up his last Tour and has said he will retire. He is also currently in the news facing accusations of fraud and doping violations. I certainly hope for his sake the allegations prove to be false. If he is guilty, it would also be a black eye for the United States, unfortunately.

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