Sunday – A Bad Day To Be Old
If you were well above the average age of competitors in your sport then you should probably just have stayed at home on Sunday.
First, Lance Armstrong had to endure what must have been the most frustrating 20 minutes of his career. He and teammate Alberto Contador were virtually tied in Tour de France overall standings, and there was still some public debate about who would be the team’s leader – the one who the rest of the teammates work for to ensure he can win. There is no question about that anymore. Armstrong and Contador, who don’t seem to like each other much, were wheel to wheel for much of the long ride. The final 10 miles or so of the race were pretty much straight up hill. Again, Lance was climbing with Contador and looked very comfortable and relaxed. Suddenly, Contador made a bold move to break away. Armstrong had the legs to at least give chase and try to chase Contador down, but tradition dictates that you don’t try to chase down a teammate if he makes a break. That left Armstrong to sit there and stew as his shot to win the Tour likely went right out the window. This was almost certainly a team-dictated strategy and not one that Contador pursued on his own, but it still had to kill a competitive guy like Lance. He’s used to winning this race, and he is unlikely to have many more chances to do so.
Later, I watched Tom Watson age right before my eyes. For 17 and a half holes today he looked like he was about 30. For the last four and a half holes he played he looked about 94. Watching him totally self-destruct in front of our eyes was one of the hardest things I have ever had to endure in sports. I was just wishing that there was some way that the poor guy could concede. Stewart Cink is one of the good guys, and I am very happy he got a much deserved major win at some point, but even he must find the crcumstances of this one tough to take. Watson had it sitting on a silver platter, and he just totally and utterly crumbled. If I never see anything like that again it will be too soon.
Related posts:
- Farewell, Tour de France I’ve
- A Very Pleasant Sunday Just a few
- Fighting and Cycling The UFC sc
Tags: Alberto Contador, British Open, Lance Armstrong, Stewart Cink, Tom Watson, Tour de France
