2005 Tour de France: Going out in style

For me, the "R" word is not even on my vocabulary. I'd rather put in the faces of some senior gentlemen I saw passing their time away at the French Baker.

So I wonder how it must feel to retire at age 33. Love him or hate him, there will never be story like him, I like the story of Lance Armstrong. Born to a 17-yr single mom, a stepfather who beat them, an accomplished triathlete in his teens and world champion in cycling at 22- and that was just Act I. Act II started when he signed a multi-million dollar contract, got cancer, got double-crossed by his team and almost died. ACT III was when he beat cancer and went on to win the Tour de France 7 consecutive times, 2 more than the previous record.

For all of his life, Armstrong has always had to prove everybody wrong. He was too poor to be taken in by a football team. He had too much upper body to make it in cycling. He was too cocky and to arrogant to succeed. When he won a $1M prize in cycling, whisperers were saying that it was fixed. When they said that cancer would kill him, he survived. When they said he couldn't win the tour, he became the best time trialist and the best climber in the world. When he said he doped, he became the most tested athlete in the world.

It's hard for superstar athletes to retire at the top. Michael Jordan didn't and should be a law against Evander Holyfield climbing back in the ring again. As for Michael Schumacher, I hope he can recapture his magic next year and then retire for good. I don't exactly like him but I don't want him to be like Jaques Villeneuve, a driver I admired.

Just like another cycling great, Eddy Merckx, Lance will never go away ala Miguel Indurain. He's not the type to sit on his porch drinking beer and watching the sunset or retreat on a farm. He lives in a fast-forward, internet using world that's why no strap would hold him down. Somewhere out there, there is a mountain to be scaled, a challenge to be met and skeptics that need a whack in the head to be able to see that nothing is impossible. Lance has proven that all it takes is hard work and dedication to mow down mountains and beat dreaded diseases.

I like what one writer said about cancer and Lance. He said that cancer chose the wrong guy to mess around with. Lance may be gone but he's just out there.