So, farewell then, Lance Armstrong, cyclist and indeed human extraordinaire, who finally bowed out of the Tour de France forever today after a two-year comeback following a three-year absence. It is debatable whether the American's staggering seven Tour wins will ever be matched, let alone bettered, and that's before you throw in the fact that the man was so riddled with cancer prior to his first win in 1999 that doctors gave him a 5% survival chance. How Armstrong recovered sufficiently enough to win seven, back-to-back sporting challenges of the toughest order imaginable, is the stuff of dreams.
His career has been dogged by controversy and a string of innuendo concerning doping but the man has never been caught despite being tested on hundreds if not thousands of occasions and so we are to assume Armstrong was clean. Was his comeback a success? Not completely, at least not on cycling terms, although his third place last year was pretty special, but the increased awareness to his cancer campaigning will have made his efforts well worth it.
Armstrong departs from the top table of sport from the past two decades, which leaves an arguably fading Roger Federer, a morally corrupt Tiger Woods andMichael Schumacherwho, on the weekend's showing at his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim, shouldfollow Armstrong into retirement. Whatever people say about thegreatest cyclist of all time, onefact is for certain. The sport of cycling owes the American a huge debt of gratitude.
