Short and Sweet

I apologize for no NBA Draft preview. I DO promise to have in-depth analysis of each selection tomorrow afterwards so look for that.

In place of the Draft preview, I thought I'd do a special Top 10 list of Lance Armstrong Tour De France moments:
10. 2004. During the last mountain stage, Lance's teammate Floyd Landis broke away to go for the stage victory, but the breakaway group led by Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloden caught him. Then, Kloden got away and appeared to have the victory until the Maillot Jaune decided in his words, "No Gimmes". Lance caught Kloden at the line to win his 5th stage of the Tour, solidifying his record-breaking 6th victory.

9. 1999. Before cancer, Lance was an average climber at best. When the 99 Tour first entered the Alps, many expected Lance to give up the yelllow jersey since climbing wasn't his strong suit. But on the epic climb up to Sestrieres, Italy, Armstrong showed that he really was a changed man and rider. Armstrong broke away from the lead pack and won the day, on his way to his 1st Tour De France title.

8. 1993. Lance was a great one-day racer in the early part of his career, which showed in his victory at Verdun in the 93 Tour, his first career Tour stage win. Armstrong outsprinted three others to the line, announcing his arrival on the professional circuit. Later that year in Oslo, Norway, Lance would win the World Championship.

7. 2002. In typical Armstrong fashion, he made his move on the first day in the mountains. This day, it was the ascent up to the ski station La Mongie, halfway up the Col du Tourmalet. Armstrong showed off his team, allowing Chechu Rubiera and Roberto Heras to pull him up the mountain, then allowing Lance to finish off the victory.

6. 1995. Just days after losing teammate and close friend Fabio Casartelli after he crashed in the Pyrennes, Lance went out on the attack, looking to bring some good news back to the Motorola team. On the road to Limoges, Lance found himself in a breakway. With 25K left, Lance shot from the back of the pack like a rocket and took off. As he approached the line, Armstrong paid tribute to his fallen teammate by pointing his hands to the sky and won the day.

5. 1999. It was simply amazing that Lance Armstrong was starting the Tour De France. Just a couple of years earlier, he was battling cancer. No one realistically thought he would ever battle the Tour De France again. It was a nice story, but no one expected anything. I remember sitting there, watching and thinking, "If he can somehow finish the Tour, something he struggled to do when he was healthy, that would be amazing." To mine and the world's amazement, Armstrong went out and won the Prologue time trial, claiming the race leader's yellow jersey. Even Armstrong was stunned afterwards. That moment was inspiring enough. He could've dropped out the next day, and it still would've been an incredible performance. You don't go from having a 30% chance to live to leading the Tour de France, no one does that.

4. 2000. Due to the absence of past Tour winners Marco Pantani and Jan Ullrich, many thought Lance's 99 Tour Win was a fluke. Pantani and Ullrich were there in 2000 to battle Lance and the first rendezvous fo the Tour was the Hautacam. It was cold, windy, and rainy, just how Armstrong likes it. At the base of Hautacam, a little Spanish rider by the name of Javier Ochoa led the pack that contained Armstrong, Ullrich, and Pantani by over 9 minutes. Lance went on the attack, easily disposing of Ullrich and Pantani while closing in on Ochoa. Ochoa held onto win the stage, but it was an equally remarkable performance by Armstrong, who only finished 40 seconds behind Ochoa after starting the climb 9 minutes behind.

3. 2004. Alpe D'Huez is the Super Bowl of Cycling. The mountain's 21 switchback turns make it holy ground. Add a million drunk cycling fans from all over the world and you have one big party that gives the Alpe its aura. Last year, Alpe D'Huez was home to a time-trial, a race against the clock for the first time ever since the Alpe has been included in the race route. Despite death threats and the poor behavior of the German fans there to support their favorites, Armstrong charged up the mountain. In time trials, riders start 2 minutes apart to give them ample room to operate. Armstrong caught and passed then 2nd place rider Ivan Basso, leaving no doubt who was going to win the Tour. Later, Armstrong said, "When I came to the Tour, I wasn't thinking about winning #6. I came to kick the s*it out of everybody." You gotta love that.

2. 2001. Another ride up to Alpe D'Huez. As the day unfolded, it appeared this wasn't going to be Armstrong's day. He rode at the back of the pack all day, suffering with every revolution of the pedals. Then, as the pack made the famous left hand turn from the Bourg D'Oisans village rodad onto the Alpe, Rubiera and Armstrong came to the front and started sprinting up the mountain. When Rubiera fell to the back, Armstrong looked back at Ullrich and asked if he was coming along. When the German didn't reply, Armstrong gave "The Look" and took off, winning the stage, climbing the Alpe in the fastest time ever. Armstrong had purposely sat at the back, knowing the image of him appearing to be suffering would be shown in every team's car, specifically Ullrich's team Telekom. Thinking Lance was having a bad day, Telekom kept the pace high, trying to wear out Lance, but wearing themselves out at the same time. On the final climb, Ullrich didn't have any help around him because they were too tired. Armstrong's tactics were perfect.

1. 2003. The drive for 5 was rough. It began before the Tour even started. Lance and ex-wife Kristin had just separated, Lance spent too much energy winning the Dauphine Libere, Lance crashed during training, and if that weren't enough, Lance caught the flu from his son Luke at the start of the Tour. During the Tour, Armstrong got caught up in multiple crashes, then barely survived one by going across a field to avoid a fallen Joseba Beloki. Then in the time trial, he became dehydrated, losing most of his lead to Ullrich, which after the first 2 days in the Pyrennes, was down to a matter of seconds. It all came down to the climb up Luz Ardiden. At the base of the mountain, Armstrong attacked and was followed by Basque rider Iban Mayo. Then, Armstrong's handlebars got caught on a fan's bag and both riders went down. For a moment, it appeared Armstrong was done. But both got up and started to come back to the pack. Next, Armstrong's right foot slipped out of his pedal, almost causing him to fall off again. But Armstrong got back to the pack and attacked again, this time no one was able to follow him and there were no further incidents. His gutty climb up Luz Ardiden essentially won him his 5th Tour.

Can you tell I'm excited for the Tour to start, just 5 days to go!!!!!