Lance Armstrong – Tour de France Contender?

By: Suzanne Zilkowsky | July 22, 2009

Lance Armstrong at the age of 38 and a cancer survivor, came out of retirement to try and win what some would call the most grueling sporting competition in the world, the 2009 Tour de France. Showing signs both of determination and pain, Armstrong conquered long and winding climbs and cold wet weather to try and capture his eighth Tour de France. This would have marked a record greater than anyone else in the 105-year-old history of the tour. Although Armstrong is one of the greatest riders in the world, his hopes to repeat as a winner have been stifled on Stage 17 of the 2009 Tour de France. Armstrong appears to have had any hope that was left of taking the overall victory slip away. However, his riding during this tour has been short of amazing considering how he had been retired for three years.

Alberto Contador of Spain is now showing the world why he’s team Astana’s strongest rider, extending his lead to nearly two-and-a-half minutes after the 17th stage, while his teammate Lance Armstrong, has fallen into fourth place overall. While Contador is showing the most likely to ride into Paris in a week’s time wearing the yellow jersey, Armstrong will be riding to be a runner up on the podium. He trails Andy Schleck by 1:29 who is in second place and his brother, the third place rider Frank Schleck by 0:30. Armstrong can now focus on Thursday’s stage – a 25.17-mile time trial – as an opportunity to gain time on the Schleck brothers, as he is considered a stronger rider than both of them in time-trial runs.

According to Lance, he has not only been a contender to win the 2009 Tour de France, but also to end the stigma of cancer and turn cancer victims into cancer survivors. For a guy who’s 38 years old and in fourth place at the Tour de France after coming out of three years of retirement, that’s a victory in itself.

About the Author:

Suzanne Zilkowsky - Hi, I’m Suzanne, your editor. I’m passionate about health, fitness and well being. I’m never far from Fitness Goop, but I can also be found out and about exploring yoga classes, walking my dog and feeding my tummy with good food. I have a background in Fitness and own a Personal Training c...
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