j p, the Incomparable d'Monquis, sent me this link that I had been unaware of. It's a good piece on what multi-stage bicycle racing, especially the Tour de France, is all about. It also is the best writing I have seen on just what Lance Armstrong is accomplishing. There isn't another athlete that is even on the same planet as Lance. The Tour de France, as a sporting event, has no equal — and Lance Armstong is becoming a Tour de France legend.

THE LONG RIDE
How did Lance Armstrong manage the greatest comeback in sports history?

A couple of weeks ago, on a sweltering Saturday afternoon, I found myself in the passenger seat of a small Volkswagen, careering so rapidly around the hairpin turns of the French Alps that I could smell the tires burning. Johan Bruyneel, the suave, unflappable director of the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, was behind the wheel. Driving at ninety kilometres an hour occupied half his attention. The rest was devoted to fiddling with a small television mounted in the dashboard, examining a set of complicated topographical maps, and talking into one of two radio transmitters in the car. The first connected Bruyneel to the team's support vehicle, laden with extra bicycles, water bottles, power bars, and other tools and equipment. The second fed into the earpieces of the eight U.S. Postal Service cyclists who were racing along the switchbacks ahead of us. The entire team could hear every word that Bruyneel said, but most of the time he was talking to just one man: Lance Armstrong.
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Another Postal One-Two; Armstrong, Heras tops in Stage 12

The sun was shining on Lance Armstrong at Friday's 199km stage 12 of the 2002 Tour de France. The three-time defending champion woke up wearing the maillot jaune for the 37th day of his career. Movie star buddy Robin Williams kept things light at the start, joking with fans and signing autographs. And though Friday's hot, long, five-climb stage through the French Pyrénées was much harder than Thursday's two-climb stage, the result was the same.

Armstrong won the stage in a much more familiar style, attacking with 6km to go. He dropped a group of 11 riders and finished alone. ONCE's Joseba Beloki fought the brave fight to finish third and solidified his hold on second place.
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OVERALL after 12 stages
1. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal, at 46 h 47:47.
2. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONCE, at 02:28.
3. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Sp), ONCE, at 03:19.
4. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), Lampre, at 05:15.
5. Santiago Botero (Col), Kelme, at 05:44.

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Tomorrow's stage will be mostly decent and flats. It will be a sprinter's race.

But the next day's race will be up a wall.

The curse of the Ventoux
The 'Giant of Provence' is not like other climbs.

Then a day's rest and then onto the Alps and the most difficult stage of the race.