ARMSTRONG CRASHES!

Not really a bad one, but it did drop him to eighth in the overall Tour
standings. The experts don't think this will hurt him in his bid for the
title, as he still has the mountains ahead, where he is almost certain
to gain time. And remember, he won last year's Tour by over six
minutes.

Does anyone care about these updates? 'Cuz like 'em or not, I'll
keep 'em coming until the Tour is done.
Tim
The Dark Squire

By all means keep 'em coming as it may be the only solace our
hapless USA team (chess, that is) has to rub it in to ROW. And when
Armstrong does win, please remind us all that he did it with one
testicle. Of course, the French will complain that it made him more
aero-dynamic. Kirk

Well, the French will accuse him of using performance-enhancing
drugs, as they do every year, despite the fact that he has been tested
more times than anyone and come up clean every time. The ironic
thing is that cancer DID make him a better rider, at least in terms of
the longer Tours. He was always a solid sprinter and time-trialer, back
in the days when he rode for Motorola. But he wasn't so great in the
mountains. The cancer, the treatment, etc., actually changed his
morphology-- he is thinner, leaner, weighs less, but is still just as
powerful, which is why he kicks Euro butt in the mountains now against
scrawny guys like Pantani and Virenque.

And come on-- with a name like Lance Armstrong, what do you
expect? It sounds like an action figure of the All-American Athlete.
Too bad he chose cycling-- if he played baseball, basketball, football,
or hockey, everyone in America would know his name. But instead,
only the select bike-freaks know what a treasure he is to our country.
Tim
The Dark Squire (and temporary Tour de France correspondent)